I was unsurprised to learn that it costs $1.6 million to run The Cat House on the Kings but it is an extraordinarily large figure. It covers all the expenses such as food, maintenance, staffing, litter, veterinary expenses et cetera.
They have seven veterinary technicians on the staff! Lynea, who owns the sanctuary, is also a trained vet technician. She used of all her savings at the beginning and at one time when she was living in the house there were 60 cats in her bedroom at night.
She now lives in a mobile home in the 12 acre grounds and the main home is given over to the cats. There are 800 cats and 300 kittens. She says that she wants to rehome them and I guess that she might like to reclaim her life. I don’t know. I am speculating but the burden of responsibility in looking after 1100 cats on a day-to-day basis is enormous.
She was fortunate enough to be the beneficiary under the will of a person who had a bit of money which allowed her to add to the amount of land she owns to 12 acres.
Staff at the sanctuary begin their working day at 4 AM. Remarkably it takes from 30 minutes to 1 hour to feed all the cats. I can hardly believe it but it must be an incredible sight. One of the workers there, Frank Lavers, said that he is not a cat person but has learnt to like them. He says that every cat has their own character. He gets to know them and they get to know him.
I wonder how much Lynea misses living in her 4200 ft.² five bedroom home because she is now living in a 1600 square-foot mobile home. No matter how dedicated you are to the welfare of cats it must be a strain. I think that she is the most remarkable cat woman on the planet because she keeps on going under this enormous financial burden and responsibility.
