Flathead County commissioners last week approved expansion plans for the Flathead County Animal Shelter.

The $130,000 expansion, which will increase the cat holding area at the shelter by more than 800 square feet, should allow for the cramped cats to spread out and avoid getting preventable and contagious diseases.

Cliff Bennett, director of the shelter, said the commissioners approving the plan was a great step in an already long process.

“It’s taken quite a while, which it does when you are talking about animals,” he said. “We’ve always stayed at or below our budget and we increase license revenues every year. I think the commissioners just thought it was a good project.”

The expansion will triple the amount of cat space and move the kittens into the same part of the building as the rest of the cats.

But the project will help the shelter’s dogs as well. Keeping cats in one location will prevent cats and dogs from sharing the same air, which can lead to health issues such as kennel cough.

“Smallville,” the kennel area in which the shelter keeps smaller dogs, is being moved to where the secondary cat and kitten room is now. Since smaller dogs tend to be the most popular for potential adopters to visit, its current location in the back of the shelter next to the “intake” room where strays are take in and immunized is less than ideal.

The current Smallville will become additional intake space for strays.

The project was awarded to Outback Construction from Missoula and is budgeted for $130,000. Bennett said he expects it to be completed “before snow,” and the health of the animals will improve.

“The cats can get an upper respiratory disease when they are stressed, and they get stressed from small enclosures,” he said. “The new enclosures will be twice the current size.”

Current wait time for dogs to be adopted is around 14 days. For cats, it is 32 days. Bennett said he believes the new cat area will allow more people to see healthy, happy cats and reduce the wait time.

The Flathead County Animal Shelter already has an excellent track record with the health of its animals, with a more than 97 percent live release rate to existing owners, new owners and other shelters.

The plan approved by the county commissioners was financed by the shelter’s related nonprofit organization, the Flathead Shelter Friends.

“They have played a huge role in getting this project through,” Bennett said. “The architect donated his services for the drawing, and Flathead Shelter Friends paid for the engineering studies the commissioners approved. They’ve really paved the way.”

The nonprofit also plans to raise money for the enclosures in the expansion.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.