Rescue centre sees rise in abandoned cat families

An animal rescue centre says it has seen an increase in cat families being abandoned due to rising costs and a lack of neutering.

Yorkshire Cat Rescue said the number of cats it takes in had increased year-on-year since it opened in 1992 and now rescued between 700 to 1000 cats per year.

In 2025, the Haworth-based charity paid £282,000 in vet bills and rescued 925 cats.

CEO Lynn Nicholls said: "People get into situations where cats breed, they then don't know what to do with them, they can't look after them all and when they move a lot of the time they do leave them behind."

She added: "Even for a working family that is doing okay, to neuter, chip and vaccinate a cat you're looking at over £200. That's not something to be taken lightly."

Nicholls said her team was called to an abandoned house in Bradford earlier this week where a mother cat and five kittens were found.

The black, white and ginger mother was discovered by the landlord crawling in and out of the house through the hole in the front door.

At first he thought it was just the one animal but later found a carrier containing a female and four male newborn kittens.

The landlord also found an adult male cat which rescuers believed was the father.

The charity has named the mother Opel and her kittens Aston, Rover, Diesel, Bentley and Kia. They are all now settling into a foster home.

The week-old kittens had no health concerns and put on about 10g in weight each day, officials added.