Last night, as I was in the bed with one of the cats on my chest, I said my usual prayer for a long life so I could survive to take care of all the people and things that needed me: my husband, my son, my seven cats.
Then I had an epiphany about why animal hoarders keep so many pets. It's a form of immortality for us. As long as something needs you, then nothing can happen to us. The more cats, the more we are needed, even if we have long ago passed the ability to take care of those animals in any meaningful way. You still have the sense of a large population depending on you.
It makes sense, since so many hoarders are single, older women who may not be able to define their purpose in life in any other way.
