In 1992 Lynea Lattanzio’s father asked for her help in finding a new cat. She came home with 15 kittens.

Since that day, 67-year-old Mrs Lattanzio has been surrounded by feline friends.

“I’m gonna say that I’m at the top of the list of the eccentric, crazy cat ladies,” she tells Barcroft TV.

“I’ve taken in and lived with 28,000 cats. That’s probably a record.”

The Cat House On The Kings is currently home to 800 adult cats and 300 kittens, which have all been taken in as either feral or abandoned animals.

"I’m at the top of the list of the eccentric, crazy cat ladies" (Barcroft TV)

Based in California, the sanctuary allows its residents to roam freely around the 12 acre land.

I’ve taken in and lived with 28,000 cats. That’s probably a record. <p>Lynea Lattanzio</p>

The sheer quantity of felines on the property forced Lynea to leave her five-bed house to the cats and set herself up in a mobile home.

“There wasn’t room for me anymore. I ended up with 60 some cats in my bedroom with dogs and I just said that’s it and I moved out,” Mrs Lattanzio recalls.

One of the sanctuary's slightly tubbier residents (Barcroft TV)

The cost of housing so many moggies is substantial, even after having trained as a vet herself to keep bills down.

Including staffing, food, litter, maintenance and medical fees, the sanctuary runs up a bill of roughly $1.6 million a year.

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“When I first started this endeavour I was out my own pocket for 7 years. I spent my retirement, I sold my car, I sold my wedding ring,” she explains, as if nothing would be worth keeping over the cats.

The premises boast a hospital, an intensive care unit and quarantines for both seniors and kittens.

(Barcroft TV)