Charities Warn There Could Be A 'Kitten Crisis' This Summer Due To Lockdown

The UK could face a 'kitten crisis' this summer, with animal welfare charities warning that thousands of extra cats could be born due to lockdown restrictions.

Cat owners are being urged to keep un-spayed female cats indoors, with the usual seasonal boom made worse this year.

It's said that 84,000 kittens could be born because many vets have only been open for emergencies, and neutering procedures being halted.

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A man found himself with 17 cats in his house in Harrow after his unneutered female cat becoming pregnant. When he didn't keep the cats separate, multiple litters were being born at the same time.

Cats Protection said: "The issue arose when an unneutered female gave birth to a litter of four.

"A young male in that litter mated with his own mother and sisters, who delivered their own litters, and the population escalated to 17 cats."

The kittens have been taken into the charity where they will hopefully be rehomed.

Another case saw 22 cats being rescued by the RSPCA from one household earlier in the week.

The house, in Weston-super-Mare, had 14 different kittens from three litters, as well as multiple pregnant adult cats.

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According to the RSPCA, the number of kittens born had grown so quickly because of lockdown.

Since the UK went into lockdown, the RSPCA has reported that more than 600 cats have been taken into its care. The charity said it fears the situation could get worse.

Kittens have been found up and down the country, with some that were found in carrier bags and numbers of strays increasing. Many pregnant cats have been found abandoned.

It has also had 6,630 cat related incidents reported to them since 23 March, and although the number of calls they've received during lockdown is less than usual, it is now only responding to emergency calls.

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Head of the RSPCA's companion animal department, Dr Samantha Gaines, said: "The kitten season this year will continue despite Covid-19 and so the charity is bracing itself for even more cats."

A survey by Cats Protection discovered that 86 percent of people asked, had no idea that a female cat can have up to 18 kittens per year.

Out of the 1000 people surveyed, 77 percent didn't know that female cats can get pregnant from as young as four months of age.

Topics: Animals

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward