My MIL is 61 years old. She went through hip replacement surgery a couple of years ago and never really recovered 100%. A couple of weeks ago, she fell in her home and had to be taken to the ER. During this time, she called her son to check on her cats. When we entered the home, it became obvious that she had not been cleaning her home or removing garbage for quite a long time. It was shocking to us, as we had just been out to lunch with her in the previous week, and she had mentioned nothing wrong. This lack of housekeeping had to have been going on for months. So now we are trying to get things back on track, but it's slow going since both my husband and I work full time. After her first trip to the ER, she was referred to social services, and the social worker reported her home to the city Dept. of Neighborhood Services. We haven't gotten anything regarding code violations, but I imagine it's just a matter of time. I'm assuming that they will order the inside to be cleaned at a bare minimum.
She actually fell again last week and has since been admitted into the hospital. She's been there about a week, so it's given us some time to work on the housecleaning and organization. We are really worried that she won't be able to return home. Another huge concern is that she has five cats, and they are really important to her. We are not sure what is going to happen. Best case scenario is that the city will make her get rid of (2) of them, as the legal limit is (3). Worst case - they will make her find new homes for all of them (or even seize the cats if she doesn't do that). We both know that will crush her, but we're not sure in all honesty that she can take properly care of the cats herself. A pet sitter might be an option if she's able to go home, but I'm not sure if she'll agree to that. We're also going to be talking to her about a professional cleaning service, as there are things like carpet that are above what we can do as far as cleaning goes.
My husband has POA. It was set up before her surgery a couple of years ago. It was one of those "just in case" things, so he doesn't know a whole lot about it. I'm interested in finding out how others have helped their loved ones. It's hard because she doesn't want any other family involved. I feel bad about this situation with my MIL. Thanks in advance.
You will need tough love with her, either she hires help or the cats will need to be re-homed with new families. It's not fair to the animals. With 5 cats, experts tell us that she would need to have 6 litter boxes.
As far as an animal limit, the city where she lives sets a limit on how many animals you can legally have. It's (3) cats or (3) dogs or a combination of the two. I don't think it's generally enforced, but if they come in to look at code violations, they may catch on and decide force her to remove some or all of the cats. You can actually buy a special license called "Animal Fancier" that allows you to keep up to (5) animals, but it's one that needs to be approved. She may be able to apply for this, provided we get the property up to code.
That being said, with the problems that are happening with animal care (cats were going to the bathroom outside of their boxes because they weren't being cleaned at all), the city might not give her the permit.
Contact your county agency on aging for programs, such as Case Management, Meals on Wheels, Adult Day Care, housing, care referrals, etc,... go to the website link below.... click on your State.... now click on the city/county. https://www.agingcare.com/local/Area-Agency-on-Aging
I am curious about the "legal limit" on the cats? Never heard of that. Or is your Mom-in-law living in public housing where the lease limits the number of pets to 3?