
The Case of the Victorian Cat Ladies - Avawelles
https://mimimatthews.com/2016/06/30/the-case-of-the-victorian-cat-ladies/
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manachar
"Was the stench at Llandudno House really so ungodly awful? Personally, it is
hard for me to imagine a smell so strong that it would overtake all the
neighboring houses and cause visitors to break out in a feverish sweat."

This author has never been to a cat hoarder's house. Yes, the smell is that
bad. The ammonia can be bad enough to literally burn while breathing and
requires respirators to trap

Add it Victorian era hygiene standards and construction along with the boiling
cabbage and fish offal, and you've got the recipe for a horrible smell.

Like many modern cat hoarders, they start as semi-rescues, then gradually
snowball to more cats than can be provided for. It's fascinating that this
tale seem remarkably similar, including the somewhat standoffish approach of
law enforcement (who often will not or cannot get involved until it becomes a
health hazard).

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ScottBurson
OT: _the houses were jerry-built_

Ah! A usage of "jerry-built" from well before WWII. I guess it's not a
reference to German engineering after all.

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Avawelles
In the OED, it has jerry-built dating to 1869 and defined as "Built
unsubstantially of bad materials; built to sell, but not to last."

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trhway
cats are very clean animals. They wouldn't do their business just anywhere. If
that place is inside the house it is just a matter of regular cleaning of it.
Back then, a colony of a farm cats (very close to feral) lived in the attic of
my grandmother's house. The attic was clean, they just didn't do it there,
probably they were aware that their residence there would overwise be pretty
soon terminated. I also once was to a city apartment (in a typical 9-story
building in St.Petersburg, pretty high density) where an old lady lived with
17 cats. It was wonderful - they were like kind of furry tornado moving from
place to place. The apartment was really clean. Cats were healthy, happy and
clean. No smell, etc. Several years ago a couple of 20-something girls moved
in to the apartments that we lived at the time. They had a couple of cats.
Soon the smell of feces started coming from behind their door and hang in the
hallway. A bunch of other people there, including us, had cats too, and it was
clear that the girls just didn't take even minimal care. In about a month
management had them out.

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Avawelles
Modern cat hoarding can be really, really bad, but even at its worst, I think
the smell must still be better than that in the same situation in the
Victorian era. We have better construction now and many more options for
keeping things clean, like enzyme sprays, carpet shampooers, vacuums, and
odor-busting cat litter. Back then, the scent of unaltered cat pee would have
quickly overtaken the house. With the cabbage and the fish offal, I can see
why nuisance officer broke out in a feverish sweat (and I'm not even 100% sure
what fish offal is!).

