I think the title is significant - The Hoarder. Animal hoarding is a symptom of mental illness. Of course, the individual who hoards animals doesn't see it as harmful or dangerous. If this were simply a poem about someone who loved cats and had a bunch of them, I don't think the author would have chosen this title.
The poem very effectively offers the hoarder's perspective - both a justification to N's concerned children and a glimpse into why N loves these animals and the comfort they provide at this stage in N's life. Still, if N is truly a hoarder, in the clinical sense, N is not rational.
Though a couple others have mentioned the title and its potential implication, I seem to be alone in my interpretation. I may be going out on a limb, but I think this is a brilliant portrayal of an animal hoarder. Well done!
Animal hoarding is keeping a higher-than-usual number of animals as domestic pets without having the ability to properly house or care for them, while at the same time denying this inability. Compulsive hoarding can be characterized as a symptom of mental disorder rather than deliberate cruelty towards animals. Hoarders are deeply attached to their pets and find it extremely difficult to let the pets go. They typically cannot comprehend that they are harming their pets by failing to provide them with proper care.
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