I'm the loved one of a hoarder- At least, I think she was a hoarder.

My mom was very clean when I was growing up. Not 'eat off the carpet' clean, but the house was livable. You could go into every room and it didn't smell.

We moved about seven years ago to a broken down trailer. Her mental health plummeted. When we moved in, the rent was only 450 per month- And that was for a reason. The place is a slum. There are holes in the walls and floor you can see outside through, there was mouse poop in the cupboards when we moved in, you can push the walls and they bulge out, there's water damage everywhere. It leaks from the light fixture in her room onto her bed and has since she moved in. She was fine with it until recently because it's so cheap.

When she moved in, there were dozens of stray farm cats outside. Mom started feeding them. Then, they started to breed. They were all inbreeding and unhealthy. She started bringing them inside when the weather was bad. We tried getting them spayed and neutered. There were too many. We spent hundreds of dollars to try to stop it but it just kept going. People would dump their cat and she would take it in. They were all so sickly and unhealthy and inbred. We did everything we could and spent so much money trying to keep them alive, but so many died. She was traumatized- understandably, I wasn't as close to the problem and I'm traumatized over it. We have so many cremated cats.

She was scared to take them to the pound because they were all black. The times we did try to take them to the pound, they could only take so many. I have four cats that have come from her. Everyone in the family has a couple. It's abuse, but I swear we did everything we could. It was just too much- Especially for one person. Three or four couldn't handle it.

The cats destroyed the flooring in the trailer in the living room and kitchen. Not that the flooring was great before, but we had to remove the carpet and then put down new flooring which is now stained and yucky. None of their guys worked right because of the inbreeding, and they all had diarrhea all the time. It just dripped out of them. We took them all to the vet so, so many times, but there was nothing he could do.

We spent hours each day cleaning it all up. After a while, though, you clean it and then twenty minutes later you walk out there and it's covered again..

You give up.

I moved out. My dad stopped helping her. My aunt stopped coming over to help. And then mom gave up on both herself and her living conditions. It took five or so years for it to happen.

It's been months since her last shower. I keep telling her she'll feel better if she takes one. I offered to go help her constantly. Only recently did she accept help because she's so ashamed and embarrassed.

She had been trying to let the cats out more and more. It's difficult for her because the wildlife is dangerous for them and she's already lost too many, but I kept suggesting it. I feel so bad for that now. The landlords daughter rents from her too, and lives in the same area very very close. We never had a problem with them before except that they kept coming by to 'fix' things (the landlords boyfriend is really, really bad at fixing things. He built a lean to porch cover with the support beams directly in the middle of the sidewalk.) without any notice and it stressed mom out to the point that she didn't like to leave the house due to paranoia at them finding out her living situation.

The other tenant got a dog. She lets it loose outside with no leash. It ripped two of Mom's cats apart in front of her. There was a huge fight- Mom told the other tenants son to 'cone get his fucking dog' etc. Cops were called, all sorts of shit. Mom was understandably pissed- There's a leash law, and the dog was in her yard and playing with her cats remains in front of her while she tried to get the dog to drop it.

The landlord got pissed that the cops were called and that mom cussed at her grandson. They deny the dog ever did anything. For the first time since Mom moved in there, she asked to do a walkthrough, and mom was forced to ask for help.

The whole family came together, and we have the trailer pretty much cleaned up. Mom and dad and the remaining cats are moving in with me and my aunt and little brother. We're in the process right now.

The landlord did the walkthrough today and brought her friend without telling us. Is that even legal?? Anyways, she stomped through and just kept saying things like 'this is disgusting, this is horrible, I trusted you people, I can't believe she lived like this'. Mom had to leave and I did the walkthrough with the landlord instead. Listen, that trailer is clean. There's crumbs on the floor and stains on the walls and that's about it. It took days. The cats had nothing to do with crap like the bathtub draining directly onto the ground below the trailer, or the water damaged ceiling, or the fact that the walls bulge when you poke them.

It isn't livable. It wasn't when Mom moved in. Only part of it is due to the cats.

The landlord threatened several times since the incident with the cops to call an investigator to have the place condemned. She did not follow through on it. I think she was threatening that to try to get mom out of there quicker so she can rent the place out again. I'm going to be hiring an investigator instead and I'm going to make sure that can't happen, and that It can't be pinned entirely on mom.

I'm just really frustrated and overwhelmed. Mom is going to a grippy sock vacay today after I asked her to. I'm so sad for her and I wish I hadn't run away from this. Shes a good person. She doesn't deserve to be locked by the landlord like she was, she doesn't deserve to have to live with all of this stress. I hate it and wish I could do more.

I hate that fucking landlord and her daughter, and their mean ass dog. Mom has been having panic attacks and vomiting the past week from all of this.

We're in the process of packing up, now. There's still cleaning that needs to be done. I'd love any advice on any of this. Thank you all for listening.

I can post more specific information. This is all kind of jumbled. I can also post pics of the trailer and damages if needed for advice.

There are still a lot of cats- At one point, there were 27. Now there are less than ten. They are all spayed and neutered at this point. They are now currently as healthy as they can be, except for the inbreeding.

Pic is cat tax. His name was Jax. He was a very sweet boy. He liked noodles, and his person was my dad. He's one of the ones the other tenants dogs tore up.

Farmers routinely band baby goats to neuter them. If it is too expensive or too far or otherwise not feasible to bring rescued kittens or puppies or litters from rescues to a clinic why not band them to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control? In my experience animal hoarders truly want to help the animals and this seems to be a partial solution.

From here: https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/youngstown-news/in-depth-organizations-combatting-animal-hoarding-in-the-valley/

"A coalition of agencies throughout the community has formed to address the issue of hoarding, particularly as it pertains to animals. They meet once a month, and includes representatives from animal charities as well as code enforcement, children’s services, health departments and more."

Watch the full interview for a more in-depth look at the conversation.

​

Is there a way to get an animal hoarder blacklisted from adopting from their local animal sheltures? And is there anyway to report an elderly animal hoarder without takint the risk of them losing their autonomy?

My mom has always had an issue with mess. But since we finally got our own house 5 years ago it has turned into full blown hoarding. About 4 years ago we had a cat and she got pregnant and those cats had kittens and so on. It is my first year in college and it has gotten drastically worse since I left. I would estimate that there are over 20 cats now in our home and my mom cannot control any part of the house. She is very attached to probably 3 of the cats, and unfortunately my cat also got caught up in the mess although he is neutered. So we would want to keep those, I am worried if I called someone, they would take those ones. We had an argument because the cats got into my room and completely destroyed it in the matter of 6 hours. That was kind of an eye opener for her and although she has had those before I really want to help her make change this time. I just need direction. If anyone has ever had animal control come and take pets I also want to hear what that was like so I can prepare myself for the experience and see what I need to do to keep those 4 cats. I am willing to answer any questions or clarify anything if needed🩷

My grandparents have at least 18 cats in the house, and about 50 more outside through the neighborhood. My grandmother feeds outside cats and has basically created a breeding ground in her backyard. They also just generally hoard things other than the cats. You cannot walk in there and the whole place is a giant biohazard. They live in Illinois, and there are animal hoarding laws there where they could actually be arrested (I think) for this eventually. That isn't my main concern, though. They are both in their late 70s and have various serious health issues. My grandpa seemingly has early signs of dementia but I genuinely think it could be from how toxic that house is and breathing the air in every day.

They are stubborn as typical hoarders are, but it's more specifically my grandmother, my grandfather is just along for the ride basically. I'm worried if I call anywhere for help and the cats get taken away that my grandma would legitimately die of a broken heart. We've offered to move her and my grandfather but she won't leave the house nor let anyone inside to clean. She doesn't want to separate the cats and has the belief that no one will take care of them properly except her. It started out just wanting to rescue them but now they're just breeding in the house. They don't have any money to get them fixed and no responsible adult seems to care at all or remotely try to help them.

I'm 24 and I don't live in the same state as them, but I'm tired of my family sitting around letting them live in filth and I need to take matters into my own hands. I've considered the game plan of: trying to find a hoarding therapist to learn more about how to effectively communicate with my grandmother first, and subsequently finding a way to rescue the cats and guarantee my grandma that the cats will go to a safe place. Finally, I want to hire a clean up crew, but then there is the issue of her refusing to give anything up in the home because they're all "memories". She can't keep any of it because it is literally all contaminated with cat urine and feces, but again I worry that ripping these things away from her will genuinely kill her.

I'm just looking for any kind of help or advice, whether it be services in Chicago that I can utilize for animal rehoming, recommendations for counselors, intervention styles, or your own stories of how you helped your family.

Okay:

So for whatever reason, someone (or some spam bot) has decided that our little sub is just the place to post sex/porn ads.

I've managed to catch-and-delete these quickly, but they just keep coming faster and faster. So in an effort to deter this nonsense, I'm setting the sub to restricted mode--people can view posts, but not make new ones.

I’ll keep this mode up for a few days, see if that discourages the spammers.

Sorry for the hassle! PM me with questions.

Me and my mom live in a small house that was already cluttered before hand. We started with one cat that I've had for years, before any of this started. Eventually, though reluctant, my mom aloud me to bring in a random orange tom that followed me home. However, that's not where the problem started. It started when another cat showed up on our door step a year or so later in the beginning of the cold months. Little did we know she was pregnant. Now 3ish years later, we have about 30 or so cats. I'm too scared to count. My moms not an animal hoarder, she knows there's a problem, she doesn't like cats that much and doesn't want them. They're taking over our life's and we need to get rid of them but we just don't know how. Its to expensive to spay and neuter them, we already neutered most of the males but there's still more, and that means they still keep duplicating. We decided to keep 2 of the cats, including our original cats we would have 4, plus an outdoor cat. I'm afraid if we call animal control or something then they'll take all of the cats, including the 4 that are 'actually ' ours and not allow us to ever own an animal again. My moms not a hoarder, we just are being overrun by cats that we can't get rid of. All of the cats are healthy, the worst part is that some might have worms or ear infections but they don't have fleas or mites. They all get plenty of food, water, and all have places to sleep, but we can afford all the cat food and litter. The amount of money we spend on them is insane. We live in the east side of SD and don't have any resources to help us, if anyone could provide absolutely anything that would help with rehoming them, we would be so so grateful. Thank you

I was bedridden with a tumour on my bowel and had a heart attack. My superintendent gave me 19 finches and let them loose in my bedroom…. I should have stopped it. I had my funeral planned and was expecting to die.

Four years later I can walk and eat solid food again. It has taken me this entire year to heal from my foolish passiveness that allowed this disgusting situation to occur.

I had aviaries built for the pet birds in my apartment. No birds in the bedroom, kitchen or bathroom…

I contacted many People to rehome my birds. But no one wants them. I clean two hours nearly daily, and buy all their necessities…. But I really feel like an unpaid employee more so than a pet owner.

since I became healthier, I don’t even know who I am anymore. I don’t enjoy the birds but everyone tells me what an amazing relationship I have with them. And think I am horrible for not wanting to give up my living space to house these birds.

since I am not doing anything else, I feel Cleaning crap is all I am good for. I care about these birds. But am judged so hardly by the bird clubs and rescues I begged for help.

i have a prison sentence of responsibility… and I deserve this punishment. Yet, some pyschology reports says I am worth more than scraping and mopping crap and feeling so much shame. I passed apartment inspections and no one is complaining things are dirty. But i work hours a day to keep it clean. And I know it’s my responsibility but i absolutely am broken. The bird rescues said to put heir number on my fridge so when I die they will take my birds. Why do I have to die first?

I'm seeing if anyone has anyway to help or provide a resource to contact with what has become an animal hoarding situation. My grandmother has a lot of cats inside her home (40+) that have interbred and accumulated over the past few years. She is unable to properly clean up after them due to health issues and get them proper vet care. The entire house has become covered in urine and feces despite her and family trying to clean when able to do so. You can smell the house from 50 feet away before stepping into it. The Humane Society would not help and said we could drop off one cat once per week. The US Humane Society never responded, nor others we have tried to reach out to. They multiply to quick for that to be effective and the family members cannot help due to the times we would have to drop the cats off there. This has impacted my grandparents lives and the animals as well and became a dire situation. My grandparents have agreed to let them go but we can't find help to place them or other solutions. Any thoughts or resources that could help here? I have pictures that I’m embarrassed to post if needed.

Hello and thanks for reading. I'm having trouble dealing with a hoarding situation.

For some background, my girlfriends mom hoards small animals. Mostly Guinea pigs, but she also has a bunny and a hamster. She gets them from neighbors, she breeds them, and she usually buys one or two any time she goes in a pet store. I visited her house about a month ago, and witnessed 2 walls of her tiny apartment lined with stacks of cages, each housing 2 Guinea pigs and a few with 3. Their cages were messy, I assume she doesn't spot clean. They all had matted fur, and would run around frantically and fight each other. They seemed scared. Some cages had small houses for the animals in them, and she mentioned how when she wants one to come out, she'll lift the house off and watch them run around. I found this disturbing, because clearly she didn't understand that stealing the creatures' shelter is probably not a fun experience for them. Many of the animals had stupid names written on their cages, like for instance the one called "Steak". She then mentioned to us how she was beginning an effort to separate the males and females. This is definitely a step in the right direction, typically she is thrilled when they have babies because it gives her more animals to give silly names to and then add to her collection. She explained that she is making this change because recently an elderly Guinea pig gave birth and died in the process. A few more details before I explain my predicament: the bunny's nails were extremely long and twisted, I don't think they've ever been cut. The hamster's water dispenser was attached in a pretty awkward position, with the metal straw basically touching the bottom of the cage, and it looked like he was struggling to drink from it. Many of the animals are buried around her apartment building, but quite a few are thrown in the dumpster if it's inconvenient to bury them that day, and I think this is a pretty clear indicator of how much she actually cares about them, id say it's definitely not normal behavior for a loving pet owner at least. I have 2 cats and consider them part of my family, I couldn't imagine throwing them into a pile of trash. Also, she typically doesn't bring them to the vets. They have had their required shots, but they don't get regular checkups, and they don't get vet treatment when they are sick.

Alright, so after seeing all this, my gf and I had a conversation with her about animal hoarding. We explained that they didn't have the best living conditions, and would probably be happier and healthier with humans that could give them more attention. We tried to explain that she's not in any trouble, but we should do what's best for the animals. We ended it by pleading with her to get some help rehousing them. She got pretty defensive and said she would never do that, and I foolishly mentioned that we might want to get someone else involved.and of course, we left without getting any photo evidence of the place

After this we called the local animal control and explained the situation. It took about a month before they found a day when she was home and they could conduct a wellness check. And then they told me that there was no animal hoarding. They said the cages were clean, she had vet records, she knew what to feed them, and to top it all off, they were well groomed.

I told them that she probably prepared the place for animal control, and they said that it seems unlikely that she would have been able to accomplish all of that. I disagree, I think a month is plenty of time. However, without me being able to provide any photo proof, they closed the case.

Now I'm glad that the bunny got its nails cut for the first time in its life, but my girlfriend and I are still feeling quite uncomfortable about the whole thing. Am I overreacting? Should I just relax because animal control tells me that the problem taken care of now?

I really don't know what to think or do at this point, seeing as how animal control doesn't find any issue. I'd really appreciate some kind of advice

Hi, so my dad entered hospice in November. I never went to visit him at his house because I have a strained relationship with him, and he was never good at maintaining a space. Low to no contact, essentially. I found out that he had 20 cats, where before, I thought he only had 4. Now, my siblings and I have to figure out what to do with these cats and the house. The house smells overwhelmingly of ammonia and feces, there's rotten food, the plumbing doesn't work, 20 years worth of literal trash all piled so there is only a small walkway.

These cats are not fixed. He had the males holed up in his bedroom (at least 6 of them), while the females get to roam the house, who make up the majority of the population. We do not have the money to take them individually to a shelter, plus that would require them to have vaccines and be spayed/neutered.

The TNR program I have researched only says they accept cats if they are returned to their outside environment. Which these cats don't have. They are feral, even though they are inside. I took 2 cats, one that is special needs and the other cat is the most friendly out of the hoard. I'm paying for the vet bills for these 2, but I'm not sure how long I can sustain that.

My siblings don't want to contact animal control because they think my dad will get fined, but I would rather they take the cats even if that's a risk. They may even drop the fine since he is in hospice. I'm looking for other options on what to do here or how the process goes if animal control is contacted. Will they condemn the house when they see it? We are trying to get his estate in order as well so it can't be closed off. Located in Utah.

Tldr: Dad in hospice, 20 cats that my siblings and I need to find homes for but none are fixed or vaccinated.

This is difficult for me to write. Please don't judge me. When I was 12, 16, and 18 I was SA'd. These incidents led to me developing addictions later down the line. It started with food addiction then it snowballed into animal hoarding addiction. I used my addictions as a means to cope with my pain.

After a few months, I slowly started to realize I had a problem. At the time, I could not accept the fact that I had a problem, I was in serious denial. I became aggressive toward anyone who would call me out on it (including my loved ones) and started isolating myself from my family and friends, my relationship with my mom was deteriorating. My life was slowly falling apart and I was becoming more and more depressed by the day. One of the few things that gave me joy at the time was my animals.

Fast forward to today, I have since rehomed 10 of my animals to good homes. This was a huge achievement for me, it was not an easy decision to make, though I knew it was the right one. I now own 1 dog, 2 mice, and 5 gerbils, a reasonable amount of pets. I am in the process of finding a new home for one of my mice (though nobody seems to want him so I'll probably end up keeping him) and my five gerbils. I really want to rehome my gerbils because sometimes they give me PTSD from my animal-hoarding addiction. I feel guilty just looking at them because they're a reminder of how I gave into my animal-hoarding addiction and mental illness.

I'm in a much better place now though I still have the urge to hoard animals. I find myself scrolling through Craig's List browsing through the pets section looking at gerbils, mice, and rats. I don't even want to get any more gerbils or mice though I still have those urges to hoard them despite my better judgement. It's frustrating, to say the least. I want to get pet rats since I used to own rats and I remember what great pets they were but I told myself I wouldn't get any rats until I made a full recovery from my animal hoarding tendencies (or at the very least until I've rehomed all my gerbils).

My boyfriend has been very supportive and understanding about this situation, he helps keep me in check and talks me out of getting more animals. It feels really good having someone who is understanding of my situation and doesn't judge me for it, without his support, I think I'd be much worse off. It felt good writing this out and getting it off my chest. If anyone has any advice for me I'd love to hear it. Please be kind though.

so... my mother has: 2 dogs, 4 cats, 2 parrots, 2 turtles and 3 fishes. we live in a relatively small apartment.

i'll talk about the dogs first. they are around 10 years of age now, and they have never been potty-trained. she always refused to take them on walks (never in their life they have been taken for a walk) so they pee and poo all over the house. there have been numerous times when we would step on pee or even feces and since they sleep on the sofa with her, it smells like urine. the female dog also free-bleeds during her periods.

​

the cats have one litterbox in the bedroom my brother sleeps in. at night the cats are closed in that bedroom so you can imagine the kind of smell i witnessed in the morning.

​

the parrots weren't always 2. she had 3 more parrots: 2 of them were kept in a small cage and they started to depluming themselves due to stress but she refused to set them free until they died. the other one was killed by one of the cats since she didn't train them to get along. the 2 alive ones poop all over the house, on the floor, on the forniture, on mattresses, even on my mother's clothes.

​

i really would like to know your opinion on this, and if it can be considered hoarding. i also think that not letting my dogs outside counts as animal abuse (i can tell that they are stressed, they bite a lot) but i have no one to speak to about this.

also, please note that i do not live with my mother. i visit few times a year. only once my boyfriend and I visited her and he told me he felt very uncomfortable because the house smelled like a "pet shop".

​

please give me a honest opinion. this is something that i think about on the daily

THIS POST HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE MODERATORS

What is your Study: Exploring the perspectives of family members and partners regarding what improves symptoms and quality of life for their relative with hoarding disorder.

Lead Researcher Name: Allegra Styles

Lead Researcher Credentials: BPsychSc (Hons), provisional psychologist, MClinPsych (candidate)

Institution Name: Australian Catholic University

Advisor (For thesis level): Dr Keong Yap - Associate Professor (Psychology), keong.yap@acu.edu.au

Will this work be published?: Yes

Method of study (In person, online): Online

Time required: approx. 55 mins (10 min survey + 45 min zoom interview)

Link for participation: email allegra.styles@myacu.edu.au if interested

Email to contact for questions: allegra.styles@myacu.edu.au

Thank you for your time and interest in this valuable research.

Hello everyone, I am currently unsure what to do regarding my situation.

For context, One of my family member (my uncle) has mental health issues and he has been raising more than 100 cats, at least 50 of them are still here. (5-7 cats hot hit by cars, ~10 cats died from diseases, my grandmother suffocated ~5 of them when I am not aware of, we give away ~20 cats, the rest are gone).

I am currently a college student and I have no time and energy to completely deal with all 50 cats at my yards and garage (they were born and raised here). There has been several times when I tried to relocate my cat few blocks away (that’s within their territory), and I neutered one of them. But I realized that Trap-release program is great but i takes too much time, effort, and money and effort to fix all of them.

As their population continues to grow, the yard became extremely unsanitary, male cats sprayed everywhere, female cats have way too many kittens and the kittens poop everywhere. There are HUNDREDS of flies at my yard and porch and I realized I cannot tolerate this anymore. It has always been an unpleasant experience every time when I enter my house from the front porch. I wanted to hold my family member accountable for creating this hazardous mess.

Whenever I bring up the topic of calling animal control, my uncle said he will kick me out of this house (my grandmother's property). My grandma is upset with this situation and she wasn’t able to confront him, instead she killed some of the kittens by lying to me that she is giving them away to her friends.

My mother, who lives with me, my uncle, and my grandma. She works for the law enforcement in California, and she is well aware of the penalty of hoarding animals. In the past five years she told me not calling the authority because she will be in deep trouble for tolerating my uncle's behavior.

I suffered depression mainly due to hostile relationship with my family member. Now I have some savings and I realized I am financially stable enough to move out. Meanwhile, what should I do to address the cat problems?

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.

On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.

Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface.

This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free. For the visually-impaired Redditors, this decision is disastrous.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.

As we are a mental health sub, r/animalhoarding will NOT be closing down or going private during that period, but we will be setting ourselves to read only mode through June 14th. The mods will be discussing what to do moving forward.

The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do as a user?

• Complain. Message the mods of /r/reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message /u/reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /r/reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.

• Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join the coordinated mod effort at /r/ModCoord.

• Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th - instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!

• Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.

Thank you for your patience in the matter,

-Mod Team

Pertinent links:

• The post that kicked this all off: r/apolloapp - Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing. Bad news for third-party apps, their announced pricing is close to Twitter's pricing, and Apollo would have to pay Reddit $20 million per year to keep running as-is.
• r/SubredditDrama - Reddit admins go to r Modnews to talk about how they're inadvertently killing third-party apps and bots. Apollo, for example., would cost $20 MILLION per year to run according to reddit's new API pricing. Mods and devs are VERY unhappy about this.
• r/modcorrd - An open letter on the state of affairs regarding the API pricing and third party apps and how that will impact moderators and communities.
• The Verge - A developer says Reddit could charge him $20 million a year to keep his app working.
• TechCrunch - Multiple subreddits and moderators are protesting Reddit’s API changes.
• Vice - Reddit in Mass Revolt Over Astronomical API Fees That Would Kill Third Party Apps.

And to learn more about some of the affected apps:

• r/apolloapp
• r/redditisfun
• r/Relayforreddit
• r/GetNarwhal
• r/BaconReader
• /r/ReddPlanet
• /r/redditsync
• /r/Infinity_For_Reddit
• /r/JoeyForReddit
• r/RedReader
• r/pager
• /r/BoostForReddit
• r/SlideforReddit

Hello, a friend of mine told me to register and post here.

My step grandma lives in West Virginia in an unincorporated area about 2.5 hours south of Charleston near the eastern Kentucky border. It is extremely remote they don't even have a local grocery store or hospital, it is that rural. She has at least 37 cats, but probably more.

She is 77 years old. Her husband, my grandfather, died approximately 18 months ago. She is of sound mind insofar as she can cook and clean and manage her finances. If you talked to her at the Dollar General she would seem like a normal old lady. But she has severe personality and mental health needs when it comes to hoarding animals.

I visited in March, and that's when I counted 37 distinct cats, including at least 4 that were either very fat or pregnant. I took pictures to make sure that I wasn't counting any twice and so that I could show my mom.

I live in another state. After I got back and talked about this with my husband and mom I decided to alert the local authorities.

I called the County Health Department who said that there is no animal control in that area and there is no limit as to how many cats someone is allowed to own. They also told me that there is no requirement that the cats see a veterinarian or have updated vaccines, as they are allowed to live outside, which some of hers do.

I then contacted the state Adult Protective Services Division and spoke to Heather, who effectively told me the same thing and that they do not respond to cases of animal hoarding unless the animals are dangerous to people like large dogs or wildlife.

Then I spoke to the Sheriff's Office to ask whether owning this many cats was actually legal and the official whose voicemail I was given (whose name I don't remember) eventually called me back and effectively told me to mind my own business, that there is no Animal Control and they don't respond to people owning a lot of animals, because that's their business, not the business of the police.

My final call was to the state police, who told me that this was a local/county matter for all the agencies which had already told me they aren't going to do anything about it.

My concern is NOT just that my step grandma has so many cats now, it's the fact that so many were kittens or pregnant when I was there, so they have all been born in the time since my grandfather died and the situation is quickly spiraling out of control compared to what it was just 2 years ago when I was last there. If I remember correctly they had 6 cats when he was still alive. Since he died it looks like she has just started COLLECTING cats. In another year she could literally have 100.

I am concerned more for her health and how badly the house smelled. I know that she truly believes she is taking care of all of them, but how is it possible for anybody to care for dozens of cats like that, especially somebody who is so old and lives alone when the cats are wondering in and out all day and all night long? Does anyone know of any other resources that will respond to a remote area? I have spoken to my mother and aunt about this and they both basically said they have dealt with this on and off for decades and there is nothing anyone can do because that area does not have animal control or cruelty/protection laws, because it is so poor and rural to begin with.

My mom told me that in the 1990s when they still lived in Florida that my step grandma was ARRESTED for owning too many cats but she didn't have to go to court because she agreed to surrender them all. Once they moved to West Virginia, apparently this shit is legal and just accepted in counties without the infrastructure or resources. I don't see how this could be right, because it's really not about the cats. It's about her.

If this were happening in Florida, I know that she would not be allowed to have this many cats, especially since they are still breeding and making more. I'm at peace with the fact that I am probably being an asshole to some people, but I really think that she needs help and intervention of some sort. My mom and aunt are just sort of resigned to the fact that this is how she is, she is old, and she will eventually die that way. But if I don't figure out how to help her, my concern is that she will die BECAUSE of having so many cats. :/

I recently started helping out a friend of a friend clean up her house and property. I was not expecting 30 to 40 cats (maybe more) when I first visited. This is an elderly lady who lives alone out in the boonies. She seems with it except how bad of shape her cats are in and from reading the info on here about animal hoarding, I guess she can't understand/grasp how bad they are.

Some cats have been messed up by hawks/owls and the one I saw was reopening its wounds from scratching. And there's a lot of wounds on its head, neck and shoulder areas. A few of them look like they're just wasting away on her chairs. Many have a lot of gunk over their eyes and can't see. A few kittens that should have fully opened eyes are also dealing with gunky eyes so they can barely see. One kitten has swollen and gunky eyes. She has eye drops for them but that's it and they don't fully help. A few cats/kittens are very skinny and I can feel every single bone. I don't think they're able to get proper nutrition from their mom. There are also a few different litters of kittens at different stages from different moms. She has a few that are barely a week or two old. One of those kittens had thrown up yellow stuff which I assume is bile? I don't think mom's been around to feed as they were cuddling with an "adoptive" mom who no longer breeds and has no milk. Although I have no idea about cats in that extent. I've never had to take care of kittens.

Her house smells very strongly of cat pee and they will poop and pee on the floor, counter tops, etc but she does clean it up. As much as you can after 30+ cats. She keeps the doors open so they can come and go as they please. Some feral cats hang out to get the food she keeps outside but they stay outside. Although when the females are in heat, the tomcats come in and fights happen.

Her friends know her condition but do nothing. I'm sure it's hard for them to know she's in that kind of state, but still.

She's not in my county (in US) and there's not a lot of assistance with this kind of stuff in her area. I have tried to ask about the cats in a round about way so she doesn't feel judged about them. I've gotten that she will not fix any of these cats as she believes in the circle of life to its fullest extent I guess, even with death being a common event for her cats. She doesn't see it as a big deal with a whole litter dies because the mom is sick and feeding them infected milk or something else along those lines.

What the fuck do I do? I love animals so much and it's so hard to see this kind of abuse. It's harder to know that she can't even see the abuse she's doing to these animals and the disservice she's also doing to herself by letting herself live in a filthy house. I am going to bring out some kitten milk the next time I go out and try to feed some of the kittens. I want to get a cone for that one cat with the injuries from the bird, but I doubt it'd keep it on or that she'd want that.

Help!!

Hi guys,

So I think I have a bit of a hoarding situation in the family, and I don't know what to do.

My mother-in-law, Julie, has about 30 "rescued" cats in her studio apt, and I know from the outset that sounds kinda crazy and that it's almost definitely a hoarding situation, BUT she doesn't tick all of the boxes on some hoarding advice / animal rescue sites, so I have no idea if they'll help.

I'm not only concerned for the welfare of the cats (they do have access to food and water but not really any affection, space, or proper medical care) but also for Julie's mental and physical health.

She's covered in scars/cuts from cat scratches and ringworm. Her apt is filthy and she stinks because of it.

No one accepts her food & she has to change out of her clothes if she visits. No one can go into her crowded apt.

She's in massive denial.

95% of the cats are street cats which have been injured or are of poor health. She also takes in pregnant cats from time to time (kittens do get rehomed). Prob is, she fails to rehome them or release them all once they're better. And because there are so many, 50% of the time they don't get the medication they may need once she let's them out of the cage in her apt.

Julie is so unbelievably kind though and her heart is in the right place, but this is totally out of control now.

Her kids have spoken with her about it multiple times but to no avail. She finally has a grandchild and another on the way - we thought this may be the push she needs to get her act together. Nope. She was almost evicted for failing to pay rent for 4 months. Somehow she made payment - nothing changed.

We have about 2 months until the baby is here and she's no longer a priority, how do we get our MIL back? How do we stop her relapsing? Can we call animal control to take the cats or will this cause a melt down? Some of the cats are old and sick and will almost definitely be put to sleep if taken by the city, I know this will kill her inside. I'm out of ideas. Pls help.

We're in NYC.

Follow-up to this post:

[META] Temporary Move to Discourage Spam

It's been five days, so I've returned us to normal settings. Let's see how it goes.

Thanks to all who reported the porn post, by the way! Keep reporting if you see more!

Okay:

So for whatever reason, someone (or some spam bot) has decided that our little sub is just the place to post sex/porn ads.

I've managed to catch-and-delete these quickly, but they just keep coming faster and faster. So in an effort to deter this nonsense, I'm setting the sub to restricted mode--people can view posts, but not make new ones.

I'll keep this mode up for a few days, see if that discourages the spammers.

Sorry for the hassle! PM me with questions.

Hello guys, we really need your help on this because I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know what it is. So it all started when we moved from Switzerland to Romania. And there we had one dog, a Yorkshire Terrier, and one dog came from the house. Then me and my mother saved another, a beagle from the mall. And then it kinda started because another two or four dogs got saved from my mom because they were walking around the front yard. So she got them, but it was still something normal. I liked it, it was nice growing up with pets. And we also had a few cats, but the thing got out of control when she started to get into animal-saving society and the groups. It first started when she got a few dogs for adoption first there was like max 3 dogs for adoption on our yard , but it really went downhill when she got her license and she could do what she wants and didn t need my dad anymore or his permision , she started using the family car to transport pets and help sterlize them the car which is fairly new and is now disgusting ,its full of hair ,stains, dirt etc and of dents cuz she cant dirve ,as i grew and i put more accent on being clean and stuff i started to hate the smell always in the house and that all my stuff and food had hair on them and i started to beg her to stop but she would always promise and a week later bring new pets again , but one time when we had a vacation to the black sea and we where a normal family for a while and i got really good along whit her and she even promised on a paper whit her signature that no more pets, and guess what a week later she employs herself for free at the local pet shelter which is a total disaster and she first only helped but atfter i while she strarted brining dogs from there and one time whe had 27 dogs in total most from that shelter, she is so deep in this shit shit cuz she works for asociations in western countrys to adopt dogs there and to send them there , i would daily fight whit them and they alway would say no longer new dogs, they destroyed evereything the whole yard and patio is a disaster and the kitchen cuz there she makes the dog food , in the house are like 10 dogs and it always stinks cuz they pee and shit in there and it no longer feels like a house more like a pet shelter , for our family dogs whe had from the begining nobody has time anymore and they just sit depresed ,they even do theyre stuff in the house because she dosent have time anymore , one even is extremly fat cuz she got a problem and needs exercise and one has a wound on paw since 2years Even the school psychologist got involed and my teacher , they talked to her and i really had hopes that somthing would change and guess what happens 2 weeks after , i come home to one screaming dying dog in the middle of the yard and 2new sick puppies from that horror shelter , i didn t talk to my parents for 4days because of that and also my father because he promised me many times he would talk to her and somthing would change but he just wana get along whit her so he just does what she wants and this eats me up cuz i got a really good realtionship whit my dad and he really did everything for me and i dont like making him mad cuz he is 73 but he lied so many times to me in this subject and i just can t acccept that , the fucked up part happened today when i got down to the kitchen to cook some pasta and those 2 sick shelther puppies where in the house hall next to the kitchen whit 2 other dogs from the shelter , i snaped and threw somthing to the ground and told her if se would bring another shelther animal in the house id kill them (because of rage i said this i never harmed a animal) after that she started to record me and because i was this mad i walked to her and took her phone out of her hand an because she was filming and my dad was there she started to scream and cry as if i atacked her and hit her and now she tells pepole i atacked her and pulled her hair and that if i not say sorry she will send this video to the police and i will get arested , i expected my dad to say somthing but he just let her lie like this and said he didn t see it when he was right there and then when i told her about the times she threw objects at me she said i was lying and my dad who saw that said he dosent rememeber and this just eats me up cuz im atached to him, what should i doo ? Am i in the wrong ? I also got a undiagonsed neurologial sicknes that atacks my nerves and my eyes and i often wonder if it has somthing to doo whit the pets And since i know her as soon as i say somthing about her and her pets she always get histerical and screams and gets aggresive and this eats my dad up cuz he is old and he dosen t take this well at all it destroys him and im thinkint if i should just accept this shit for his good but what can i do if he just does what she says and no longer thinks himself They also use every chance to make me a bad person and that i hate animals even tho myself saved also many animals that where in my way, there is just no sense in a third country like this to try to save every animal posibile because its a never ending siutation and you will you just make you re own living and conditions more bad, they also blame me because i told them to put a puppy in the heater room and he died there because there where 35 degeres outside but the puppy was in a room but non heated and he died and they blame it on me even tho he was already sick and coulda have died anyways, she even posted on facebook to blame me for killing a inocent little puppie Sorry for my extremly bad gramar and any advice will help

I admin a large online animal care group. Through conversations with one of our group moderators, it's become gradually clear that this individual is an animal hoarder - to the extent that it has impacted their health and the health of their animals. I'm torn about what to do, as in their role as a moderator this person is in a position to be giving advice to others. Their 'book' advice is OK but their real-life practical understanding of good care practices worries me.

I am hesitant to bring this up to my fellow admins as I know it may not be possible to manage or intervene with an issue like this in an online setting, plus I don't want to inspire any gossip. My fellow volunteers are all good folks so I don't think that would happen but I want to be sensitive about this.

Other than monitoring the quality of the advice this person gives and gently discouraging them when they talk about wanting to acquire another animal, is there anything else I can or should do?

  If you are in the Grand Rapids area in  Michigan & are willing to take in a or multiple cats, please for all that is holy comment. They're completely free unless you choose to pay for for them. We can't cover any vet or health related expenses, unfortunately I have no choice but to pass that burden onto you. The gender will likely be know & age of the cat is purely estimated.


 Now, I'm 17 a huge animal lover, and I definitely get that from my mom. I would go out of my way to kill any human if it meant saving a cat. 

 However... what I can't deal with is having to parkour over cat shit in order to get to my room. I'm so nose blind to the smell that I can't tell if I have shit on my shoes without looking at them. I just took a bath yesterday, and there was perfume sprayed by a group of assholes that sit behind me on the bus. I've lived in her hoard my whole life and I feel like I'm never going to be able to feel or smell clean.

 My dad can't stand being in the house and spends most of his time in the garage. He has abused the cats, he's thrown them, hit them, and he terrifies all of the cats. All he needs to do walk through the door and they scatter. I don't personally blame him, it pisses him (& me) off that we all have to live like this. He would never take it out on my mom though, he'll never admit it, but I can tell he just really wants his wife back.

He plans on going behind my mom's back & using a gun he inherited from my grandfather who passed a year-ish ago to shoot them.

 The only exceptions to my dad's plan are four cats. Baby girl (moms favorite), Fluffy (my cat), Tickles (the one everyone likes(including dad)), and Rocky (the only male who were going to keep & the other only one my dad likes).

  I love both of my parents and we all have a great relationship, so I don't want to hurt my mom by agreeing with dad and  standing aside while he kills the cats, but at the same time I'd like to be able ride the bus without having the assholes near spray perfume.

My mother is the intended patient. Retired Nurse, "retired" stay-at-home mom, current office manager of a family business- she is in her mid 60's. She has had issues with possessions my entire life but recently began animal hoarding and she desperately needs help. She is extremely nice and functional in all other areas but the hoarding is beginning to isolate her in all aspects of life- particularly the animals. She keeps 1 dog in objectively poor conditions but approximately 10-12 cats. They have overtaken the house, office, and working environment for the family business. I believe that she would be open to counseling and cleanup resources if deemed appropriate. She wants to change but frequently does not take any actions, or does 1 step forward 3 steps backward. Animal hoarding has been extremely exacerbated since 2020. When I was a child, we lived a home with nearly every room full of her items. She would clean sometimes but it would somehow get recluttered nearly immediately.

I have talked to her countless times about the issue and haven't seen any real change. She thinks she is helping the animals and would be described by most as an "animal lover" but her close family members know the result is far from that.

My family does not hurt for money and my father is becoming very depressed at the toll her hoarding has taken on his life. I am trying to find a solution to help her before it's too late. She is aging and it seems to be a critical time.

The whole process is very stressful and I would love to hear some tips or strategies on dealing with her that have been successful. I know that being angry does not help but I feel that I am enabling her but returning to the home and maintaining my relationship with her (we always have had a great parent-child bond) but I refuse to let her continue ruining her and my father's life with something that seems very fixable to me as someone without the condition.

Sometimes I wish she was an alcoholic or some other issue that was less hidden because it would be easier to get her treated. I don't want to take away her autonomy and I don't think it's bad enough yet for the police to even take the animals if they were to get involved- but something has to change. I am at a loss for what to do to help her.

Growing up there were three cat houses in the neighborhood with more than 30 some cats in each. I have heard of many others, why do you think it's usually cats?