Kitten ‘surge’ throughout Marlborough’s warmer winter season

Cats are replicating approximately 3 times a year rather of 2 in Marlborough, believed to be triggered by the area’s warmer winter seasons.

The modification has actually caused an “explosion” in the area’s feral cat populations, to the discouragement of a vet and an animal rescue charity.

Picton veterinarian Dr Christine McKenzie said she had actually been discovering it weird that a number of the cats brought into her center this winter season were either on heat or pregnant.

“Usually through wintertime they have a bit of a break from reproducing. But in early July I was spaying a cat, and it was pregnant, and it’s just weird,” McKenzie said.

“Usually at this time of the year we’d have a normal, settled uterus that we take out, that’s not even cycling or on heat, but now we’re actually seeing cats that are on heat as well as being pregnant, so there’s been a few that are cycling later into winter.

“We’ve already got a problem (with feral cats), and it’s just going to make it a lot, lot worse,” she said.

Cats were classified as seasonally polyestrous, indicating their estrous cycles generally just took place throughout particular seasons of the year that were warmer and with longer daytime hours, however McKenzie said this didn’t appear to be the case anymore.

“I’ve noticed over my years of working as a vet that they tend to not be pregnant through winter, they seem to have a bit of a break because you don’t want to be breeding all the time, you want to give your system a bit of a break,” McKenzie said.

“I don’t know why, but I’m guessing maybe because it’s warmer and the cats haven’t realised to switch off yet.”

This year Blenheim had its most popular July day on record, at 19.8C on July 18 – while the Earth had its most popular month given that records started. It was likewise Blenheim’s fifth-sunniest July on record.

Blenheim’s warmer winter season became part of a pattern observed over the last 23 years, Plant and Food researcher Rob Agnew said recently, as 9 of Blenheim’s 14 hottest Julys on record were in between 2000 and 2023. The record began in 1947.

Marlborough Four Paws, a charity that desexed roaming and undesirable cats prior to attempting to rehome them, was likewise handling an unseasonable increase of kittens.

Volunteer Liz Buttimore said winter season utilized to be among the quieter seasons, which they utilized to perform upkeep and other tasks, however that was no longer the case.

“The kitten season hasn’t stopped, and we’ve seen cats on heat the last two years at this time of year … we’ve been really worried about how many litters a cat can have a year now,” Buttimore said.

“Over winter we’ve been trying to plan things like painting, and just different jobs that you think, ‘OK we’ll do it after kitten season, we’ll do it after kitten season’, but it never stops, and didn’t stop last year either.

“Kitten season really should start next month, but our kitten shelters are pretty much full already. It’s terrifying, and the breeding is just out of control.”

Buttimore said there were a variety of hotspots around the area where roaming and feral cats were breeding out of control, such as Riverlands, the old Marlborough Club and the dump.

She said as these populations increased, they were expanding and intruding into sanctuary.

“Everything that breeds here in our urban areas and farming areas spreads out into our bush areas and creates such a disaster for our birds.

“They’re exploding, and there’s no-one doing anything about it.

“Our conservation groups are working so hard to clear the bush areas (of predators), and without a desexing plan here in our urban areas, we’re just creating a monster for them.”

Marlborough Four Paws and McKenzie’s Picton Veterinary Clinic both ran cat dexesing programs, however both said more required to be carried out in the neighborhood, varying from more stringent laws to more accountable cat ownership.