A mum and daughter have cats living in every room of their Wales home, including the bathroom and kitchen, and believe having so many cats is good for their mental health, despite finding it sometimes a “living hell” and “not enjoyable anymore”.
Mum, Karen Smy, 56, and her daughter, Lauren Sheldrick, 26, from Powys, run a small-scale rescue, taking in lost cats or those who have chosen to give up owning a feline friend.
Describing the demands of looking after so many cats, Karen said: “I think there’s about 60 that are rescues, and then if you add Lauren’s eight and you add my 10, you’ve got to be looking at over 70 cats at the minute.”
Karen’s Cat Community began in 2017, and started as there was demand in the area for homes for cats. But it quickly spiraled “out of control” with people eager to get rid of their cats.
The pair are spending in the region of £135 every day on food and litter, and some extra is spent on specialist foods. On top of that, neutering costs £45 for each male cat and £78 for each female, and all of the cats need double vaccinations for £63 each.
Despite the costs, former nursery practitioner, Karen said: “We’re passionate about cats, more than we can explain. I think you’ve got to be a special kind of person to not just love animals, but make animals your world. And a lot of people don’t get that.”
The much-adored animals all have names and unique personalities, and Karen and Lauren can quickly identify each and every one.
Lauren, a trained art and design teacher, now works in the charity sector but said she relies on the animals. She explained: “I have been through a lot of experiences with friends and family, where people have let me down and I haven’t been in very nice situations and that’s what’s pushed me to cats. These guys never really let me down.”
She even finds owning cats useful as a “dating deterrent”, particularly if someone isn’t going to “stick around” once finding out she lives with so many cats.
Despite the family’s love for the animals, owning so many cats takes its toll. Karen admitted: “It’s not enjoyable anymore, it’s got to the stage where it’s hard work and sometimes it’s a living hell.”
The mother and daughter regularly go to bed in the early hours of the morning, only to wake up just a few hours later to begin their daily feeding and cleaning routine.
However, they believe the “positives outweigh the negatives”, despite the hard times.
Lauren added: “My mum has always been my best friend…Now we’re both here, as adult women, and this is what makes us happy.”
