GRAPHIC: 22 cats abandoned in Iowa mobile home, most surviving for weeks in filth

CARTER LAKE, Iowa (WOWT) - Nearly two dozen cats were found abandoned in awful conditions in a Carter Lake home.

Authorities say the owner left them locked inside a mobile home, and that they were without food and water for more than a month.

Isaiah Langworthy with Muddy Paws animal rescue has a new friend: May. She’s about 2-3 years old and has a lot to say.

May is one of the lucky ones; she survived several weeks of neglect inside a Carter Lake mobile home.

WARNING: Some may find the details below too disturbing.

“Eighteen cats that we found alive... with an additional four cats that were deceased that we know of; with there possibly being more deceased cats inside the home,” Langworthy said.

Conditions inside the mobile home seem unimaginable.

“Absolutely deplorable, I would say probably a biohazard. The bathtub was completely — probably three-fourths of the way full of cat poop. The litter boxes were overrunning. There was anywhere from two to four inches of cat poop on the ground throughout the entire house,” Langworthy said. “We found a cat dead inside a box. There was a carcass of a cat that had been eaten by its friends that were inside the house because they had no access to food; as well as dead kittens that looked only to be days old. No real access to clean water. The gas had actually been left on, so they were being poisoned at the same time with that gas.”

A neighbor says no one has lived here for several weeks.

Langworthy said Muddy Paws volunteers spent nearly three hours inside the home.

“We’ve all been in rescue for a long time, and combined we’ve probably got 60 years of rescue, and between the three of us that were there at first — and none of us had seen anything quite like that.”

Those cats like May that survived were in dire shape.

“The cats are very emaciated; they’re very thin, they are dehydrated, and everybody was very filthy,” Langworthy said. “How you can tell a cat is dehydrated is it quits bathing itself. And all of these cats look like they are gray.”

Survivors are being sent to area animal hospitals. As for May, she may have found a new home.

6 News checked with Carter Lake Police, Fire, and Animal Control about the situation for more information and possible charges against the owner.

They all said the investigation is ongoing and declined further comment.