ARE you brave enough to take on this litter of hostile kittens?

ARE you brave enough to take on this litter of hostile kittens?

The RSPCA animal centre at Martlesham has just been given a kindle of ten-week-old feral kittens to rehome.

Becky Fox, deputy manager at the centre, said they would like them to go someone who owns stables or small holdings so they have plenty of room to roam around.

She said: “They are not friendly as they are wild cats and they have been known to spit and bite people.

“Finding homes for them will be difficult. They would need a lot of space.

“They have been neutered now so they can't breed anymore. We are now looking for people to carry on their welfare.”

The RSPCA received reports about a litter of kittens hanging around a property near a field in Charlsfield because they had been fed and kept returning for food. They were collected by an RSPCA officer and then brought to the Martlesham centre in Mill Lane.

A feral cat is a cat which has been separated from domestication, whether through abandonment, loss, or running away, and has become wild.

There is currently an abundance of domestic cats at the centre that all need homes too.

Latest figures showed that 2,020 cats were abandoned in the eastern region in 2006 - a 17per cent increase from 1,726 in 2005.

Miss Fox said: “Having lots of cats to rehome is a known problem throughout all the branches of the RSPCA. People tend to want kittens rather than cats and also a lot of people avoid black cats because they are superstitious.

“This causes a backlog but they all need homes.”

If you want to take on the feral kittens or can provide a home for any of the other cats, call the RSPCA centre on 01473 623280 or visit ww.ipswich-rspca.org

N Do you have an interesting story about your cat? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

Feral cats are the descendants of domesticated cats which were abandoned by their owners or strayed into wild areas from their homes

Adult feral cats can rarely be socialised however feral kittens can sometimes be socialised if they are below 12 weeks old

Feral cats are usually found in large feral colonies

The average life span of a feral cat that survives beyond kittenhood is usually less than two years, compared to 12 to 16 years.

They are petrified of humans and this makes them difficult to handle, which results in them being overlooked and left to breed uncontrollably

The process of taming feral kittens can take two to six weeks depending on the state of wildness.