The Vancouver SPCA says it will cost more than $5,000 to treat almost two dozen neglected cats and kittens seized last week from an animal hoarder in East Vancouver.

Special constables convinced the owner to surrender six adult cats and 17 kittens into shelter care this past Friday.

Ryan Voutilainen, manager of the Vancouver branch, describes the condition of the home the felines were taken from as unsanitary for animals and humans alike.

"The filth and diarrhea was piled high on floors, carpets, walls and other items in the home," he said, adding the residence was filled with urine, feces, mould and garbage.

Investigators, who had to wear masks to protect themselves from the ammonia smells, reported only finding one water source for the animals: a bucket with a steel wool scrubbing pad floating in it.

Voutilainen says many of the cats are underweight. He says most of the felines will need treatment for parasites, fleas and mites, as well as disease testing before they can be adopted out. Several of the animals were set to be spayed Tuesday.

The SPCA has alerted local health agencies to the home.

Marcie Moriarty, general manager of provincial cruelty investigations, says criminal charges will be considered against the owner if she doesn't agree to stop keeping multiple animals at the home. She says priority is getting people treatment for what is often a debilitating mental condition.

"Hoarding is a mental illness where there is an inability to see the health and welfare issues. Ultimately, what we want is to get these people the professional help that they need," she told ctvbc.ca.

Moriarty says hoarders often return to their habits if they aren't treated.

"They can promise not to get more animals but inevitably without professional guidance they return to having more animals."

Moriarty says animal hoarders often don't see the harm they are causing to their pets – and themselves.

"The filthy conditions in which the animals are living, the humans are also living in those conditions," she said.

"They're loving them to death – and also themselves to death. It's so sad."

The SPCA attends at least two hoarding-type calls a month in B.C.

Last summer, the agency seized almost 100 cats from a Nanaimo home where officers also discovered dead cats and kittens in a freezer. Several of the animals had found access into the walls and into the ceiling's insulation.