Staff at a Perth animal shelter say while there had been a slow increase in the number of pet surrenders in recent weeks, they expected the full impact of the economic recession to hit WA's feline population in a few months' time.

Cat Haven is bracing for an influx of dumped cats in the next few months. Credit:iStockphoto

"After all these job losses people sadly won’t be financially able to care for their cats – so the next few months are when we expect to get increased surrenders," a Cat Haven spokeswoman said.

The animal rescue centre had experienced an influx of people willing to foster cats throughout the COVID-19 crisis, but the facility said it would need to start making room for the predicted population boom.

"Due to social distancing recommendations we are operating bookings to view cats for adoption via our Facebook page and have strict measures about how many people can be in the adoption area and reception area at one time, as well as processing adoptions outside away from others," the spokeswoman said.

"As long as people can commit to caring for a cat long-term and can afford food, vet treatment and health care costs, now is the perfect time to adopt, particularly if people are working from home – [it's] much easier to introduce a cat while you are home to provide reassurance."