OT - animal hoarders

poet_kelly
on 7/20/12 1:33 am - OH

This has nothing to do with anything, but I'm gonna share anyway. I am watching that animal hoarders show on netflix. Have you seen that?

Now, I can kinda understand how someone could hoard cats. I love cats and I think the reason I only have three is that, one, cats get unhappy when they are too crowded, and two, I feel very strongly that you shouldn't have more pets than you can adequately care for, and that includes the vet bills. I recently spent over $1500 on Cayenne's vet bills and let me tell you, there is no way I could afford any more cats right now!

But on the episode I am watching right now, this guy hoards chickens. He has 158 of them. In his house. Just running loose. You can imagine what that looks like. And that I don't understand. If you wanted to hoard chickens, why not build them a big chicken coop outside? I'm just sayin.' The chickens would be happier outside, even if you didn't mind the mess in the house.

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

wmamey
on 7/20/12 1:54 am

RNY on 06/18/12

Too funny! My husband has chickens - thankfully I love eggs! We have about 15 chickens in a chicken coop on a farm, lol! However, my daughter is a 4H member and has 8 guinea pigs - she is NOT allowed any more or other pets. To her credit, my house never smells and they are very well taken cared of, they even go to the vet! I still think this is too many which is why no other animals allowed!

poet_kelly
on 7/20/12 2:08 am - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

I can't imagine how many eggs are being laid daily in this guy's house with 158 chickens!

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

Oxford Comma Hag
on 7/20/12 2:00 am

RNY on 09/12/11

I was reading somewhere that animal hoarding is a type of mental illness. I have a hard time understanding it too, especially since most hoarders really seem to think they are saving the animals they are hoarding, even when the conditions are deplorable for the animal and the human.

poet_kelly
on 7/20/12 2:07 am - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

All hoarding is a type of mental illness. It's a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. And in some cases can be an addiction, which makes sense since there is a strong compulsive component to addiction. Unfortunately, animal hoarding is a form of mental illness that we don't really know much about and currently there is no real effective treatment.

I think there is a lot of denial going on with animal hoarders, obviously. Denial is hard to understand from the outside because the issues seem so obvious, but there is a lot of denial with just about any addiction, I think.

The deplorable conditions for the animals is really sad to me. If people want to live in filth, I guess they can. But for the animals that are suffering, that's not right.

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

crystalomac
on 7/20/12 2:27 am - Cincinnati, OH

I have 2 dogs and my boyfriend wants us to get a puppy, I told him no! 2 is enough, they are best friends and well taken care of! I do not want anymore than that bc they can get very expensive, one of them has had 2 knee surgeries. Besides you have to be able to give them love!!! I've watched some of those shows and they have so many animals that they find a couple dead and the owner didn't even know!!!

poet_kelly
on 7/20/12 2:31 am - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

I know. The ones where they find dead ones are the saddest to me. If you have so many animals you don't know how many you have and don't notice if one dies, obviously you're not giving them much attention. My cats all love getting lots of attention - and they do get a lot! When someone has that many, it's like they are living in an animal shelter or something. Except they might get better care in a shelter.

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

Amy D.
on 7/20/12 2:28 am - VA

RNY on 03/13/12

Did you see the one with the rats? Oh boy did that one give me the creepy crawlies. Ick.

I feel so bad for these people and the animals. There was a lady hoarding cats in my hometown and when the city finally figured it out, the house was so bad it had to be condemned and torn down. I forget how many cats she had, but it was an insane amount. And none of them were healthy.

Recently where I live now there was a case of rabbit hoarding. We actually adopted one of those rabbits, and he's doing fine. But it was just so sad to see the conditions they had been living in.

Should I start my rant on the state of mental healthcare in this country? Probably not. Sigh.

HW: 272 lbs. (BMI 49.7) SW: 237 lbs. (BMI 43.3) GW: 140 lbs. (BMI 25.6)

poet_kelly
on 7/20/12 2:40 am - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

No, I haven't seen the one with rats. Not yet, anyway.

I do feel bad for the people, too. I believe they love their animals. But it's a destructive relationship, really.

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

Dee.spunk
on 7/20/12 2:35 am - Sacramento, CA

RNY on 11/30/11

I use to have 15 chihuahuas. 15! At one time we even had 20, but that was for a split second. Anyways, all we're potty trained and well taken care of, and most people would come to my house and say they'd never guess I had that many. I would show them and breed, which is why I had so many. But it's a lot of hard work, and when my special girl passed away, I lost that drive to keep showing and slowly started rehiming them. Let me tell you what a relief it was to not have to get up two hours earlier cause I had to feed, clean, and let the dogs out to potty. When I watch the hoarding shows, I can see that most feel some relief when they come to take away the animals. It must be a burden to have so many, and because of their live for the animals it's hard to see them go, but you can tell that they are relieved to finally be able to just relax. I now have two chihuahuas, and it's the happiest I've been. They're both fixed, (so no chances of adding more to my pack) and they just get way more attention than when we had 15. It's hard work to care for 15 dogs, and like Kelly said, if you can't afford the vet bill for all of them, you shouldn't have them. I easily spent $15,000 a year on my dogs. I worked for them! I could've bought a car for that much! But now with just the two, it's so much more affordable. I can finally relax.

Height:5'1.5 RNY:11/30/11 HW:307 SW:234 CW:136 GW:140 (LOST 73 Lbs. PRE-OP)

OT - animal hoarders

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OT - animal hoarders