Well, I've been inspected by both an Animal Control officer and an animal cruelty officer [neighbor's complaints] and both were actually quite upset to have their time wasted because my animals are all healthy, groomed, well-fed and my house is very clean - much cleaner, I might add, than lots of homes where there aren't any animals! I remember going to see homes when I was buying a new house and being completely horrified at the conditions that most people live! But a dirty house or a lot of animals is not what determines hoarding... If you have ever been in a hoarder's house, you would know that you can tell from the door and without even walking into the home whether there is hoarding or not going on because the smell and the clutter gives them away - my house usually smells of lavender [partly because I like it and partly because it's a calming scent], there is no clutter and you don't see a single thing out of place because I am a bit of a maniac when it comes to that -my children say that I have OCD because I constantly 'pick up' after them and my grandkids, my closet is entirely color-coordinated and the cans and boxes in my pantry are all facing the same way
But it is actually a misconception to think that a normal person would become a hoarder because of lack of money or illness. Hoarders have mental issues, they are not normal people. Normal people realize it when things are beginning to deteriorate and fall between the cracks and do something about it. It's true that I am getting old and it is becoming more and more challenging for me to keep up so, although I was originally planning to wait until I moved back home to get a housekeeper, my husband has already put his foot down and told me to get somebody to come over once a week to do the thorough cleaning - not that he cares as I do about order and cleanliness, mind you, because he is the kind that NEVER hangs his keys on the hook for them, takes off his shoes and leaves them there on the floor and hangs his pajama pants from the hook of the bathroom door instead of putting them either away or in the hamper
, but he doesn't want me to work so much...
So, in answer to your question, I think that if I had to be taken to the hospital or suddenly died and people came into my house, they would say I was a good, clean housewife because they would find healthy, well-fed, content animals and a clean house as well as a backyard without a single poop in it [I pick it up twice a day and I do the cats litter boxes always two but, sometimes, three times a day - see? OCD