So my friend/coworker asked me to watch her cats when they go on vacation. So I go over the other day and the place is ….overwhelming. She has 4 cats (2 of which were street cats and are fractious) and a large German Shepard (very sweet). In about 700sqft. The apartment was filthy, smelled very strongly of animals, so much pet hair you couldn’t see the carpets, fleas jumping on my feet, moldy dishes in the sink, cat litter and feces everywhere. It was bad.
She has opened up about her mental illness and her husband’s mental illness. It isn’t like Hoaders level bad. But it’s bad. I’m VERY concerned about the toddler’s health.
She works with me. Our toddler’s play together. I just can’t stand the thought of her being in that situation.
My coworker seems to wear clean clothes. Her toddler is always in clean clothes. They have an odor but I always attributed that to what she said about her depression. It was semi tolerable so I didn’t want to embarrass her.
I did have a talk with her and tell her that I’m understanding but I can’t watch her cats due to fleas jumping on my feet. I also told her I value her friendship and want to support her and find some help to clean up.
I don’t want but feel like I probably have to call CPS and probably animal control.
What should I do?
Comments
Make the calls. Who will protect the baby and the animals if you don’t?
I would start with organizing that cleaning support for them. Once that’s done, help her make a schedule to keep the house clean. And check after a month or so if she can keep up.
Sometimes what people need most is a little help to see that light at the end of the tunnel again. Having mental health problems can make it impossible to climb a mountain when standing at the bottom, to the point of not even being able to take that first step anymore.
As she does care for appearance, and she and her child appear clean when outside, she seems to value cleanliness more than her house shows. A little help in such situations might be just enough to help people get back on track.
This would be different in a hoarder situation, or when people have no clue about cleanliness at all. But with depression and alike problems, it can make a world of difference.
If she can’t keep up afterwards, then it would become time to have more serious conversations and/or notify external parties to support her.