MOST people will be sitting down to a big festive meal with their loved ones on Christmas Day.

But for one Hampshire animal lover, that means being joined in the dining room of her three-bedroom home by 39 cats and four dogs.

It is just another normal day for cat foster-mother Cathy Godden, from Woolston, Southampton.

She will wake up at 4.30am on Monday to tend to her pets - and cook a 35lb turkey to feed them all.

French-born Cathy describes herself as obsessed with animal rescue and despite owning 16 cats of her own, she continues to take in needy animals in her role as a cat foster-mother for the Southampton charity, Second Chance Animal Rescue.

The 39 cats now living in her home in Porchester Road is the highest number ever for the 49-year-old.

Cathy said: "It may be eccentric, but animal rescue is an obsession for me. Even my partner thinks I am mad.

"I just can't say no. I can't stand the thought of an animal being outside and unwanted."

She is usually joined by about 25 cats for Christmas but this year she took on an extra 15 from a cat rescue centre in Wales following a cat 'flu epidemic.

Cathy is responsible for finding new homes for the felines but feels this would be too unsettling for the cats, many of whom are kittens, during the excitement of the Christmas period.

Instead they will share a Christmas feast with her and partner Paul Fields.

Despite spending up to four hours a day cleaning her home and feeding the cats, the part-time home carer for social services still has time to give each cat individual attention.

She said: "I can give them the love they need. I can detect if there is going to be a problem and I know how each one's mind works."

She added that the cats, whose food and medical bills are paid for by the Mansbridge rescue centre, have full run of her 80ft garden and have not caused any problems with the neighbours.