She lives with 100 cats. Read on… (link)

[tencats]

She lives with 100 cats. They are her life. Now the city
How are cat ladies created?
http://houstonpress.com/Issues/2003-07-03/feature.html

Toyya Braskey took two tranquilizers her first night dancing topless at Heartbreakers. She doesn’t remember being there, she says, but she made $700. As she danced on subsequent nights, men asked her what she was thinking. They wanted to know what fantasy or porn movie was playing in her mind. Actually, she was calculating her vet bills and how many lap dances it would take to pay them off. Toyya owns The Momma Cat, a shelter for sick or injured cats. She lives in and operates the shelter out of an old dentist’s office and says without it the cats would all be dead. She keeps alive the unfixed feral cat with thick jowls and a missing eye and says another shelter wouldn’t. She gives insulin to diabetic cats and buys chemotherapy for kittens. From several feet away the shelter smells like the gorilla room at the zoo. Inside the old dentist’s office hangs a picture of Jesus holding a cat and various cat-lover plaques with sayings such as “Dogs have masters, Cats have staff.” Toyya sleeps in a twin bed in the shelter’s small office. She shares it with eight sick cats with sticky closed eyes. There’s a small kitchen with a toaster oven, a microwave and a dorm-sized fridge. There’s no shower, so she bathes in a plastic tub. “Even I admit that’s a little crazy,” she says.

[Sanity Claws]

1. Sad, very sad

I certainly applaud this woman's generosity. HOwever, her job and her living situation indicates that she can't relate to people. She may have been terribly abused. Poor woman.

[NV Whino]

2. I'm speechless.

Hope this lady gets help.

[superconnected]

3. okay a few things, I know of people who were run out of town for saving

a lot less cats than that. So I understand her fear of people.

My only complaint about shelters is that many people doing it themselves sometimes do not attempt to find the cats homes. They plan on just keeping them there. Even the sick and troubled cats can be placed but it takes really looking. Passing them to another shelter isn't placing them in homes. Shelters are great for saving their lives, but cats deserver to be in good homes with only a few other cats and a lot of attention from people when they need them. They do not deserve to be in a shelter forever.

Eventually, maybe now, she will take in too many cats and it will be a dire tragedy when she can't find homes for them all, when she suddenly has to.

I hope she understands that what she really needs to fight for is getting her cats placed in homes - even sick ones, so she can continue helping them.

What that artical is telling me is that she is on a downward path that is going to blow up on her. And, she has a great heart.

I didn't read it all. Too tragic for me right now to concieve this. I was at two shelter this weekend with a ton of cats that the individuals didn't appear to be trying to place. Stranger cats kept rubbing against me, wanting me to take them home so badly. That's what they really need, real homes.

[Lorien]

4. Perhaps this is someone with a hording disorder

I've heard that hording disorders (accumulating too much of something, generally due to a strong sense of being deprived, a past spent in poverty, a lack of intimate relationships or a fear of having to do without)can often extend to those who collect too many pets. Her heart may be in the right place, but she really isn't helping these animals by keeping them in crowded conditions which will only serve to spread disease and sickness within the group. As a general rule, a person is taking a chance by keeping more than five cats in a single household for an extended period of time (particularly if they are unrelated). FIP is thought to develop due to stress, and the same can be said of upper respiratory infections-overcrowding is a huge contributor to stress for felines.

The sad fact is that too many perfectly healthy animals are put down every year. While I certainly admire those who take on the cases that no one wishes to deal with, far more emphasis needs to be placed on spay and neuter awareness, TNR, and pet adoptions.

I hope this woman gets some professional help soon.

[IndyOp]

6. She has professional help ?

If you skim all the way to the last page - a psychologist and her daughter have offered to move her and her cats to Oklahoma where they can help her set up a shelter and keep it clean. The psychologist doesn't think she is crazy, just really, really dedicated.

Hmmmmmm..... :eyes:

[IndyOp]

5. You are right about her not adopting out enough cats...

"What Toyya says differentiates her from a collector is that she adopts out animals. Smith says people have reported that Toyya isn't doing adoptions correctly and that she doesn't do them as much as she should. At her Texas City location, ten cats were adopted every month. Since she moved to La Marque, only two cats a month have been adopted. Toyya justifies the low numbers by saying that people in La Marque hate cats."

:(

[Lisa0825]

8. OMIGOD! I live in Texas City!

I'm going to have to ask the folks from Whiskerville if they know her! :wow:

[Lisa0825]

9. Now that I am reading the whole article,

I see that my friend Wydell from Whiskerville was quoted in it, so no need to get her opinion! She made it clear in the article!

The lady said Wydell has more cats and they don't try to close her down. Let me tell ya, Whiskerville is kept IMMACULATELY clean. I am amazed at what a great job they do considering they do have a large population there!

[IndyOp]

10. I think the first few sentences indicate that it smells...

horrendously and further in it states that the cats often have diarrhea, twenty-something have lost their fur from a mite infestation and the woman doesn't believe in cages. I can empathize with her desire to provide the cats with a 'home environment' and not put them in cages, but with that many cats it must increase their stress to be loose - cat fights, competition for food, litterbox squabbles. I hope she gets help quickly...

It is nice to hear that your friend's rescue - Whiskerville - is a great place for cats. Maybe they could take a few of the healthier ones? The kitties that are bound to be adopted quickly?

[Lisa0825]

12. Wydell takes in as many as she can, especially in emergencies.

It wouldn't surprise me if she is called if Toyya shuts down.

At Whiskerville, many of the cats are loose (not in cages). In the front room where customers come, there are usually 6-8 meandering around, totally content, though avoiding interaction with any dogs that customers may bring in. They have other rooms that stay closed, a healthy adult cat room, where all cats have been fixed and are free to roam, with beds, things to climb, cabinets to hide in, etc. I call it the Kitty Palace...





I have never seen a cat fight there. A few hisses and growls, and a random swat, but nothing major. There are similar accomodations kept separate for cats with AIDS, and cats with any illnesses have large, comfortable cages, many two-story with fleece beds and toys.

[IndyOp]

14. I didn't mean to imply that you can't allow cats to be free of cages -

Whiskerville sounds (and looks) really, really great - allowing cats to be free of their cages is wonderful if you have the right set up and make sure that cats that are allowed to interact with each other are healthy. One of the best features of that room is the hidey holes in the cabinet - cats who want a break from the others can crawl into a cubby and feel safe and take a nap.

The description of Toyya's place made it sound like she had over a 100 walking free through the house. At some point, too many cats loose is too many - it increases stress and fights are inevitable.

[Lisa0825]

15. Yeah, from the pics, it looked like they roamed the whole place...

not even the sick ones being quarantined. And feces and urine everywhere is bad for them as well as her! The cats that roam free at Whiskerville are all litter trained. Even the ones brought in as feral learn it, and they are kept confined until the DO learn it.

[IndyOp]

11. Your friends site - Whiskerville - is excellent!

I saw your basket of babies on the site - the first pic of Leander/Magic - so sweet!

I think the new dogs - the 9 babies and their mom - have ringworm. I am probably wrong, just don't know what else would cause them to have big bald spots, especially the pups with bald rings around their eyes. Maybe they've already had treatment and their hasn't been time for the fur to grow back...?

:shrug:

My lab had ringworm before I got him. He is a miracle puppy - he had such a sweet temperament that the people at the shelter donated money to cover the $200 bucks it cost to send him to the vet's to be isolated from other dogs and treated. He was ringworm free, but had some bald patches when I got him. He got a lot cuter when the fur grew back in! :)

[Lisa0825]

13. That's totally possible (ringworm), and if so

they were probably already being treated. Whiskerville has the supplies to treat many things themselves, like ringworm, minor infections, etc., and they have a close working relationship with a local vet for more serious issues. A couple of the basket babies had ringworm when I got them, and I treated them for it. When I first got Jennings, he got a bad upper respiratory infection, and they got me Z-Pak for it. Cleared it right up. So, you could be right about the ringworm, and those pics may have been from before they got treated, or before the hair grew back.

[demnan]

16. Whiskerville is so impeccably clean

I don't think this lady can manage the quality of cleanliness in your facility. (hey- looks cleaner than my condo - ha-ha!

[Lisa0825]

17. Definitely cleaner than MY house!LOL

:rofl:

[demnan]

7. This poor woman has taken on far more than she can handle

I hope she can get some help with the animals and some help for herself as well.