The charity is appealing for adopters to help.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) has revealed that it is having to pay to keep nearly 300 cats in private boarding as many of their centres and branches are full.

The cost of the private boarding to the charity is quickly adding up, with the RSPCA spending £8,287 per week to house 285 cats. The charity is keen to move them into its own centres and branches while it tries to rehome them, but there is not enough room.

The RSPCA says the problem is being caused by a combination of an increasing number of cats coming into the centres and a drop in the number of people looking to adopt a cat.

So far this year, the RSPCA has received nearly 10,000 calls about abandoned animals. The charity has said that in addition to the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, unwanted litters are being caused by pet owners choosing not to neuter their cats, and the absence of a microchip means that some lost cats can’t be returned to their owners.

The charity is urgently appealing for people to adopt a cat if they can. It has also launched a Cost of Living Hub to help owners struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

Michelle Sidney, animal logistics manager at the RSPCA, said: “It is heartbreaking that we are seeing this, and while we are doing everything we can to take in cats from some of these situations and rehome them, it is becoming a serious challenge.

“On top of an increasing cat intake, rehoming has slowed which has left us in a situation where we have cats coming in faster than we can find homes for them.”

Leybourne Animal Centre is one of the charity’s centres that is struggling to cope with the number of cats in need of rehoming.
 
Leybourne deputy manager Angelina Allingham said: “We are absolutely swamped with cats! They are coming in faster than we can find homes for them.

“Alongside our team of fosterers we’ve currently got 66 cats and kittens in our care. On site we have capacity for 55 cats, but we’re already caring for 46, so we are rapidly running out of room. It won’t be long until those spaces are filled. Our fosterers are caring for 20 cats at the moment so we are practically full to the brim with cats.

“It’s devastating that our intake is going up and up but rehoming has really slowed down. We just want to get these guys and gals into happy homes.”

Potential adopters can search for cats on the ‘Find a Pet’ page of the RSPCA’s website.

Image (C) RSPCA