New Owners Of Wealthy South Tampa Persian Cats To Receive Money For All Expenses

TAMPA, FL — For six months following the death of their South Tampa owner on Nov. 26, Cleopatra, Goldfinger, Leo, Midnight, Napoleon, Snowball and Squeaky were locked in cages inside a $2.5 million mansion on South Occident Street.

The seven 5- and 6-year-old Persian cats were fed and cared for by a person assigned to the duty by the estate of their owner, Nancy Sauer. The caretaker stopped by the house several times a day, thanks to hundreds of thousand of dollars set aside to care for the cats.

But the cats were no longer permitted to roam the seven-bedroom, five-bathroom, 4,962-square-foot house that had been their home since Sauer adopted them as kittens.

That's because Sauer, who lived alone and left behind no heirs, willed her mansion and her money to her beloved cats on the condition that they remain in the house and be taken care of until the last cat died.

“She was certainly a cat lady,” Sherry Silk, executive director of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. “I guess she’d had cats all of her life. They were her four-legged family.”

Persian cats, one of the most expensive breed of cats, are coveted for their luxurious long coats, distinctive round faces and gentle temperaments. However, the ancient breed dating back to Persia (modern-day Iran) in 1684 BC also requires constant grooming.

Cat advocacy groups were horrified to learn the solitary fate of the cats, and a Hillsborough County probate judge agreed that it wasn't in the best interests of the cats to remain without owners for the rest of their lives, which could be as long as 10 more years, said Silk.

The probate judge, therefore, ordered that the cats be placed in the care of the Humane Society and adopted after the society carefully vetted cat lovers and chose people who would cherish the cats as much as Sauer did, said Silk.

"Right now, they're just in a much better situation because they're free to roam the cat room here. They're not in cages," said Silk.

Since word spread of the probate judge's ruling, Silk said the Humane Society has received more than 100 applications to adopt them.

One of the cats, Snowball, who has a heart condition, was already adopted by a Tampa Bay veterinarian who'd been caring for the cat. The Humane Society is in the process of setting up second interviews with the other applicants to determine who will adopt the remaining six felines, Silk said.

"Whoever adopts them will be reimbursed for the cost of caring for them for the rest of their lives," Silk said. "Nancy left money to fund all of their vet care, all their grooming, their food, whatever the cats need."

The probate judge ruled that those conditions met the intent of Sauer's bequest while keeping the best interests of the cats in mind.

"They (the new pet parents) don't have to live in a mansion. They just have to live in a nice place, and the most important thing is that the cats will be taken care of," Silk said. "That's what Nancy would have wanted."

She added that the Humane Society will administer the $300,000 inheritance for the care of the cats, and reimburse the new owners for any expenses.

While Silk said she's fully in favor of pet owners include their furry family members in their wills to ensure that they've cared for after the owner dies, she said it's preferable for pets to be placed with family members or friends of the deceased owner or adopted by a family that will love them than to be confined to a home where only their basic needs are met, even if that home happens to be a mansion.