Judith Mary Egerton (77) died after she was hit by a car while walking at the intersection of Dundas and Great King Sts on December 13.
Ms Egerton fed many stray cats in the area, and tried to find them new homes.
Since her death, Dunedin-based charity Animal Rescue Network has tasked itself with finding new owners for the eight kittens and approximately 12 cats.
Founder Ana Andrianova said about half of the cats, the ones who trusted Ms Egerton, had been desexed and Animal Rescue was trying to catch and desex the remainder.
"The adults are very timid, because they only knew Judith."
Only yesterday, Ms Andrianova found a further five kittens in Ms Egerton’s garden.
Until the group could find the cats new homes, they would be housed at Ms Andrianova’s property.
Although she knew of Ms Egerton’s efforts caring for the cats, she did not know her personally.
"It’s one of those cases where I found about her too late.
"If I knew her earlier we would have been able to help her with desexing some of the cats."
She hoped they could find the animals quiet homes, she said.
"Just one or two people [per home] would be preferable. They’re timid. They haven’t been exposed to many people."
The group had had a great response from the public and found a few keen new owners, but many more were still needed, she said.
Charlotte Flaherty, who was friends with Ms Egerton, said while she lived alone, she had a "huge circle of friends".
"She was amazing. At the funeral she was described as a Renaissance woman. She loved science and the arts."
Some students in the area would buy cats and leave them when they left over summer, she said.
"We used to see her buying lots of cat food. She didn’t have much income and most of it went to those cats. She absolutely tried to find homes for them."
Ms Egerton saw caring for the cats as a "civic duty," she said.
