Scots woman left with almost 30 cats after vets closed…

Scots woman left with almost 30 cats after vets closed down during pandemic

A Scottish woman ended up with 28 cats after being unable to get her pets neutered during the coronavirus pandemic.

The woman, from Edinburgh, owned a pair of cats but couldn't find a vet able to neuter them during Covid as most businesses were closed to the public. The pair bred, eventually leaving the woman with 26 kittens.

Nicola Zelent, who is a warden at Lothian Cat Rescue, told Edinburgh Live : "The lady started with two cats but couldn't get them neutered and tried to keep them separate, but because they were indoor they began to breed.

"It got to the stage where the situation was out of control and she couldn't find any vets in Edinburgh to neuter the cats as most vets were closed and only offering emergency care. She had no idea about Lothian Cat Rescue or any other services that could help.

"She was absolutely mortified and ended up with her original two cats and 26 kittens. Because she couldn't get any vet care throughout Covid and there were so many a lot of cats that had fleas and there wasn't enough food for them all so a lot of the kittens were very skinny when they came to us.

"But she wasn't the only one we have had so many multi-cat households having to give up large numbers of cats due to the pandemic."

She added: "The lady was absolutely lovely and had just ended up isolated and stuck with the situation - eventually a neighbour told her about us and she got in touch.

"She paid for her original pair to get neutered and gave the other 26 to us to re-home. There are only eight left now."

Nicola said the current cost of living crisis is also forcing a number of owners north of the Border to give up their cats, with "every second call" to the shelter about someone giving up their feline friends.

She said: "Every second call at the moment is someone asking to give up their animals. The cost of living crisis is having a real impact and people can't afford to feed their pets.

"We offer free food and cat litter to anyone struggling. We would rather help people out with supplies than take in their cats. It's a really tough time for everyone."

Lothian Cat Rescue, in Cockpen Road, Bonnyrig, is a registered charity formed to help cats and kittens that have been abandoned, ill-treated, neglected, or are unwanted for any reason.

More on the work they do can found on the rescue centre's Facebook page.

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Scots woman left with almost 30 cats after vets closed down during pandemic

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