‘All in pretty bad shape:’ 26 cats rescued from NW Harris County hoarding family

HOUSTON, Texas – A complete of 26 cats have been discovered residing in a one-bedroom house in Harris County.

The cats have been residing in “unsafe living conditions,” in line with the Houston Humane Society. All of the 26 cats have been rescued and brought to the Humane Society the place all of them are recovering from some kind of sickness.

“So, it ranged from, pretty mild cases of like, upper respiratory infections to pretty severe cases to where some of their eyes need to be taken out,” mentioned Samantha Delomba, lead veterinary technician on the Houston Humane Society. “So, it ranges.”

Harris County Animal Control officers obtained the cats from the proprietor on Friday. The proprietor surrendered the cats.

According to animal management officers, the proprietor initially introduced home three unaltered cats. This is what led to the cats reproducing litter by litter to kind a cat colony of 26 cats and kittens.

“Yeah, it is pretty tough to see,” Delomba mentioned. “Some of them we’re pretty close to, you know, being too late, but most of them have a pretty good prognosis.”

One of the young kittens had its eye eliminated on Wednesday morning. Others at the moment are receiving a cocktail of medicine to deal with the varied diseases that doubtless fashioned as a result of neglect for care.

“It’s not something that just happens within the span of 24 hours or so,” Delomba informed KPRC 2.

There’s one factor that might’ve prevented all of this: neutering and spaying the cats.

“We will always advocate for spay and neuter and your animals,” mentioned Macey Khone of the Houston Humane Society. “This happened because the owner was not educated on where or how to receive spay neuter services for their animals.”

Owning an animal is getting dearer, identical to all the pieces else in life.

However, there’s sources on the market to assist if you end up in a decent monetary spot.

There are low cost clinics and even some free sources to assist maintain your pets protected and from unintentionally reproducing.

“I’m going to get help. I’m going to get help, I’m going to get help. And then it becomes embarrassing. We want to put the message out to the public. Don’t let it get to this point. It’s not embarrassing to ask for help. We are here,” Khone mentioned. “There are tons of other task force partners that are here to help you and to help those animals seek refuge. As needed. We want to make sure that you’re healthy and that your pets are healthy. And we’re doing everything we can to make sure we educate our community about that message.”

To study extra in regards to the applications the Houston Humane Society has, click on right here.