Hopes that cold weather will bring fewer kittens

Cat rescue organisations are hoping the recent bout of cold weather will slow this year’s extended breeding season for strays.

Stray cat rescue organisation, Lonely Miaow, has seen an increase in the number of litters being brought to the organisation after temperatures remained warm throughout May.

Lonely Miaow’s foster home manager, Joanne Turnbull, said the cold weather that has set in recently will hopefully slow down the breeding season.

“It started in late August and it’s only just trailing off now. Last year we would’ve been at this point in early May,” she said.

The last two weeks have seen a dramatic drop in temperature throughout Auckland, with temperatures dropping to as low as six degrees throughout the city.

Ms Turnbull said this was reflected in the number of kittens being brought to the organisation.

“We’re still getting some coming in but we’ve seen a dramatic drop in the last two weeks,” she said.

Cats are able to breed throughout the year, but are most active in summer where there are longer days.

Ms Turnbull said the number of kitten litters being brought to the organisation was increasing each year.

“We’re definitely noticing that kitten season is lasting a lot longer. In general it’s a lot warmer than it was say five years ago,” she said.

Yvonne Brown, founder of the Cats in Need Trust who rescue abandoned cats, said they were also noticing cats breeding for longer periods.

“We’re seeing more amounts of kittens, especially at times when it isn’t peak season,” she said.

Mrs Brown said her charity was at full capacity and was no longer accepting felines after a busy season this year.

Dr Nick Cave, senior lecturer in Small Animal Medicine and Nutrition at Massey University, said it was expected that there would be reduced levels of breeding heading into winter, but there isn’t a direct correlation between breeding and weather patterns.

Breeding cats are most responsive to light patterns, but Dr Cave said the animals are also most likely to breed when they’re most comfortable.

“It is strongly linked to photo-period [daylight], but it is possible that there are contributing factors such as temperature that create better environments for breeding,” he said.