Kitten demand outstrips supply

PHIL REID/ The Dominion Post

CHOCOLATE-BOX CUTE: Some of the in-demand kittens at Wellington SPCA that are too young to be adopted yet.

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Wellington SPCA is appealing for patience as a lack of kittens forces prospective owners on to waiting lists.

But despite the apparent dearth, the desexing message is still not getting through.

More than 30 people were on the waiting list, animal care and adoption manager Nicholas Taylor said.

The problem was not the number of kittens, but their ages. "We have at the moment 93 kittens, and we don't have a single one available for adoption."

Kittens could not go to new homes until they were eight or nine weeks old, which meant a few more weeks' wait for many of the prospective owners. "It's at the beginning of the season – they've all been born, they're just not ready," Mr Taylor said.

The SPCA asked cat lovers to be patient – and not to rush off to pet shops. Getting kittens from shops, or online sources such as TradeMe, encouraged breeding, which was part of the problem.

By December there would be an abundance of kittens. "We'll be inundated, so please be patient. It's just a demand and supply issue."

While there were not enough kittens now, overall there had not been a slowdown in the number of animals needing homes.

Last year Wellington SPCA rehomed about 1300 cats, and was in line to beat that number this year, Mr Taylor said.

Despite continually repeating the message, people still were not desexing their pets, he said.

Many people thought it was all right to let their cats have a litter, as long as they could find homes for the kittens. But that just added to the problem, he said.

"That's taking potential homes away from ones that were born with no control."

The issue was aggravated by the fact there was no longer a set season, with kittens being born all year round. Some cats were having up to three litters a year.

But vet Allan Probert, of Animalz Miramar, said the message was starting to sink in. Each year his clinic, along with the Cats Protection League, ran a desexing drive, and cats were getting steadily younger – a sign they were getting on top of the problem, he said.

Having an affordable option for cat owners was a big help. "People are very grateful, particularly in recession times, for any help they get in terms of desexing."

Mr Taylor said anyone who did not want to wait for a kitten could consider being a foster home for a litter until the kittens were ready for adoption.

The SPCA's week-long annual fundraising drive starts on Saturday.