13 Feline Heirs Believed Killed in House Fire

Neighbors called it the Cat House--a three-bedroom home where the only residents for more than a year were the 13 well-tended cats whose owner left the house to them in her will before she died in 1993.

All the pets were believed dead after a weekend fire that caused more than $100,000 damage to the otherwise unoccupied home. Fire officials said Monday that investigators had not yet determined the cause of the blaze, which broke out about 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

The bodies of 10 of the cats were recovered shortly after the fire. Another cat--Lucy--was discovered dead Monday, according to people who tended the animals.

“I’m completely out of my mind,” said Doris Duewiger, who drove from her home in Long Beach twice a week to feed and clean up after the cats after their owner, Rachel Whitten, died in August, 1993. “They were always there for love. They’d get up on the counter by the sink, and I went down the line, calling each one by name and saying, ‘I love you.’ ”

Whitten lived alone with her pets and left the house to them in her will, Duewiger said. A longtime friend of Whitten and a cat lover, Duewiger said she was appointed in the will to care for the pets. She has gotten help from a neighbor of the Whitten home who feeds the cats daily.

The 1,100-square-foot house in the 7800 block of Ruthann Avenue was fully furnished, its lawn clipped by a gardener every two weeks. Three air conditioners ran nonstop during the summer to keep the cats cool. A radio was left on constantly to keep them company.

“I don’t think it’s that strange,” said Gene Rice, whose wife, Benita, made twice-daily visits to the house to refill the food and water dishes and air out the house. “I’ve seen a lot of other strange things around the neighborhood other than that.”

Rice said Whitten was reclusive but known by neighbors to be a cat fancier. After her death, Rice said, he found a mountain of cat litter scattered around the back yard. “There’s got to be a ton of it or two out there. Or three,” he said.

Rice said his wife and Duewiger had sought to place the animals in new homes after Whitten’s death but did not get responses from the attorney handling the estate. The caretakers thought the felines, though friendly and well looked after, were isolated.

They were “lonely because there wasn’t anybody there all day long,” said Duewiger.

Duewiger said she was at the house about six hours before the fire was reported and noticed nothing unusual. She said the only appliance on was the radio. Though fire officials had drawn no conclusions, Duewiger said tearfully that she suspects the fire was deliberately set.

“They could have broken in and taken anything they wanted to--just leave the kitties alone,” Duewiger said.