Out of 107 cats and 204 kittens at the Christchurch centre, 50 cats and 67 kittens are still waiting for a temporary home.
The cats will remain on-site if no more foster parents sign up for the Christmas and New Year period. However, it means there will be less free cages at the centre to accept the sick, injured and stray animals.
Volunteer and foster team leader Jaz Crowther said the centre often gets to a point over the summer where it runs out of space to take in new animals.
“We are also at the peak of kitten season – female cats go into heat when it is warm and that means more kittens are born.
“While we get lots of people who want to foster kittens, we still have to care for the mama cats, and the usual sick and injured adult cats we take in.”
Last year, the centre only had 29 cats in foster.
While Crowther said more than 150 foster parents have signed up this year, many are heading off on holiday.
“The benefit of fostering is that you can have animals in your home whenever you would like and bring them back when you go away.
“This year is the first Christmas in three years that the country world has been a bit more opened up for travel, and that means we have a lot of people heading off on well-earned breaks.”
Fosterers will need to go through a phone interview and attend an information and training workshop. They will receive bedding, equipment, medical expenses and everything a cat needs.
Once the animal is allocated to a temporary home, it will stay between two weeks to a couple of months depending on its individual needs.
