The country's most powerful cat lover, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is using his official website to urge Canadians to foster pets that have been abandoned or rescued.

The web page — which is up during the Humane Society's Adopt-A-Cat month — shows a photo of a smiling Harper in a wood-panelled room at 24 Sussex Drive with two tiny kittens perched by his side.

Prime Minister Harper with two foster cats at 24 Sussex Drive.
(Government of Canada)

Harper and his wife, Laureen, have fostered cats and kittens from the Ottawa Humane Society for months, says the website.

"We're really fortunate to have the Harpers championing this very important cause," said Sharon Miko, outreach manager for the Ottawa society.

The society fosters out cats and kittens that are pregnant, mildly ill, orphaned or recovering from surgery.

Cats require love

Miko says most of the cats that are fostered have the equivalent of a human cold and require a calm, safe environment and loving care. It's not known how many cats currently call the prime minister's official residence home, but the Harpers reportedly take in multiple cats or kittens at a time.

People who foster many cats at once are likely taking in a litter of kittens, said Miko.

Calls to the Prime Minister's Office about his family's involvement in the program were not returned.

Harper's fondness for cats is well known to those around the prime minister.

Days after his Jan. 23 election win, a photo in the Ottawa Citizen —credited to Laureen Teskey Harper — showed the prime minister relaxing with a tiny kitten on his lap.

During his time as leader of the official Opposition, Harper was visibly upset when a family cat was run over by a car outside Stornoway.

Parliament Hill even has a feline vibe, with its own colony of stray cats. Known as the "cat sanctuary," volunteers have fed the dozens of cats that live in the shelters since the 1970s.