An animal charity based in Barrow is looking for new, long-term foster homes and more space for their rescue cats.

Animal Welfare Furness is hoping to find places for older residents to receive end-of-life care and an outside space for barn cats while they care for the Spring kitten boom at the centre.

With a number of cats between the ages of seven and 17 years old, many older felines would be better suited to a proper home life than the cattery on Rawlinson Street.

End-of-life care is generally needed for older cats, over 14 years old, or those with a life-long illness, such as hyperthyroidism, FIV, renal failure and diabetes.

But many of the cats Animal Welfare Furness take in, care for and rehome, are strays who have been living outdoors and braving the elements without health checks or appropriate food for a long period of time.

This can ‘significantly’ shorten the life expectancy of a cat and lead to them needing specific end-of-life care at a much younger age, especially if they have been living with an untreated medical condition.

Animal Welfare covers all of the costs of food, vaccinations and litter for cats in foster care.

The charity is also expecting to see a dramatic increase in the number of kittens over the next few months as warmer weather encourages female cats to come into season.

Cats usually breed from early March and throughout the summer months so with a gestation period of nine weeks, kittens begin to appear towards the end of April.

An Animal Welfare Furness spokesman said: “We start to get calls from owners whose female cats have become pregnant, we start to see pregnant strays being brought in, and the feral colonies we care for in the Furness area start to have kittens.”

The charity launched a project in 2023, called the Trap Neuter Release scheme, aimed to reduce the number of breeding females and males in the feral colonies, so fewer kittens will be born this year.

This year, Animal Welfare Furness is hoping to reach more colonies with their pregnancy prevention programme.

The spokesman said: “We work really closely with Furness Vets to improve the quality of life for all our cats. If a cat has a life-limiting condition we work to improve their health and wellbeing and find them a loving and understanding home. We give all our cats the best possible chance.

“We want to give every cat the best possible opportunity to thrive, and fostering can be so significant to help our cats find their forever homes.

“We are always looking for opportunities to create better and more appropriate spaces for all the types of cats and animals that we care for.

“Land that would allow us to care for our outdoor cats in an environment most similar to their own would be fantastic as they can find the cattery a stressful place to recuperate following veterinary care.”