The local SPCA is full to the seams with surrendered cats and is currently unable to take in anymore felines until adoptions start picking up.
The shelter is at capacity right now with 120 cats in its care. Fund Development Coordinator Katey Pedersen says it puts a lot of pressure on staff at the shelter when there are this many animals to care for.
“We have one to two staff members assigned to cat care each day and all the cleaning for all those cats is done every single day. Feline upper respiratory infections is another thing that can happen. It’s kind of like a cat cold so it’s sneezing, runny nose, eyes watering, things like that. It’s highly contagious and very treatable, but it is a high cost to have to treat multiple animals.”
The shelter has a few different areas where they keep cats in there care, including the holding area for new cats that are in need of vaccinations.
“So between holding, our adoption floor, foster care, and any other animals that might be in veterinary care we are at maximum capacity. We can’t accept any more cats at this point and we are actually turning away people and telling them to call back in a week to see if we have space if they need to surrender an animal.”
Pedersen says right now it’s even more important for them to try and get as many of these animals as possible into forever homes.
The cost to adopt a cat is $50, and that covers $580 dollars worth of veterinary care including things like spaying and neutering, first and second vaccinations, micro-chipping, and any necessary de-worming.
