The Rabbit Hoarders Cats

How beautiful was Boots, just a teen, in December of 2012, when I took him to be fixed, along with his two siblings.  Now he is weak from parasites and his ears and face are crusted and his body erupted in rashes.

Do you recall, back in late July, the Albany police raided a home down on Marian and removed 200 rabbits and Guinea Pigs?  They all went to Safehaven and I was horrified to see the people's cats were left behind, to remain at that house.  Only a couple weeks or so prior to that I swung by with a friend and we asked those people why their cats looked in such bad shape.  News reports showed the cats and the horrible state they were in.  Reporters commented and asked why they'd been left while the rabbits were taken.  In the weeks which have followed I've called the police twice about those cats.  One time I was asking why they were not removed and the second was to ask for a welfare check on the cats since the muted torti girl looked about to collapse.

Today the police knocked on my door.  The rabbit hoarders had not been supposed to keep any animals, I was told, not the rabbits, not the dogs and not the cats.  They have until this coming Wednesday to find a safe place for the cats to go.  Safehaven took the rabbits but apparently couldn't or wouldn't take the cats.  I don't know if this is true, just was told that.  This is the dilemma of all cats in this county who find themselves in trouble.  There's nowhere they can go.

The police came here, hoping I would help the cats, fearful with the deadline looming, that the cats would end up dumped somewhere.

I could not refuse them.  But I also know I can't keep more here and would not be able to undertake this alone.  I immediately called Heartland to ask if they might help.  That was before I even went over there.  They said they would if they could, but I wasn't talking to a person with enough clout to know for sure.

I met Boots, the soft orange kitty in the above photo two years ago when he was a teen, and I took three teens, him being one of them, from that house to be fixed, back in December of 2012.   His siblings now live in Corvallis somewhere, with the rabbit hoarders daughter.

The other two cats at the rabbit house, the gray muted torti and the big black tux, with the right ear hematoma, I don't know or don't remember because I got told this evening I took one of them, the male, to be fixed years ago.   I got cats fixed for these folks before I took the three teen boys to be neutered, indirectly.

I was helping a woman with cats she fed around her place.  That woman had a backyard shed full of Guinea Pigs she was breeding.  The rabbit hoarders then bred Guinea Pigs too, and they knew one another, as fellow GP breeders I guess.  So the first woman brought me the second woman's three cats to take to be fixed too. One of those cats was Victor, the black tux they still have.  They told me that today.  That first woman moved to Coos Bay and started S/nipped, a spay neuter clinic, and I assume no longer breeds Guinea Pigs.  People change.  And some people really really change.

In the meantime, I went and picked up two of the cats, including Boots, whose crusty ears and face might or might not be ringworm.  Probably is, with my luck, which means he'll be here awhile since nobody wants to touch that.   I no longer have a black light to check for sure.  Mine broke.  I'm hoping Heartland can at least do the Woods Lamp scan, outside if need be, to keep the shelter free of the spores, if that's what it is.  Wouldn't surprise me any.  But it could also be severe flea dermatitis going on, or bacterial skin infection, FIV, or any one of a number of things.

Missy, the muted torti, drools and likely has tooth resorption going on.   She's supposedly spayed, and the people think that because she showed up five years ago and there have not been any kittens.

Later I went back and picked up the third cat, Victor, whom, I am told, is one of the cats I took to be fixed through the other woman, before she moved to Coos Bay.  That would have been close to seven years ago then and it was probably done at Countryside.  I'll have records.  Maybe even his photo from seven years ago.  Victor looks healthier than the other two, that's for sure, outside of a severely deformed, via hematoma, right ear, which only gives him character.  He looks somewhat like Funny Face too, which makes me smile.

Boots no longer looks gorgeous and innocent like he does in the photo above, when he was so young and at that point, cared for.

He's two years old now, and looks 8 and tired too.

Missy, the muted torti.  You can see she has ear mite issues.  Look at the darker hair atop her nose and below it down to her chin.  I am not sure if that is natural or not.  Thinking the latter, thinking ringworm with hair regrowth, maybe, or drool and nasal drainage stains. But, she is also dark eye lined and if you look, she has a dark line running along her gums on her lower jaw.  She just may be uniquely colored.

Missy can be seen at 1:38 in the yard, in this KGW news report when the rabbits were removed.

The reporter was quite concerned about her health then.  After looking up this report online, to compare her to now, I don't think she had the dark staining above her nose and below it and on her chin. That's happened since then?  If any of you click that link and see the video story at KGW on the rabbits, and see Missy, the cat, see what you think, if she had the dark stains around her mouth, and under her nose then.  Say what you think in the comments.  Thanks!

The above two photos are of Victor, the third cat, and looks like he came from a different planet than the other two.  He's fat and appears healthy, by comparison.  He is allegedly about 8 or 9.  Guess I got him fixed about seven years ago, maybe seven and a half years ago. I know he visits my yard, because I still confuse him and Funny Face.   He didn't hang out much with the other two.  His brother whom I took to be fixed also years ago was fairly recently hit and killed on Marian street, they told me.   Victor is a handsome sweet cat and that curled crunched hematoma ear only makes him more adorable.  He is outgoing, but not aggressive.  He's fantastic!

Heartland will check all three over tomorrow.  I think that might cost $120.  Two are already long fixed thanks to Poppa Inc. and me.  How will I pay?  I don't know.  I'm not thinking, am I?  Just with my heart.  Hoping it works out in the end.

I'm not sure who will take the lead with these three, am hoping Heartland, but probably that won't happen if they've got ringworm.  I hope its not me, because nobody is going to donate to help I doubt, not to me.  They would if it was a big group.  Safehaven got lots of community support with those rabbits.  Those rabbits were put up for adoption the very next day.  These cats, at least two of them, have health issues that might take a few months to resolve.  That's not so glamorous, is it?