THE RSPCA is appealing for cat owners to make sure their pets are neutered to avoid the feline population spiralling out of control.
Last year, 596 cats were accepted into the RSPCA's animal home in York, with 410 taken in by the charity's Great Ayton Animal Centre.
Chris Laurence, head of the charity's veterinary department, said: "Kittens born this year are coming into season now, and unless owners get them neutered we are going to have severe problems in the new year.
"People wrongly assume that it is healthy for a cat to have a first litter, but this is not the case."
He said that they see, all too often, what happens when people do not neuter cats, such as a case in Middlesbrough where nearly 50 cats were being kept in squalid conditions in a two-bedroom house.
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