By Deborah HusoWith more than 100 cats living in her home, 65-year-old Diane of Toronto lives in conditions some would describe as squalid. She believes she is saving feral felines from a life on the streets, but has she gone too far?
Chances are you've met or at least heard about someone like Diane, whose pet obsession seems to outweigh every other consideration in life. You may have dismissed the person as a "crazy cat lady" and thought no more about it. On ABC's 20/20,, Elizabeth Vargas interviewed filmmaker Christie Callan-Jones about her latest project, Cat Ladies, which follows the lives of four Toronto women, Diane among them, whose devotion to their felines might strike some as out of control. Click the video below to watch a clip from 20/20's "Inside the Hidden World of Cat Ladies." Story continues below.
Is there really such a thing as cat addiction, and should people who suffer from it be assigned to therapy?
Naftali Berrill, Ph.D., Director of the New York Center for Neuropsychology and Forensic Behavioral Science doesn't necessarily think so. Berrill says a number of people with schizoid personality disorder (SPD) rely on pets for emotional sustenance. "These may be people who have a very hard time expressing themselves to other people," he explains. "They may find the human need for affection is met most easily through a relationship with a pet."
On the other hand, individuals suffering from schizotypal personality disorder may also exhibit a particular affinity for pets. Schizotypals often prefer social isolation and can demonstrate eccentric behaviors, where pets can sometimes become a substitution for children or family.
Berrill says it's not uncommon for people suffering from depression to be particularly devoted to their pets. And he doesn't think that pet-human connection, no matter how odd it may seem to outsiders, is necessarily something to worry about. "The only time you should worry is if the person stops being functional, is spending money on the pets they should be spending on themselves, is living in unsanitary conditions, or the pets are reproducing uncontrollably." In those instances, Berrill says the individual might benefit from therapy to examine how they are or aren't getting their emotional needs met.
"Everything else," he adds, "is a matter of personal taste."
Berrill cautions people against being too quick to judge, pointing out that pets can often be a person's only source of unconditional love. "Think about elderly or infirm people," he says. "A pet may be the thing that makes the difference to them. There are two sides to this coin."
