Due to the current situation with coronavirus, Cats Protection has had to make changes to our usual services. Read on to find out more about these temporary changes. We will be updating our advice regularly as the situation progresses.

Can you temporarily look after my cat while I am ill?

Cats Protection is unable to offer a temporary boarding service for owned cats.

Are Cats Protection branches, centres and shops open?

Our branches and centres are closed to the public currently. Our charity shops have been closed since 21 March. However, we are working hard to re-open our shops as soon as it is safe to do so. To find out if your local charity shop is open, please check their Facebook page for updates. You can find your nearest shop here but please be aware that hours may not be as listed.

When will Cats Protection shops be re-opening?

We are reopening our shops in phases beginning 1^st July and we will phase the re-opening of over 90 shops throughout July. To see if a shop is open in your area we advise you to visit the shops local Facebook page. Shops will be trading between the hours of 10-4 initially so that our teams can thoroughly clean and restock each day. To keep our volunteers, employees and shoppers safe, we’ll be implementing the following measures in store:

• Strictly adhering to social distancing rules
• Using floor markers to assist in maintaining distances
• Issuing our team with PPE
• Providing hand sanitiser stations for customer use
• Cashless payments
• Regular and thorough cleaning

Can I donate to your charity shops?

We’re always grateful of donations and really appreciate the generosity of our supporters. We’ll be putting procedures in place in every shop to ensure we can accept, process and store donations safely, including quarantining donations for 72 hours before processing. If you’d like to donate to a shop near you, we’d recommend phoning the shop first to arrange a drop-off.

If your local shop is closed we ask that you please hold onto your donations until we are able to receive them. Items left outside shops are at risk of being damaged through weather conditions or stolen, so we ask that you kindly donate to us during trading hours.

What will happen to the cats in your care?

We are continuing to provide high levels of care for the cats in our branches and centres. We are phasing the opening of our centres and branches to rehome these cats.

Is the neutering helpline still open?

The National Neutering Helpline is currently open from 9.30am – 1pm, Monday to Friday.

Will you still be able to provide financial assistance towards the cost of neutering my cat?

Yes, we can still help with subsidised neutering. Our regional neutering campaigns are continuing for the time being. However, most vets will only be doing urgent or emergency treatments.

I’m taking part in a fundraising event. Are they going ahead? What do I do if they are postponed?

Unfortunately our face-to-face events are on hold until further notice. For local and regional events organised by branch and centres, please visit their individual websites for updated information. If you’re unsure, please contact our Events team who will do their best to help. Email events@cats.org.uk or call 01825 741 960.

Can I help Cats Protection by fostering a cat or volunteering in another capacity?

We are heartened that so many cat lovers across the UK are considering how they can be of help to our feline friends.

At the moment we are considering how best to respond to the current situation while focusing on cats in our care and keeping our volunteers safe. While we do that we are temporarily suspending volunteer recruitment. Please check back here for more details.

Is Paws Protect still operating?

Please contact Paws Protect directly on 0345 260 1280 (9am to 5pm Mon-Fri) to discuss your specific circumstances. Please note we are only able to speak to referrals who are fleeing domestic abuse.

Are you still accepting job applications to join Cats Protection?

We have made the decision to temporarily suspend all but essential recruitment due to the COVID-19 situation.   

Please do keep visiting our careers site to find details of our current recruitment activity.

Thank you for your interest in joining us, stay safe and well.

What is Cats Protection doing to protect its staff and volunteers?

Due to the developing situation with COVID-19, Cats Protection is taking extra precautions to try and ensure that we keep our people safe. This includes:

• closing all shops during the lockdown
• enabling employees who can work from home to do so
• postponing all face-to-face events
• closing all adoption centres to the public - all of our centres are running on essential teams only, focusing only on cat care and hands-free homing (with social distancing in place and different teams on different days to limit risk)
• meetings, interviews and visits are taking place by telephone/online where possible or, if necessary, postponed
• all events and meetings are happening digitally or have been postponed
• all staff and volunteers over 70, or those with an underlying medical condition, are ceasing activities for Cats Protection that bring them into contact with others
• recruitment has been temporarily suspended while we look after our people and consider our response to the current situation

Information is correct as of 22 June 2020.

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