Latest cat rescue stretches charity

By Dan Santy 01/08 Updated: 02/08 16:16

Buy photos » Rugby Cats Protection fosterer Joe Long and secretary Eva Goodwin with some of the kittens in need of new homes. 31.012.029.rug.jm

A CHARITY already struggling to rehome cats has seen its waiting list double after taking in 24 kittens from a single house.

Rugby Cats Protection volunteers were called to the home of a woman in Newbold whose 11 unneutered cats had given birth to the kittens, leaving the owner struggling to cope. It meant there were a total of 35 cats in the house - the most ever seen by the charity's volunteers in one place.

Secretary Eva Goodwin said: "The lady living there called us and said she had a few too many cats, so our volunteers got there you can imagine how surprised they were to find so many.

"We've never see so many in one house before. They weren't being neglected or anything and the lady was doing the best she could to care for them, but she had too many to handle."

All 24 kittens are now living with Cats Protection volunteers for the time being until new homes can be found for them, and 11 adult cats from the woman's house will also be taken in once they have been neutered.

But in the current climate that will prove tricky, with families willing to adopt cats from the charity in short supply.

Before the new arrivals the charity had some 30 cats on its adoption waiting list, meaning this has effectively been doubled after the intake of kittens.

Ms Goodwin said: "It's really tough at the moment. We get a lot of calls about rehoming cats, but we struggle to find people to adopt them, and now this case has effectively doubled our waiting list.

"Unfortunately this case is a sign of the times. People are in financial hardship and so often, things like neutering of pets fall by the wayside.

"Sometimes, it is just lack of awareness of the importance of neutering that results in cases like these. Cat numbers can soon get out of hand and kittens grow into adults which then add to our ever growing number of unwanted cats."

Anyone interested in adopting an unwanted cat should visit www.rugby.cats.org.uk or call 01788 570010.