Pandemic pressures hit cat shelters

Cat shelters are reporting pandemic-related trends, with a kitten boom in some parts and some unintended lockdown effects surfacing.

There have been many negative flow-on effects to cats from the Omicron outbreak, the overall pandemic and wider economic situation, cat shelters told RNZ.

But Upper Hutt Animal Rescue reports one unexpected good side effect has been that there are more people at home during the day to come across stray and stranded cats and kittens, and get them help.

Volunteer Nicki Campbell said several litters of kittens have been rescued in recent weeks that were only discovered because people were working from home.

"The other weekend we got 19 kittens which were found under someone's house - they'd noticed a whole lot of kittens wandering around," Campbell said.

"A lot more people are noticing kittens under the house, and we're getting a lot more strays."

The main kitten season starts in October, but the more recent trend for a second smaller burst of kittens in Autumn season is underway now.

Campbell said their shelter was small compared to some, but kitten numbers have been disproportionate.

"Since October we've had more than 105 kittens, compared to 40 or 50 [in that period] a year ago."

She puts it at least partly down to the fact spaying and neutering was considered non-urgent surgery, and was not able to be done in level 4 lockdowns, with only restricted amounts allowed in level 3, despite backlogs.

The shelter has had lots of cats surrendered to them pregnant, with owners telling them they'd tried to get appointments to get them fixed, but couldn't get appointments because of the lockdown rules.

But Wellington is also experiencing a vet shortage, partly due to the closed border controls.

Campbell said they repeatedly see the same vet staff each time they take cats to the clinic, and those vets are clearly working long hours and worn out. "They'd normally have a few people over from Australia or other places and we'd see a few other faces."

Getting vet appointments was difficult, she said. A litter booked in a month ago for spaying was not able to be seen until April - which holds their adoptions up as cats must be spayed before going to a new home.

"A lot of cats are coming in with contagious illnesses that are going around at the moment, more than normal. At the moment, the amount coming in with diseases outweighs those that don't," she said.

That was partly because they had more strays than usual, but there was still an unusually high amount of cats carrying diseases that were coming from homes.

"It's because of the difficulty getting in to see the vet, and the more kittens and strays we see in any area the more you expect to have these illnesses," Campbell said.

Among the diseases circulating now include panleukopenia, cat flu and giardia.

Campbell said supply line problems meant cat food was frequently difficult to get, and they weren't able to get some that comes from overseas for cats with health problems like kidney damage.

Cat shelter worker numbers reduced by Covid-19

The Upper Hutt Animal Rescue is run completely by volunteers, and Campbell said that as Omicron surges, and more people were sick or isolating, those left were frequently left working long shifts.

Cats Protection Wellington president Iona Anderson said the staff shortages were hitting them hard too.

"We have about 60 volunteers, and two employees, we have to be so careful of their health right now, and for them managing the health of their teams is the biggest risk."

They have divided the teams into two bubbles with no crossover, but it made communication and continuity of care for sick cats more difficult.

Both shelters said that while there was good demand for adoptions, people could only come to see the cats by appointment, which limited the amount of people coming through.

"We're booked up for the next few weekends," Anderson said.

Lockdown adoptions and rental market stresses

During the lockdowns many of the people coming in to adopt a cat said they were working from home, so had decided to get a cat to keep them company, Anderson said.

Adoptions had stayed high, but they had a "huge" list of cats waiting to be surrendered for adoption.

Unusual amounts were being surrendered from loving homes because tenants faced rent increases they couldn't afford, had to shift, and weren't able to find a landlord that allowed cats.

"It's devastating for them, especially for some that say their cats are the one thing that gives them love and care," Anderson said.

"A good half to a third of the cats on our waitlist for adoption are because of that [rental increases]. It's been gradually increasing for the last two years."

"And the cost of vet fees is a factor for quite a lot of people, more so than before."

She said more people at home during the outbreak meant adoptees were more willing to take home cats with higher needs or health concerns.

"That's working in our favour. When people are working from home they are now more able to

take on those cats, because now they are able to be there around them."