I should also add that I’ve taught many presentations about animal hoarding, and it’s certainly something to take seriously, possibly as a mental illness. However, vetbridge’s decisions about whether to refer her to a shrink for help need, IMO, to be separate from his decisions about whether to tell her about a relative sneaking around behind her back trying to thwart her choices about how to spend money. Obtaining too much vet care for one’s animals is not a symptom of animal hoarding; on the contrary, it’s a contraindication:
(emphasis added).
If she’s not afflicted with animal hoarding, of course, it’s possible she’s got another mental illness–but at that point, it’s not one that vetbridge is in a situation to do anything about at all.
Daniel