Forty cats have been rescued from a studio apartment in East Village after the woman who owned them was hospitalized and no longer able to care for them.

It took rescuers three tries over two weeks to find and pluck the cats from the apartment on Imperial Avenue near 14th Street, the San Diego Humane Society said in a news release Monday.

On Aug. 6, someone reported multiple cats and a “strong odor” in the apartment, Humane Society spokesperson Nina Thompson said.

She said the organization’s Humane Law Enforcement officers worked with the building managers and the woman’s family to get inside the apartment and ensure the cats could be safely surrendered.

Thompson said the condition of the apartment and the stress of the animals hiding prompted a “methodical rescue” on three consecutive

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