A total of 64 kittens and cats were surrendered to the South Okanagan-Similkameen branch of the SPCA on Sept. 18.

A Facebook post from the branch’s page says the animals were in “a bad situation” prior to being surrendered by a local individual. This surrender is in relation to an ongoing animal cruelty invesigation with the BC SPCA Special Constable.

“The individual is from this area and (the cats) were surrendered, not seized. They just had too many so they surrendered them all to us,” said Carolyn Hawkins, branch manager. “We received 22 yesterday and 42 today.”

Hawkins says the cat’s vary in age from eight weeks up to five years.

The organization was forced to close for the day as a result of the intake in order to “focus on the health and wellbeing of (the cats) by assessing, vaccinating, and feeding them”, says the Facebook post.

“A lot of them have upper respiratory, which is sort of a cat cold, so we have to test them and make sure they don’t have any contagious disease,” said Hawkins. “When it gets very stressful (for cats), then they start getting upper respiratory. Plus the cleanliness of the house wasn’t that great either.”

The branch is seeking cash donations in order to pay for the vet bills associated with caring for the cats.

“We have to spay and neuter them, so this will be costing about $600 per cat. This will also cover the vaccinations, feeding, deworming, and (any other) vet care needed,” said Hawkins.

They are also seeking donations of clay cat litter, wet cat and kitten food, and gently-used scratch posts. There is no word yet on when these cats will be available for adoption.

“They are very fearful, because they didn’t get the socialization they needed,” said Hawkins, who believes they may require special care and patience as a result.

The 22 cats that were currently available for adoption at the branch are being transferred to another facility. For more information about the South Okanagan-Similkameen SPCA branch, visit their website.

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