Battersea has been rehoming animals in need for more than 100 years and while the organisation is well-known for its work with dogs, it now care for just as many cats.

KentOnline reporter Charlotte Phillips visited its Kent site to meet some of the adorable moggies waiting to go to their forever homes, as well as the people who help get them there...

At the time of my visit to the Brands Hatch site, there were 16 cats and I got to meet three who have now all officially got homes to go to.

The first was one-year-old Smudge who joined his new family just in time for Christmas. Things didn’t work out for him when he was previously rehomed by the charity, so it’s second time lucky for him.

I also got to see one-year-old Piggy-Wiggy who was taken in by the centre after a change in his owner’s circumstances. He will be going to his new home in the next few weeks.

Finally, I met 10-year-old Helena, who came to the charity’s care after her owner died.

The average amount of time a cat stays at Battersea is 28 days. It also has a site in Old Windsor and its world-famous base in south London.

I spoke to Kathryn Davenport, cattery intake coordinator at Brands Hatch, who said older cats like Helena stay for a little bit longer as “the majority of families want a younger cat”.

The 33-year-old explained: “We ask people to be very open-minded about older cats because we can give you all the information about its medical history.

“You can find a very healthy eight to 10-year-old that can be an absolutely lovely, social and friendly family cat. We ask people to see the cat for who they are rather than their age.”

Kathryn explained when a cat first comes into their care, they have an initial health check with the vets.

“They’ll check their tummies, ears and eyes to make sure there’s nothing obvious they’re worried about,” she said.

“We allow the cats around a week to settle and get used to their environment. We want to give them a chance to bond with the staff and to adjust to cattery life.

“Once they’re settled and we start to see their personalities, we start assessing them and get to know their quirks, likes, and dislikes. From that, we create a rehoming platform about the cat.

“We then run a matching process with that information, a little bit like a dating agency. We get to know the potential owners really well through a questionnaire and then try and match them with a cat that’s going to be best suited for both parties.”

Tonbridge resident Kathryn has been working for Battersea for eight years and was initially based in London.

In her time with the charity, she has rehomed dogs and cats. The animal-lover even has a wide range of her own pets – including three dogs, three cats, three rabbits, seven guinea pigs, twelve chickens and seven sheep.

She said: “I pretty much have always planned and dreamed to work in animal rescue. I studied animal management and got my degree. This is my absolute dream job.

“I own a very shy cat and when she comes and sits with us on the sofa I feel the love. They don’t need to give you much for you to feel that companionship.

“They’re so underrated and they’re so unique, every single cat. It’s such a rewarding job.”

She starts her day by making sure the cats “haven’t trashed their pens” before sorting their breakfast.

“We have a lot of bossy cats that demand their breakfast first thing so that’s our first priority,” she explained.

“While we’re doing that we clean out their pens and make sure they’re happy for the day.

“After that, we have some fantastic volunteers who will either have a morning or afternoon shift and they come in to socialise with the cats.

“The cats get a lot of attention throughout the day from staff and volunteers. What they get depends on what their character is like.

“Some of our older cats just like a lap to sit on so the volunteers will go in there and spend half an hour just reading a book to them and they’ll curl up on their lap and just enjoy the company.

“Then we obviously have some more active cats so the volunteers will go in with some toys and have a little play session with them.

“They get very custom interactions throughout the day depending on what they want.”

At lunchtime, all of the lights go off in the cattery so the cats can relax – which Kathryn describes as “a bit like a nursery”.

Since 2022, Battersea has seen the number of calls from people looking to give up their cats double across all its sites.

This year, the charity has also seen a 22% rise in the number of kittens coming into its centres.

Kathryn said the rescue centre has definitely noticed the impact the cost of living has had on pet owners.

She said: “We have seen a major increase in people needing to bring their cats and dogs to us because of financial reasons.

“We're very lucky we have fantastic donors and the public keeps us going with their gifts so we’ve not had any issues looking after the cats in our care.

“But we’re definitely seeing it with having a lot more intake inquiries. Rehoming is also slowing down because people are considering whether they can afford to take in an animal.

“The majority are gifted into our care and there can be an array of reasons people need to gift their cats to us.

“We’re currently dealing with a lot of financial issues, there’s the rental situation at the moment, it can be own ill health. It can be a lot of reasons.”

Rehoming and welfare manager, Lisa Stockwell, said: “Obviously it’s a really hard time for a lot of people at the moment and the cost of living is just one of the many reasons we take cats in.

“We are seeing some cats come to us because of that, but we’re here to help every cat that we can. They do come to us for a variety of reasons.”

The 35-year-old, who has been at Battersea for more than eight years, added: “For me, it was the place that I wanted to come to, it’s world-famous and for me it’s everything I believe in.

“I make sure all the animals are getting the best care possible and that we’re looking for homes for them as quickly as we can so their stay with us is as short as we can make it.

“We want them to have suitable and loving homes to go to as soon as possible.”

Battersea has around 200 cats in its care across its three sites and the charity has approximately 600 volunteers, with 31 at Brands Hatch.

In December it celebrated its 140th anniversary of caring for cats. Since 1883, Battersea has looked after 250,000.

Lisa said: “We’re very well known for our dogs but we now rehome just as many cats.

“The way we care for the animals, what we do for people and how we help and find animals new homes is exactly what I want to be a part of. I feel very privileged to be able to do that here.”