The term “crazy cat lady” is alive and well in popular culture, but no one dons the title as well as Lynea Lattanzio of Parlier, CA. But despite giving up her 4,200 square foot home to over 1,000 cats, she doesn’t seem so crazy, after all.
“I’m at the top of the list of eccentric cat ladies,” Lattanzio said in an interview with Barcroft Media. “I don’t think there has been anyone who has lived with 28,000 cats in 24 years. That’s probably a record.”
For Lattanzio, it all began in 1992, after her father asked her to bring home some kittens. Lattanzio ended up bringing home 15, and in that year alone, rescued and rehomed 96 cats. She soon realized that it was her calling and began rescuing and rehoming cats for a living.
“Back then I was single, had no kids and bought this 4,200 square foot home and thought what am I thinking. I started taking in cats but it wasn’t my intention to have 1,000 plus cats – but it’s happened one step at a time,” said Lattanzio.
At first, Lattanzio lived with the cats inside of her home, but as the numbers grew, it become too much. She soon relocated to a mobile home located on her property, an area she deems her “no cat zone.”
These days, her cat house has a name, “Cat House on the Kings,” and is the largest no-cage, no-kill shelter and sanctuary for feral and abandoned cats. Over the years, her ranch has acquired a full staff and volunteers that tend to the cats.
And Lattanzio even obtained a veterinary technician license in order to keep the cats’ medical costs low. On the property, there is an ICU where rescued cats receive medical attention.
Perhaps what sets Lattanzio apart from the rest of the self proclaimed cat ladies out there is that she aims to find every single one of them new homes. On her site, she currently has 500 cats up for adoption, “friendly and ready to go.”
While more than 38 million households own cats in the U.S., there’s always another home out their looking for a new furry feline friend.
