It’s An Ace Time To Adopt A Kitten, ‘Cos #s Are Exploding In This Heat

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Published

February 9, 2016

An explosion in the number of cats is the latest thing we can pin on climate change, according to experts in the field of felines.

On the same day climatologists warned we’re all in for longer and more intense heatwaves, experts from the Cat Protection Society of New South Wales told the ABC prolonged periods of warm weather are directly responsibly for wanton cat smangfests. Warmer than average temperatures year-round are also eroding traditional cat breeding seasons; the impending result:

The Society’s chief exec Kristina Vesk told AM “observationally, no doubt that the weather is having an impact.”

“Breeding cycles are triggered by hours of daylight, and sunshine and warmth.”

“So when you do have exceptionally warm winters – or you get a burst of warm weather in winter – it does lead cats to believe that it is time to breed.”

The continuing trend of rising temperatures across the board lead to “a quite extreme number of intake of kittens in 2013 and that was pretty much nearly double 2009,” Vesk said.

Of course, it’s still getting hotter: today, a Bureau of Meteorology climatologist announced the trend of more extreme heat events and fewer troughs of extreme cold is only expected to continue. Those freak highs don’t even need to be hot by summer’s standards, with Vesk emphasising “freakish warm days in winter can really trigger a whole lot of breeding.”

Vanessa Barrs, University of Sydney’s feline science expert, also reminded the nation desexing our furry friends is ultimately the humane thing to do. The reasoning? Cats are great, as long as there are enough humans to care for all of ’em.

Those predicted population spikes aren’t all sunshine and, uh, kittens. Any increase in the general cat population will inevitably lead to more animals being abandoned, and animal shelters around the country are already full to bursting with cats awaiting adoption. Considering the news we’ll likely cop an huge influx of cats in the coming years, here’s a handy pet shelter directory for your perusal.

And let’s be honest here, why wouldn’t you want one of these guys in your life?