Cat Lady In Peru, Nurse Maria Torero, Shelters 175 Sick Cats In Home

If you heard of a woman who lived with 175 cats, then chances are you would assume this individual took the name 'crazy cat lady' to heart. But in the case of 45-year-old nurse, Maria Torero, her home has become a makeshift feline center where she takes care of sick cats that are dying.

In fact, Torero has turned her two-story Peruvian home, which also houses her three children, into a sanctuary for cats with feline leukemia where the cats can die naturally. Her eight-room residence is filled with feeding dishes and litter boxes. Torero's "felinatarian" efforts have been going on for the past five years.

When Torero is told to shelter healthy cats that are not dying, she refuses. "That's not my role," she tells The Associated Press. "I'm a nurse. My duty is to the cats that nobody cares about." Torero adds that "people don't adopt adult cats, especially if they are terminally ill."

How does Torero find these cats? On the streets of Lima, Peru, Torero has stray cats tested for leukemia. According to Torero, a vast majority of street cats have disease -- which is not contagious to humans. Since the disease is transmitted from cat-to-cat via direct contact (through sharing litter boxes, water bowls and mutual grooming), Torero takes the adult cats to help prevent the spread of the feline illness. "Bringing a kitten here is condemning it to death," she told the AP.

Providing care for these cats is no small task, as Torero spends an estimated $1,785 a month in medicines, sterilizing the animals, and treating them for parasites. She explains that she is able to make ends meet from her job as a private nurse and from donations. What she does not have the resources for; however, is putting the sick cats down.