Australia is on the verge of a feline health cat-astrophe with RSPCA shelters across the nation wary of a deadly disease outbreak amid a shortage of key vaccines.
The South Australian branch of the animal welfare charity on Thursday said it could no longer take in unvaccinated stray and surrendered cats over six months of age due to a nationwide deficit in the F3 combination vaccine.
The inoculation is essential in preventing feline parvo and cat flu - highly contagious and deadly diseases.
"This is such a serious thing," RSPCA SA spokeswoman Carolyn Jones told ABC Radio.
"The illnesses that these vaccines cover would spread very rapidly through a shelter. That would lead to large-scale mortality and that is definitely what we want to avoid."
As there are no domestic manufacturers of the vaccine, local vets and pet owners are entirely reliant on overseas suppliers, which have failed to keep up with rising demand for cats.
Meanwhile, supply capacity has been constrained by factories converting to making COVID-19 vaccines and production errors resulting in batch failures.
The situation is particularly concerning as we head into kitten season with RSPCA SA fielding multiple requests per day amid "chronic cat overpopulation", Ms Jones says.
As shelters shut their doors, stray populations are only likely to grow and charities are ill-equipped to shoulder the burden alone.
"Management of stray animals is a local council responsibility and it's been thrown on to charities and rescue organisations such as RSPCA for way too long," Ms Jones said.
"This is an issue that cannot be ignored."
RSPCA will still accept unvaccinated kittens under six months, as they are most vulnerable, but strict quarantine protocols will be put in place to keep them separated.
The organisation's NSW branch paused cat donations for four weeks in October, but Ms Jones says the situation won't be resolved until at least the new year.
She says the shortage is being felt across the country and it's only a matter of time until all states are affected.
Australian Veterinary Association president Diana Barker says vets are yet to see an increase in cases but urged owners of unvaccinated cats to keep their pets indoors.
"For the average cat owning population I don't think there's a lot to be concerned about," Dr Barker told AAP.
"It's really for those shelters that we're worried about what might happen to all those cats."
