Greg Daily, For the Camera

Two refugee cats from Hurricane Gustav relax at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley on Tuesday afternoon September 2, 2008. Approximately 89 cats are expected to come to the Boulder facility from adoption centers in the Gulf Coast area. The cats will be available for adoption after routine checkups.

The number of cats available for adoption at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley will nearly double later this week after the shelter accepted about 30 cats and kittens from an adoption center in the Gulf Coast region.

Last week, as Hurricane Gustav swirled toward the Louisiana shores, the Texas Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals organized efforts to evacuate pets in the storm’s path.

The Texas shelter announced Saturday that it was moving 188 dogs and cats from the Louisiana SPCA to other shelters across the nation to make room for an expected influx of evacuated pets, according to Maura Davies, of the Texas animal agency.

Nearly 90 evacuated cats and kittens arrived in Denver on Sunday, and officials with the Boulder Valley humane society, Dumb Friends League in Denver and Larimer Humane Society in Fort Collins each took some of the pets to their adoption centers.

The sudden spike in its kitten population is a strain on the shelter, said Lisa Pedersen, chief executive officer for Boulder’s humane society.

“We’re working to make room for the evacuees — any time we take in this number of cats at once, we have to be careful with our resources,” she said. “But we’re happy to help and know that our community will respond quickly in helping us get these cats into new homes.”

There will be a variety of cats available — including long- and short-hair breeds of all ages.

“We are really encouraging people that this is a wonderful time to add a cat to your family,” Pedersen said.

All of the Boulder Valley cats will receive medical and behavioral assessments before being placed into the adoption center, which now has 34 available felines, three of which are on hold for adoption, Pedersen said.

Because cats can get upper-respiratory infections from traveling long distances, she said, none of the evacuated animals can be taken to a new home yet.

“I anticipate most or all of them will be going into the adoption center this week,” Pedersen said.

The earliest some evacuated cats could be available is Friday, she said.

In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region, the Humane Society of Boulder Valley took about 150 evacuated dogs from the Louisiana area. Many of those evacuations were last-minute removals, but Pedersen said this year animal organizations were better prepared, having created improved evacuation plans in cases of emergency.

People living in the coastal region didn’t stay behind to save their pets, thanks to better animal-response plans, she said.

“The lessons we learned allowed us to be immediately responsive to handle the evacuees,” Pedersen said.