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A seemingly abandoned house in Philadelphia actually housed 16 residents – all cats.
A building contractor discovered nine adult cats and seven kittens trapped in the walls of a recently purchased home in West Philadelphia on Sunday. The contractor brought the “wall cats” to the Animal Care & Control team in Philadelphia, where they will be looked after until someone adopts them.
When the contractor got to the house to tear down the walls, a kitten with dry rot fell out of a wall. Realizing that more cats must be trapped in the walls, he spent eight hours rescuing every cat he could find, boxing them up and taking them to the ACCT.
All cats were rescued except for one kitten, who was in particularly poor health upon arrival at the ACCT.
The cats were covered in urine and feces and probably wouldn’t have survived long inside the walls without a way out, said Sarah Barnett, director of development and communications at ACCT.
“We are very grateful for that [the contractor] brought her in and he saved her life, “Barnett said in an interview with NBC10.
It’s likely the cats have been trapped in the walls for about five days, Barnett said. The free range cats likely climbed a hole in the wall for shelter and then were caught when the contractor filled in the hole last week.
The cats appear to be doing fine at the foster home, but they need help with socialization, Barnett said. ACCT seeks the public to help by becoming foster parents for adult cats or a litter of kittens.
Before adoption, ACCT plans to help the cats recover and then spray and neuter them.
It’s “kitten season” right now, so ACCT takes in dozens of cats and kittens every day. ACCT is the only open shelter in Philadelphia.
“We can stop this cycle of overpopulation. We can stop this cycle of breeding. We can give the cats the medical care they need, ”said Barnett in an interview.
