We just love it when we come across a no-kill shelter that goes above and beyond! Knowing how important it is to trap feral cats and get them spayed or neutered, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, a no-kill shelter located in Charlottesville, VA, is offering FREE spaying and neutering for the feral cats in their area. They call them “community cats” and their free services also include a rabies and distemper vaccination, pain meds for after the surgery, and ear tipping.
The kittens need to be at least two months old and weigh at least two pounds to be eligible for surgery, and three months old to be eligible for the rabies vaccinations. If they are that young, you might consider trying to domestic them after their surgery. But of course, that is just a minimum, older ferals are welcome, too.
They also have reduced fees for low-income owners of “regular” cats. To be eligible, the owner needs to be able to show proof of public assistance. The cost is $25, and includes the same services as the feral cats, except the ear-tipping. All other residents will pay $55, and folks in surrounding counties are charged $70.
As a side note, all Pitbulls and Pitbull mixes are offered free spaying and neutering. Hmmm…
Trapping Feral Cats
The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA will also help you with trapping the feral cats in your area. They rent traps at a nominal cost, and have some excellent information on how to trap the cats, should you need it. Of course, this information applies, no matter where you live!
We have humane capture traps available for rental. Fees are $5.00 a week plus a $50.00 deposit. The deposit will be refunded to you once the cat is fixed, released and the trap is returned to us. We also offer easy-to-follow instructions on how to successfully trap community cats for surgery.
Making An Appointment
If you would like to make an appointment, please fill out our spay/neuter application and someone will call you to confirm your appointment day. Spay/neuter appointments are made Monday-Friday. Pets must be brought into the SPCA between 8:15 – 8:45 AM and pick-up time is between 5:00 – 6:00 PM. Dogs must be on leash and cats must be in a carrier. Please clearly label the carrier with the animal’s name and your last name. Please read the Pre and Post surgery instructions.
If you can’t make it to your appointment, the shelter asks that you let them know 48 hours in advance, or there will be a $10 cancellation fee. This is understandable, since they allow walk-ins with up to 5 cats, and need to plan their time carefully.
Contact Information for the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA
Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA
Address: 3355 Berkmar Dr, Charlottesville, VA 22901
Phone:(434) 973-5959
Website: https://caspca.org/
Kudos to this shelter and the work they do with feral cats! They even ask you to be on the lookout for feral cats in the area that they can help:
Do you know someone with several cats that continue to reproduce year after year? Have you ever been to a business and noticed cats hanging out? Whatever the situation may be, if the cats live in Charlottesville or Albemarle County, we want to help through FREE spay/neuter. Please provide us with this important information so that we can help to save more lives and prevent overpopulation.
Plus, they have some cute little kitty ditties that apply to feral cats:
You feed em, we’ll fix em.
Don’t let 2 cats turn into 10
As they tell us, one unaltered female cat and her offspring could produce more than 2,000 cats in four years.
So let’s hear it for the wonderful vets and vet techs at the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA that give their time and services for free, and all the other fantastic folks that work there and offer to help with trapping and all that they do for our furry friends!
If You Live In Other Areas
If you don’t live in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area, check out the Fix Finder database for organizations in your area that provide vouchers or low-cost spay/neuter programs for feral cats.
And if you would like to provide shelter for feral cats for the upcoming winter months, check out this article.
lovely kitty.
magnifique
I wish there were more shelters like this! What a good humane solution this is!