The SPCA could have between 8000 and 10,000 cats and kittens come through its shelters in the next six months. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
An animal welfare charity is asking people working through the festive season or planning a holiday at home to consider fostering a kitten over the summer months.
The SPCA said it could see between 8000 to 10,000 cats and kittens come through its shelters in the next six months, the time of year that kittens are born, and typically 40 percent of those required time in foster care.
SPCA Wellington centre manager Archie Pararasasingam said extra foster homes were needed across the country, to free up space in shelters over Christmas and New Year.
It was good for the animals: "They can relax, they're not surrounded by a whole bunch of other animals, they're not exposed to any other diseases ... we do find that sick and injured animals do recover a lot better in a foster home."
It was also a rare chance for foster carers to spend time with newborn kittens.
"I love taking on the bottle feeders, you see them open their eyes and you hear their little purrs, which sounds like bubbles popping ... the tiniest little purr, it's the sweetest sound in the world."
She said all expenses were covered, with the SPCA providing food and supplies, as well as advice, support, and training.
Fostering cats and kittens, as well as dogs and puppies, was a great opportunity for people who loved animals but could not commit to having pets fulltime, Pararasasingam said.
Those with pets could still foster animals, while fostering could be just for a week or two. "Even a little bit helps, sometimes it takes a village to raise a litter."
Foster families were "superheroes", she added.
"We really couldn't do it without them, they just make such a difference.
"Here at the Wellington centre we currently have about 90 animals but we can have up to 300, 350 animals out in foster care, you can imagine how mental it would be if they were all here. It's great that we can accommodate that many, but it's all down to the foster programme."
Pararasasingam said the numbers for the expected influx of felines over the summer were normal, but it was possibly exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.
"We are seeing a lot more people reaching out, and just saying they really would like to desex their animals but they just can't afford it at the moment, so we do try and help out the community as much as can, with community desex vouchers and having the desexing caravan going around."
Pet owners should take advantage of free community desexing programmes, she added, and different centres, such as SPCA Auckland and Wellington, were working with local councils and organisations like Kāinga Ora to offer free desexing.
People interested in fostering could register on the SPCA's website.
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