A&E’s Hoarders offers viewers an unflinching look at how debilitating hoarding disorders can be, shining a spotlight on heartbreaking living situations and helping those who have nowhere else to turn. But despite being a so-called “reality” show, not everything the show presents is completely factual. Here are six things Hoarders gets wrong about having a bunch of mummified cats in your bathtub.
1. It’s hard to take a bath in a bathtub filled with mummified cats.
Let’s attack this myth head-on. On Hoarders, when the hoarding experts find that a hoarder’s bathtub is filled with mummified cats, they will often say something along the lines of, “Where are you bathing?” or, “It must be impossible for you to bathe here.” These responses are complete BS. First of all, haven’t these “experts” ever heard of MOVING THINGS? Like, how hard do they think it is to push a bunch of mummified cats (which weigh next to nothing, as all of the moisture/fluids have dried up) out of the way for 10 minutes while taking a bath? Plus, worst case scenario, you run a bath with the cats in there, they become temporarily rehydrated (which, if anything, just makes them cleaner and safer to bathe with next time), and they dry back out in a matter of days.
2. A bathtub filled with mummified cats is worthless.
It’s a common feature of hoarding disorders that the sufferer erroneously believes that the worthless items they are holding onto actually have value, but in the case of mummified cats, that couldn’t be further from the truth. A quick search of eBay or Etsy reveals that mummified cats actually command a decent chunk of change, as the oddities market is currently thriving thanks to tattoo artists and goths looking for unusual decor. Throwing away a bathtub filled with mummified cats is basically like throwing away a bathtub filled with cash.
3. A bathtub filled with mummified cats is unhygienic.
The psychologists on Hoarders may be experts on mental disorders and psychological treatments, but that doesn’t mean they know the first thing about bacteria and germs. Think about it: Even the cleanest kitchen in the world is home to more bacteria than the most mummified cat-filled bathtub. In the average kitchen, you’ll find raw meat, dairy, and decomposing vegetables exposing the space to untold germs all day long—and yet people see no issue with preparing food there. A bathtub filled with a few dozen mummified cats is actually much cleaner in comparison: Not only are the cats free from any sort of fluids or juices that would make them prone to spoilage, but also, the shape of the bathtub itself keeps any germs that might be present from spreading.
4. Guests will be repulsed by a bathtub filled with mummified cats.
When Hoarders assumes that anyone who visits your home would be horrified by seeing a bathtub filled with mummified cats, they’re basically claiming to have read the minds of every person on earth, which just isn’t fair. Everyone has their own tastes and interests and what one person considers a “terrifying pile of rot and death” another may consider “a pretty neat pile of bones and skin.” A bathtub filled with mummified cats may not be for everyone, but neither is eating sushi or driving an orange car. Just because one person isn’t into it doesn’t mean everyone won’t be.
5. It will be hard to find love if your bathtub is filled with mummified cats.
If Hoarders has taught us anything, it’s that no matter how bad someone’s mental illness gets, love still endures. Husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, and parents all stick by their loved ones no matter how deeply they are buried in their own trash, showing up in their times of need to lend a helping hand and throw away old piss bottles. So to claim that someone is never going to find love because their bathtub is filled with dead cats is flat out wrong. Could it present a challenge? Sure. But it may also serve as a bonding point that brings someone special even closer. You never know.
6. Your life will improve if your bathtub isn’t filled with mummified cats.
The producers of Hoarders seem to be pretty stuck on the idea that they are making people’s lives better when they clean all of the mummified cats out of their bathtubs. But to prove this scientifically, you would need to have a control group of similar people who didn’t have the mummified cats cleaned out of their tubs. Then, and only then, could you compare the two groups and see whose lives were better. You can hypothesize all you want that removing the entangled mess of dried cat limbs and feline leather will “help,” but without anything to compare it to, all you’ve got is a theory, based on nothing more than assumptions.
