13 Dead Kittens Pulled From House In Terribly Tragic Hoarders Episode

Last night’s episode of Hoarders featured John, a man living in New Jersey with a cat hoarding problem. In the beginning of the show, John, who is retired, said, “I love my cats… But I know I have too many of them.” His house was saturated in urine and coated with feces, and there were cats living in the walls and in the ceilings. John lived with his mother — his “best friend and closest companion” — most of his life, and she was, in his words, a “cat lady.” His hoarding was basically passed down to him. And after his mother died, John’s cat situation grew worse — he went from having 12 cats to housing nearly 30. When the Horders crew went through John’s house, they opened rooms that had been closed off for a while… and found litters of dead kittens.

In the end, the clean-up crew found 29 live cats and 13 dead ones. John was charged with animal cruelty. It was heartbreaking to see John’s reaction; he seemed so broken inside. Not a mean guy, just super sad. How does one become so ill-equipped for life? (You can watch the full episode here.)