She said the council response was that until people stopped feeding the animals, they wouldn’t act on her complaint.

FNDC was asked to respond to the woman’s concerns but could not provide answers by edition time.

‘’It’s just so overwhelming. There are just too many of them, it’s a health and safety risk and not a nice thing to have to deal with,’’ the woman said.

She said a local cat rescue group had trapped a few animals but the felines seemed to catch on and stopped entering traps.

‘’Since then they’ve just exploded with so many of them.’’

When the Northland Age visited on Tuesday, there were more than 20 cats in and around the woman’s back garden, from adult cats to kittens, and they were wary of being approached.

‘’Yes, part of the problem is that some people are feeding the cats and they have settled around where they are being fed, so I’ve got some sympathy for the council, but I’ve just had enough.

“There’s cat poo and wee all around my property. They live under the house and have destroyed the underfloor insulation and I just want them gone,’’ the woman said.

She can no longer garden as it is full of cat excrement – the last time she tried she got a handful of the defecation.

She says the cat poo is a serious health and safety issue and affecting her breathing.

The woman said as her landlord, FNDC should help get rid of the cats, just as a responsible landlord would.