SFist loves animals. But even we got a bit of an allergic sniffle when we read about the more than 80 cats taken from a home in San Carlos on Friday. Achoo! And, surely, pee-ew.

These sort of stories always redefine the term "Crazy Cat Lady," and it seems almost always to be an elderly lady. Don't they worry about the cats eating their faces when they die in the house? SFist does and that's why we stop in the single digits. It starts as a seemingly noble desire to take care of helpless animals and keep them from being euthanized in shelters but then degenerates into inbreeding and the grossest shag carpets known to man. Sadly, many of the cats found in hoarding situations will have to be euthanized as they're sick or unfit for adoption. Animal hoarding is a new area of study for veterinarians interested in public policy and the disorder is often linked or is similar to other OCD types of disorders.

However, 80 isn't nearly the record, not even for the bay area. Marilyn Barletta of San Francisco was arrested in 2001 after nearly 200 cats were found in her Petaluma house. Of note was that Barletta didn't live there (we can't imagine why not...), instead she just bought the house for the cats. SFist can't afford to buy a hovel but she bought a $250,000 house just for her cats. Crazy! Crazy cat lady.

The San Carlos cats are being checked out by animal control and those that can be adopted will be available this week.

SFist Mary-Lynn, contributing.