Forty-nine cats were discovered in the man’s Lewisham home
(Picture: Celia Hammond Animal Trust, Lewisham)An animal adoption centre in Lewisham has taken in 49 ginger cats after their elderly owner became unwell and needed hospital treatment.
Celia Hammond Animal Trust is still looking to house 25 cats, but the remaining cats are “very nervous with people” due to the conditions they lived in.
The Lewisham centre was contacted by health services because the owner needed a heart operation but would not go into hospital until “he knew that his beloved cats were safe”, according to its website.
Staff were told the man had “more than five cats” but when they arrived at the property they discovered he had in fact 49 cats.
They could “immediately see that the situation had got completely out of hand”, the animal trust said.
“The majority of the cats were unneutered and were breeding uncontrolled, their owner was trying to find homes for the kittens but could not do so as fast as the cats were breeding.
“Conditions in his home were really poor...there were overflowing dirty litter trays, the cats had destroyed the furniture , the house roof was leaking and everything was filty. Some cats were living in the loft and had become very nervous.”
The animal trust said the cats were all well fed but the owner “had more than he could possibly manage”. Most of them have now been treated at the Lewisham branch. All had to be neutered, microchiped and vaccinated.
A litter of young kittens have been taken to a foster home and other adult cats and kittens have been rehomed.
Twenty-five remain at the centre.
“Sadly these remaining cats are proving to be very nervous with people,” Celia Hammond Animal Trust said.
“They had been poorly socialised by their owner because he simply had too many cats. We are continuing to persevere with trying to gain the cats confidence but it is looking likely that some of these cats will need to be rehomed as semi-feral cats to suitable outdoor homes.”
Their owner is in hospital and will be staying with a relative for his recovery.
The animal trust said taking in 49 cats during their busiest time of year has put the Lewisham centre team “under a lot of strain”.
There have been a lot of unwanted pets that were acquired during the pandemic and an increase in cats being abandoned on the streets, a spokesperson told the Standard.
“There have been more unneutered cats and consequently more litters of unwanted kittens because there has been less neutering carried out by vets in the last two years.
“Since the easing of the pandemic there have been situations like this case with 49 cats where a problem has been undiscovered, their elderly owner had stayed at home whilst his cats had continued breeding.
“The remaining cats in our care from this group are very nervous, there was initially interest in the kittens who have now been homed but not much interest in the much shier adults, some of whom may end up requiring semi-feral outdoor homes such as at horse riding stables, smallholdings or farms where they will be fed and have shelter but not have to interact with people unless they decide to do so.”
