Cat welfare

RSPCA Victoria works hard to improve the lives of our feline friends. We take in stray, surrendered and seized cats and find them new, loving homes or reunite them with their owners.

We take an integrated approach to working with local councils across Victoria. This includes
promoting the benefits of desexing, microchipping and community education.

Cats are often undervalued in our communities, so we won’t stop shouting about how awesome our feline friends are. Offering wonderful companionship and affection, every cat deserves a loving home. We’ve been rehoming more cats than ever, and reducing the stray cat population by promoting compulsory desexing and microchipping.

Cats can start breeding at four months old. If not desexed, one female cat and her offspring can produce up to 5,000 cats in seven years. Desexing has a number of health benefits to fr your cat and helps reduce the pressure on local pounds and shelters, so RSPCA Victoria strongly recommends desexing your cat.

Although cats can be desexed at any age, we recommend 8-12 weeks old because:

• Cats recover quickly at a younger age
• Desexing prevents accidental litters
• Desexed cats live longer and healthier lives
• They’re more affectionate
• They’re less inclined to run away or get lost
• They’re less likely to get into fights
• Females do not display behaviour associated with heat cycles
• Males do not spray to mark their territory.