Every now and then one reads a story about some reclusive woman whose
home is infested with a plethora of cats, and the local health
department has to take action. Why do reclusive men not behave
similarly?

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Clarification of Question by nautico-ga on 13 Jan 2006 15:48 PST

Perhaps reclusive and childless men who yearn to father poor creatures
go in search of barely breathing roadkill, armadillos, possums, and
the like.

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Clarification of Question by nautico-ga on 13 Jan 2006 15:52 PST

Pink, that article you cited is exhaustive, though my quick reading
didn't address the gender of the typical collector (perhaps I missed
seeing it). In any event, make it your answer!

Nautico,

Thank you very much for accepting the material I posted earlier as
your answer. I've reposted the link below, with a bit more info.

Cached from MessyBeast.com: THE PROBLEM OF CAT COLLECTORS 
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:DLlN2uEtUBsJ:messybeast.com/collector.htm

From a news story about an extreme case of collecting:

"HARC [Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium] has turned up some
frightening statistics. In a 1999 study, it found about 2000 cases of
hoarding nationally each year. While not all cases are as extreme as
Erickson?s, most hoarders (76 percent) are female and more than half
live alone, as Erickson does. At 42, she?s younger than the 46 percent
of hoarders who are 60 or over. But her actions do match the 80
percent of cases in which dead or sick animals are found, and the 60
percent in which the hoarder does not acknowledge a problem."

Boston Phoenix: Cat burglar
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/documents/02893062.htm

Here's the website of HARC, the Hoarding of Animals Research
Consortium (cited in the story above). This is an excellent resource
with an abundance of links to material on the subject of
pet-collectors:

Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium
http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "cat collectors OR hoarders" women OR female
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22cat+collectors+OR+hoarders%22+women+OR+female

In case anyone wonders, my husband and I belong to an animal adoption
organization. We live with a large number of pets, as I've mentioned
on GA before. Our animals all receive regular veterinary care. They
are all neutered, and (with the exception of a 21-year-old cat who has
inoperable cancer) they are spectacularly healthy.

Best,
Pink

You're married?! Oh, say it isn't so! There go all my fantasies. Great
answer, Pink. Now I know more about cat collectors than anyone else on
my block.

While this is more common in women, some reclusive men are
pathological cat-collectors. My late Uncle Bob was one. When he died,
37 cats, a raccoon, and six ferrets were retrieved from his garage
apartment. Most of the animals were in such poor heath that they were
euthanized.

Oops. In my comment above, for "poor heath," I meant "poor health."
Heath has nothing to do with it.

My own "pet" theory about cat collecting is that it is an aberrant
expression of the desire to take care of children. There seem to be
many more women than men who feel a powerful need to act as a parent
to small, helpless things. Some folks have a really hard time saying
"that's enough pets for now." They will just keep picking up strays
until the house is literally full.

The animal adoption organization to which I belong has had run-ins
with several collectors. Invariably, they believe that they are doing
a service for the animals, and they overlook the horrendous filth and
suffering that sometimes exists. It's very sad, both for the animals
and for the deluded humans.

Here's a good article about collectors:

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:DLlN2uEtUBsJ:messybeast.com/collector.htm

I also knew a man who had a collection of small dogs  - not cats.  He
had plastic sheets on the upholstered furniture, and the smell in the
place made clear why.

>> Perhaps reclusive and childless men who yearn to father poor 
>> creatures go in search of barely breathing roadkill, armadillos, 
>> possums, and the like.

Or maybe they pick up teenaged girls and become sugar daddies? :-D

Nautico,

Many thanks for the five stars and the big tip! I'm gonna spend it all
on catfood, of course. ;-)

~Pink

I can't wait to be a crazy cat lady when I get older. I've promised my
kids. They'd be disappointed if I didn't get 53 cats and a bad
attitude.

And just to prove that it's usually women who become crazy cat ladies
(as opposed to crazy cat blokes like dear Uncle Bob), go to this site
and click on the
"name of thing" to drag down to the "crazy cat lady" action figure. I
got one for my son for Christmas. He seems a bit scared of me these
days.

http://remogeneralstore.com/online/special_item.cfm

stressedmum,

Thanks for letting us know about the "crazy cat lady" action figure!
This will make a wonderful gag gift for next year's Christmas party of
the pet adoption organization to which my hubby and I belong. You know
you've really arrived in society when they make an action figure out
of you!

This says it all! :)

http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/servlet/com.featureserv.util.Download?file=20060121cssho-a-p.jpg&code=cssho