Kitten season puts pressure on cat centre

TEN Lives Cat Centre took in 25 cats and kittens over just two hours last Friday in what is becoming an overwhelming season for the centre.

Manager Noel Hunt said Ten Lives was asking for as many as 100 foster carers to ease the strain.

“Our numbers have definitely upped this year and we’ve had a couple of hundred more cats and kittens taken into our care than we did at the same time last year,” Mr Hunt said.

He said the closure of the RSPCA’s Hobart centre was a likely factor.

The increased numbers have put a strain on the centre as adoption fees do not cover the costs of getting the kittens ready for new homes.

“As a self-funded organisation, we don’t receive government funding, we always need the fundraising support from the community and we have to ensure our money is very carefully spent on the care of cats and kittens.”

In total the centre is currently caring for 300 kittens and cats, with around half that number in the homes of foster carers, but Mr Hunt said this was not enough.

“As nice as we try to make it, it [the centre] still isn’t the best place for a cat or kitten to be,” he said. “We just need people with the home and the heart and the time to care.”

Centre volunteer Caitlin Nettlefold encouraged cat owners to desex their cats and keep them indoors as much as possible to avoid so many being taken into care.

She said foster carers were the “lifeblood of Ten Lives” and said those interested in helping out should sign up as soon as possible.