Quote Originally Posted by momoffuzzyfaces View Post
Not all of us are lucky enough to have family or friends close by.
How true a statement! I'm in that position myself. No family nearby and friends live not too close by and many travel for work, so I often wonder how long it would be before someone found me if anything happened to me.

As for the utilities being turned off, she may have done that to keep from being discovered or she may not have the money to pay the bill. I visited a woman who has 27 cats and she couldn't afford to get her AC fixed and her stove and oven didn't work and she couldn't afford to get that fixed either. The smell was pretty bad in that house this summer because she kept all the windows closed because she doesn't want all of her neighbors to know how many cats she has. She can't cook for herself because her stove and oven don't work so I'm not sure what she eats. The cats were all healthy and well taken care of but she was thin as a rail and getting up in years. This is why I say "people first". I don't mean that we should be selfish and take care only of ourselves and let our furkids have second best. But I do mean that if we're not paying our bills, our mortgage/rent, having necessary repairs done, causing problems w/in the family, isolating ourselves because we don't want people to know how many cats we have, allowing cats to destroy our home, etc., then clearly the cats are in control of our lives. Sad but totally unnecessary.