Who would have thought that too many kittens could be a problem? But this has become an unfortunate reality for Tauranga’s The Kitten Orphanage.

It has been inundated with unwanted kittens and strays since opening two years ago.

Today, the orphanage is caring for 70 kittens “and this number is increasing daily”, said Clair Batley, who leads a team of five to work with more than 40 foster homes that look after kittens awaiting adoption.

Batley said the orphanage’s busiest months were in December, January and February, when it could have up to 120 kittens in its care.

Barriers such as finances and education prevented people from desexing their cats, which led to overbreeding.

“It’s not that they want to have their cats breeding, but they just can’t afford the expense of desexing them.”

The orphanage’s focus was on breaking the cycle of breeding, she said.

Helen Elliott and Clair Batley from The Kitten Orphanage. Photo / David Hall

With every litter that came into its care, The Kitten Orphanage ensured the mother and any other cats in the same household were desexed.

Last month, it launched a campaign called Mama’s Last Litter, offering to desex all cats in a household if kittens from that house were given to the orphanage.

Kittens stay with their mother until weaned, then the mother is desexed, microchipped, vaccinated, treated for fleas and wormed.

Fifteen homes contacted the orphanage during the first month of Mama’s Last Litter.

The timeframe for accepting kittens was “crucial”, Batley said.

Kittens under eight weeks old were ideal, because they were generally young enough to socialise to become domestic pets. Older kittens ran the risk of becoming feral and unsociable.

The Kitten Orphanage currently cares for 50 kittens needing a home. Photo / David Hall

The Kitten Orphanage also runs TNR projects, which stands for trap, neuter and return.

It takes captured cats to vets to be desexed and vaccinated. The orphanage then returns the cats to their homes.

Batley said it was a massive project to take on the bigger colonies of cats. It had the money and staff to tackle only a couple at a time.

“We really want to push for people just to reach out if they’ve got a small colony. It’s so much more manageable.

“We’re happy to take them into our care. We’re happy to desex your mum cat. We will ensure these kittens are cared for and desexed before we find them loving homes.”

While the orphanage’s kittens were currently too young for adoption, Batley said there would be plenty of litters in the coming weeks, and it would hold adoption days at Animates or other pet stores.

Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. A keen writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.