Cat shelter calls on community in urgent search to reunite litter

Just Cats Tasmania put out a social media post last night after a four-week-old kitten was surrendered to its Mowbray shelter.

Its former owner acquired the feline through a person with an unwanted litter at the Exeter Market on Monday.

Just Cats Tasmania director Rachel Beech is now on the hunt for the other four litter members which are unlikely to survive without specialised care.

"They are apparently four weeks of age but they only weigh 220 grams which puts them on the scale of two-week-old kittens," she said.

"So we've got a big welfare concern for all them because if they're not in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, then they're not going to make it."

Ms Beech said she had no idea where the other kittens were, only that two of them were taken by one person.

Most animal welfare organisations recommend keeping a kitten with its mum and litter mates until at least eight weeks of age.

Ms Beech said doing so any younger could lead to a number of harmful results.

"Kittens who are raised totally on their own without a mum and other siblings end up with 'single kitten syndrome'," she said.

"Because they have never learnt to play with another feline, they basically treat their people as another cat so they rough play.

"It's really hard to find homes for these cats with behavioural issues, so we don't like them being raised as single kittens."

It's not easy on the mum either, who is likely to suffer hormone imbalances after being seperated from her litter.

"She'll automatically come back on heat, then she'll get pregnant again and she'll be having kittens again when she probably still hasn't put on the weight that she requires," Ms Beech said.

While she said this was a "disastrous" situation, it's also all too common, with the company director currently bottle feeding 16 kittens at the shelter.

She added that many kittens are surrendered without their mother once they hit four weeks of age.

"They become messy. At this age they're crying all the time, they're hungry and the mum might not have enough milk to support them if she's not being fed enough," she said.

"I just think it's the common age where people start to either dump them or hand them in."

Beyond the health concerns, Ms Beech said kittens needed to learn vital life skills from their mum.

She recommended that mother cats should be taken in with their surrendered litters for a time and then desexed before returning to their owners.

"It's all about ending the cycle," Ms Beech said.

"If you're not willing to take care of those kittens untill they're 10 weeks of age, then why would you want her to have more?"