Catteries full to bursting as kitten season peaks

Cat shelters across the West Midlands are full to capacity as kitten season peaks, with charities urging owners to get their pets neutered.

According to the RSPCA, there was a 72% rise in cats going into their care last year, leaving rehoming centres struggling for space.

A trustee at the charity's Worcester and Mid-Worcestershire cattery said: "We've got a problem with people not neutering their animals and therefore cats are breeding quite heavily all year round.

"But particularly May to September is when we see an awful lot of kittens come into care."

The charity's centre at The Holdings near Kempsey is currently 90% full, with dozens of cats waiting to be rehomed.

Staff say it is critical to spread the word about neutering to stop the cycle of unwanted litters and overpopulation.

"The boys will travel for miles to find these girls, they will then have these baby kittens, often born in gardens, often born in sheds," the trustee said.

"Then we'll get phone calls from members of the public who have found kittens born at the bottom of the garden."

Natalie Bhangal, from Bascote Heath in Warwickshire, discovered a female cat with two kittens in her garage in May.

"It was very apparent that the mum was domesticated as she went straight into a litter tray," she said. "She was very, very skinny, she ate so much food."

The personal trainer reached out online to try to track down the owners, but nobody came forward to claim her.

She took the mum and her litter to the vet before contacting Cats Protection, who told her it was likely the animals had been "dumped".

Eventually she decided to give the kittens a permanent home, buying them back after they had been spayed, for £120 each. "We all fell in love with them," she said.

Last month, Wings and Paws Rescue in Wolverhampton rescued five kittens dumped in a cat carrier by a canal during a heatwave.

The charity said in a Facebook update it was "bursting at the seams" and pleaded for help with kitten food supplies.

Claire Underwood, deputy manager at Cats Protection Herefordshire Cat Centre, said: "It's amazing how many cats are unwanted all through the year, every year, unfortunately.

"We're right in the middle of the peak of the kitten season at the moment, and they're keeping us very busy."

She said charities ensured cats were neutered before they were rehomed, and highlighted means-tested neutering schemes for people on low incomes and benefits.

She highlighted the "massive health benefits" of neutering cats.

"By letting their cat have kittens and not be neutered it can make their cats be susceptible to being infected with the FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency) virus and for females in particular a higher risk of having mammary tumours."

Cat behaviour expert Celia Haddon said the cost-of-living crisis had affected people's ability to neuter their cats.

She said unneutered males roamed for miles and got into fights with others, and pointed out kittens could get pregnant at just three months.

"It's the kindest, nicest thing you can do for them because otherwise they end up usually dying young because of too much kitten-bearing," she said.

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