An outbreak of a serious viral infection in cats which earlier this year led to the closure of the isolation cages at the ISPCA's national refuge in Longford has now closed the cat refuge in Co Laois.
Dorothy Walker, treasurer of the Laois Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, confirmed that the cattery in Mountrath would close for a number of months.
"We got hit by this serious virus last year and closed for a week or so but it did not work and now it came back again so we are closing down for a number of months," she said.
"We have decided to close the facility here so a complete clearing regime can be undertaken," she said.
She said the public had been warned that no cats could be taken into the cattery for the next few months. "We are not the only ones to have been hit because the National Refuge was closed by this same problem earlier this year," she said.
There are between 600,000 and one million cats in Ireland and 25,000 are put down by agencies annually.