2 days ago
Why rescue centres in the South West are still struggling to cope with a rise in abandoned kittens
Cat rescue centres across the South West say they are struggling to cope with 'huge' numbers of kittens being abandoned.
It's thought an overhang from the pandemic five years ago is partly responsible, with fewer cats being neutered or spayed at the time.
The Moggery Cat and Kitten Rehoming Centre in Bishopston received more than double their normal intake of abandoned kittens in 2024. They say volunteers rescued an additional 220 cats to what they'd expect during kitten season.
Founder Christine Bayka told ITV West Country huge numbers of people adopted cats during the 2020 lockdown but later changed their mind about owning pets.
She added that fewer cats were neutered or spayed too.
'During the Covid lockdown, the PDSA and RSPCA stopped doing neuters as normal because they could only have one vet in the operating theatre at a time,' said Bayka.
'We continued to neuter cats, but we were only able to do about a quarter of the amount we usually would,' she added.
A lot of rescue centres and animal shelters are now facing a backlog of cases on neutering operations.
This year
At the beginning of this year, the Moggery Rehoming Centre rescued 50 cats and kittens from one flat in Weston-super-Mare.
The cats and kittens filled the centre's capacity for the first three months of 2025, limiting their ability to help other cats.
The issue is being felt in Gloucestershire too. At Cheltenham Animal Shelter, the team has received 34 kittens since the start of this year, while usually at this point they would have usually taken in two to four.
At Bristol and Wales Cat Rescue, a campaign has allowed staff to neuter 50 cats, at no cost to their owners. A spokesperson for the organisation said the campaign has stopped them from receiving an excessive amount of kittens, reducing pressure on their service.
Best practice - advice from Cats Protection
Cats Protection says it's best to neuter cats at around four months old- the age female cats can get pregnant- to prevent them from having unwanted litters. It adds that neutering/spaying cats also has multiple health benefits for them.
Neutering male cats prevents them from wandering far from home in search of a mate, which lowers the chance of them getting injured while roaming. It also reduces the chance of them contracting diseases like Feline AIDS (FIV) and prevents them from getting testicular cancer.
Similarly, spaying female cats can also reduce the chances of them contracting FIV. It also eliminates risk of ovarian and uterine cancer.
