In 1981, Lynea Lattanzio found herself purchasing a 6 acre property in California after a very painful divorce. She wanted a quieter life next to a river but it did not take long for Lynea to ask herself,
“What was I thinking, single woman with no children living in a big house on 6 acres?”
What Lynea needed was a new purpose and she found it through an unexpected source, cats.
Since 1981, Lynea has turned her property into a no-cage cat sanctuary and cat adoption center for feral or abandoned cats, titled “The Cat House on the Kings”. Throughout the years she has purchased a neighboring 6 acres of land and build cat-proof fencing around the entire 12 acres. She still lives on the property but she now has 1,100 cat roommates. The main house has become dedicated to the cats and Lynea moved into a rental on the property.
Lynea does not mind the downgrade in housing because she knows she has found her life’s calling.
“When I first started this endeavor, I was out of my own pocket for seven years. I spent my retirement, I sold my car, I sold my wedding ring,” Lynea admits happily.
In 1993, Lynea became a veterinary technician, which helped cut her costs. As The Cat House on the Kings cat population grew throughout the 1990s, added staff, volunteers and financial donations helped dramatically. Then in 2002, The Cat House on the Kings gained non-profit status.
The current cost to keep The Cat House on the Kings surviving is 1.2 million dollars a year!
“We have a hospital, an ICU, a kitten quarantine, a senior quarantine, but that is where our critically ill cats stay. We have a vet that comes once a week to check our animals. We take animals into him every day for check and we have seven vet techs on staff,” Lynea explains.
Lynea might love living alongside all her cats, her main mission is to find them all loving homes. She has an adoption center onsite and an adoption application on their website. The website also lists some of the cats that are currently up for adoption, such as this cutie pie named Posey, right below. It states that Posey loves being snuggled, carried around and climbing her cat tree. She also has a brother and sister that she loves to run around and play with.
Since Lynea has opened her home to cats in the early 1980s she has also opened her home to dogs too. She might not have as many but she is still saving thousands of dogs. The Cat House on the Kings website states,
“The Cat House on the Kings has saved over 30,000 cats and 7,100 dogs (not counting the 56,000 animals we have spayed and neutered)!”
Buying the original 6 acre property started with solely wanting a new and quiet life near a river, but has turned into California’s largest no-cage and no-kill cat sanctuary. She did not know her life would lead her to where it has but for the over 37,000 animals she has saved, thankfully it did. She is the ultimate cat lady there has ever been.
Press play below to watch Lynea give a tour of her house and 1,100 cat roomies.
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