Kitten boom at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home causes cost-of-living crisis | The cost of living crisis in the UK

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Parsnip, cranberry and sprouts. Not your Christmas dinner, but a festive trio of fluffy black and white cats, newly arrived at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. Down the aisle in the nursery, three newborn babies are greeted, with their parents, in something approaching a feline nativity scene.

The newcomers are, according to Battersea Dropper manager Bridie Williams, “ridiculously cute”. They came at the end of the year in which 133 kittens were born at the site – far more than in any year in the past decade.

“Over 130 kittens have been born on the site this year,” Williams said. “It’s usually about half of that.”

Staff say the cost-of-living crisis, which comes from increased sporadic access to veterinary care during the pandemic, has resulted in far fewer pets being neutered. And that, inevitably, led to a kitten boom.

“We have more younger cats because owners can’t afford cats or they can’t neuter them,” she added. “There are some others who didn’t have operations during Covid.”

She admits that there is a fun side to hosting many kittens, curious and mischievous. One recent rescue, a black cat named Peach, ended up living in Williams’ office — and participating in many Zoom meetings — because she meowed loudly every time she was left alone which annoyed the neighboring cats. “She was ridiculously social,” she said. “So she was my desk mate for two weeks.”

Since then, her office has become a temporary home for another pair of cats, Allegro and Lyric, who have just been moved in. “They cause harm,” Williams said. “They are also exceptionally time consuming because they need a lot of socialization.”

Studies have revealed that cats have a “socialization period” of between two and seven weeks when they become familiar with aspects of their normal, safe environment. Anything they don’t encounter during this period of development is likely to trigger a fear response in adulthood.

Ideally, Battersea prefers to place the kittens in foster homes during these weeks, but the sheer number this year means it has been difficult to find places for all of them.

To compensate, the staff put together a list of stimuli that the cats need to experience, including women and men (Battersea has fewer male volunteers so male office staff are recruited to play with the cats on their lunch breaks). Audio recordings of household noises such as vacuum cleaners and television are used to prepare them for life outside. “We’re building cats that are going to be confident, happy, able to get along with kids and dogs outside, and have courage,” Williams said.

Cats can become pregnant from about four months, and with a cat’s pregnancy lasting about 63 to 65 days, kittens can give birth when they are just over six months old. Cats are typically seasonal breeders and only enter their breeding cycle from spring to fall and can go into heat every few weeks during this time.

The sharp rise in the cost of living is making it difficult for some pet owners to cover vet bills and basic expenses, Williams says. Battersea recommends that owners will typically need to set aside £1,500 to cover the costs of the first year of caring for a cat.

“Testicular surgery is really important, but it costs money,” she said. “I don’t think that when people first think about getting a cat, they necessarily think about all the costs.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Battersea is also receiving an increasing number of inquiries from owners of Savannah cats, which are an expensive cross between a house cat and a Serval. Hybrids are incredibly attractive creatures, with marbled paws, large ears, and an athletic build. But their activity levels and strong hunting instinct mean they are not always easy to manage as pets. “They can do a lot of damage and we’re hearing from people who just can’t handle them,” said Joe Pozzo, the center’s cat care coordinator. “It’s not an animal that should be kept indoors.”

She added: “Someone has come to our Kent site, and has been rehoused on a farm.”

Williams said anyone considering taking in a kitten should also consider the time commitment needed to settle them to a new home. “Make sure you have the time and read about how much effort they put in,” she said. “If you have the time, you can have this wonderful cat that comes along and gives you all this joy and grows into your beloved cat who can be with you for 20 years. I would always recommend buying a cat, but you just have to make sure you get the right one for you.”

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