Project Purr Spay/Neuter Program

For 20 years, Project Purr has provided an affordable low-cost spay/neuter veterinary package for feral cats/kittens to all residents of Santa Cruz County, regardless of income. Project Purr’s cat rescue is the financial commitment to keep feral cat/kitten spay/neuter surgery affordable.
Sadly, feral cats and kittens are almost always euthanized at the shelter, as they are deemed NOT adoptable. Alley cats, barn cats, tomcats, and street cats need a different kind of care. Since 1997 Project Purr has altered over 6000 cats/kittens and given assistance to hundreds of others, while humanely preventing the births of thousands. This benchmark is an amazing accomplishment towards the ethical treatment of all animals. Please Choose Life!

NEW! Animal Hospital of Soquel

2651 Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz

Monday-Friday 8:00AM-6:00PM NO surgeries on Sat/Closed Sunday

Call 831/475-0432 to schedule your appointment

Plan ahead!

Please call BEFORE trapping to assure surgery space is available, and if you are unsuccessful trapping, please call to let them know and reschedule.

Drop off cats in individual traps between 7:30 - 8 a.m. before regular clinic is open Monday - Friday. Pick up before 6 p.m. on the same day.

NEW! East Lake Animal Clinic

740 East Lake Avenue in Watsonville

7 days a week, 7:00AM-6:00PM
Call 831/724-6391
Proof of Santa Cruz County residency required.
Surgeries 7 days a week/ No appointment necessary

Cats need to arrive in traps before 10AM to guarantee same day surgery
and avoid overnight boarding charges.
Male cats need to be picked up after surgery by closing to avoid overnight boarding charges.
Female cats MUST stay overnight after surgery at the clinic (no charge). Call after 10AM the next day to determine their pickup time.

Although a $25.00 fee from YOU is required,
the unpaid balance for each feral cat/kitten spay/neuter surgery
is paid for by Project Purr!

Cats/kittens must be 4 months (about 4 pounds) to participate in this program.
The following items are included in the feral cat/kitten spay/neuter program package:

Anesthesia, Spay/Neuter, FVRCP and Rabies Vaccines, Parasite Control

Mandatory Ear Tip (ear tipping is the humane surgical removal of 1/4” of the tip of the right ear which becomes a visible life-saving permanent identification mark)

Humane Traps
Project Purr has assured that there is NO CHARGE to borrow a trap from our county shelters, however a refundable security deposit is required. Project Purr donates humane traps to the county shelters for your use.

Watsonville Animal Shelter

580 Airport Blvd.

Watsonville, CA 95076

Monday-Sat 9am-12pm, 1pm-5:30pm

Santa Cruz County Animal Services Authority

2200 7th Avenue

Santa Cruz, CA. 95062

Tuesday -Sunday 9am-1pm, 2pm-5:30pm

Surgery After-Care Instructions

Take the cat/kitten home and leave it in the covered trap in a safe, quiet, and warm location overnight. Release the cat/kitten the next morning in the exact area where it was trapped. Over time the stitches will dissolve. Provide fresh water and quality dry food daily in the established feeding location. It is always best to feed early in the day. Food should be eaten or gone by nightfall to avoid attracting nocturnal animals such as skunks, opossums, raccoons, and predators.

Continue daily feeding after release even though the cat may not return for several days.

So You Found Kittens!

Do not be too quick to assume that just because the mother cat is not currently present, the kittens are orphans. If the kittens are not in immediate danger, quietly wait and observe from a distance to see if the mother returns. If in doublt as to how to proceed, call Santa Cruz County Animal Services as soon as possible.

Orphan kitten care can be found online at http://www.sanjoseanimals.com/feralsOrphanCare.asp.
YOU can lift and/or trap the kittens, taking them from their mother, contain them indoors, and socialize them for adoption.
A large dog carrier can be used for containment and shelters have containment equipment to loan.

Kittens can be surrendered to Santa Cruz County Animal Service’s foster program, which may or may not be able to provide foster. To qualify for their foster program, kittens need to be healthy, eating on their own, and weigh over a pound. The possibility of euthanasia does exist.

Or you can continue feeding the kittens outdoors until they are four months of age when they are old enough to qualify
for a TNR program.

Always remember to trap and spay the mother cat before she has another litter—
and trap and neuter the tomcat too! Fix a Feral! Spay a Stray! Spay-Neuter Saves Lives!

Female cats can be spayed when pregnant. They are almost always in heat, pregnant, or lactating (nursing).

Nursing mom-cats can go into heat and be pregnant with a litter as they nurse their present litter.

Unspayed female kittens can come into heat and conceive at 16 weeks of age.

Gestation (time before birth) is about 63 days. A 6-month-old-kitten can have a litter of kittens.

Siblings (brothers/sisters) will mate with each other.

At around 5 months of age an unneutered male can begin territorial spraying.

Not only female cats are responsible for kittens. An unaltered male cat can father hundreds of kittens, so always trap and neuter tomcats too.

Prior to trapping, inform your neighbors about your intention to trap and your plan for the cats that you are trapping. This allows your neighbors time to collar or confine their pets.

Obtain permission before trapping or returning feral cats/kittens to private property.

Plan your trapping day carefully. Remember, if you trap a cat/kitten and release it for some reason, it is unlikely that you will be able to catch it again - they learn very quickly.

Be sure that feral kittens that you trapping for spay/neuter are at least 4 months of age (about 4 pounds). Kittens younger than 4 months of age cannot tolerate injectable anesthesia. At 4 months of age they can also get a rabies shot.

If the cat/kitten seems especially wary, put the trap out for a couple of days with the door securely fastened open to allow the cat/kitten time to become accustomed to its presence. Cover the bottom of the trap with folded newspaper.Do not feed the cat/kitten the day/night before you are going to trap.

Bait the trap with tuna. Use an unbreakable container the size of a cottage cheese carton. Make sure that the back door is latched, and set the trap.

After baiting the trap, open the trap door by pushing the top of the door in and pulling the bottom of the door upward. There is a small hook attached to the right side of the trap top. It hooks onto a tiny metal cylinder (rivet) on the right side of the door. The hook holds the door in an open position which also raises the trip plate. When the cat steps on the plate, it will cause the hook to release the door and close the trap.

Test traps for steadiness. Traps must not move when entered.Keep a close watch on the trap, checking it frequently. As soon as the cat/kitten is trapped, cover the trap completely with a large towel. Covering the trap will help to quiet the cat/kitten.

Lift the cover to be sure that you have the correct cat and not a neighbor's pet or a previously altered ear-tipped feral.

Move the covered trap to a quiet, enclosed, safe area until ready to transport. Make certain that the cat/kitten will not be exposed to extreme heat, cold, or wet at any time. Keep children and pets away from traps.

It is best to confine trapping efforts to daylight hours. Trapping after dark may result in trapped skunks, raccoons, or opossums, which can be dangerous and difficult to extract from a trap. However, with close monitoring, dusk is often a good time to trap cats/kittens.

When transporting the trap, place a layer of waterproof material and a towel beneath the trap to protect the interior of your vehicle.