Neutering
Why neutering matters
One unneutered female cat, left to it, can be a colony within a year or two. That is not scaremongering, it is arithmetic, and it is why we spend so much of our time supporting people with neutering.
The arithmetic
A female cat can get pregnant from around four months old. She can have two or three litters a year, and she can fall pregnant again while she is still feeding the last lot. Four to six kittens a litter is normal.
Follow that through. Her female kittens can get pregnant from four months old themselves, so the second generation can be having litters within months, not years. Nobody set out to cause it. One cat was not done in time.
Almost every cat we take off the streets in Bradford traces back to one cat that was never neutered.
It is a health decision, not just a kitten one
This is the part people underestimate. Neutering is not just about kittens.
- Pyometra, a womb infection that only affects unspayed females, and is fatal without emergency surgery.
- Mammary tumours, which are far more common in unspayed cats and are usually malignant in cats.
- FIV, which spreads mainly through bite wounds, and unneutered toms are the ones fighting.
- Road deaths and injuries, because entire cats roam much further looking for a mate.
And a sanity decision
An unneutered tom roams for miles, fights, and sprays a smell in your house that you will not get out of the skirting boards. An unspayed female calls loudly and repeatedly when she is in season, and will try everything to get out of a door or window.
The behaviour people ring us about in desperation is almost always the same three things: constant crying, getting into fights, and spraying around the house. All three are hormonal, and all three usually calm down within a few weeks of neutering.
What it costs, and what it saves
In the north of England in 2026 you are typically looking at £75 to £130 to neuter a male cat, and £110 to £180 to spay a female. It is more for a female because it is abdominal surgery rather than a quick procedure.
That is the bill people baulk at. Here is the other bill.
Then there is the emergency nobody plans for. Pyometra is a womb infection that only happens to unspayed females. The PDSA puts it at around two in every hundred unspayed cats by the age of thirteen. It is a life threatening emergency, the surgery is far riskier and more involved than a routine spay, and the bill runs to four figures. Insurance claims for it have averaged around £940, and that is only the people who had insurance.
Spaying also cuts the risk of mammary tumours dramatically, and the earlier it is done the bigger the protection. In males, castration takes away most of the reason to fight, and bite wounds are how FIV spreads between cats.
A £120 spay against a £1,000 emergency and five kittens you cannot rehome. It is not really a close call.
Independent vets are usually cheaper
Vet prices vary enormously, and since the Competition and Markets Authority stepped in, every UK practice has to publish its neutering prices on its own website. You can compare without ringing a single one.
The CMA also found that corporately owned practices charge on average around 17% more than independent ones. A lot of practices that still feel local have been bought by large groups, and the name over the door does not change.
Independent practices in and around Bradford worth checking are Baildon Vets, Northcote Vets, Tweed House Vets and Paws & Co Veterinary Centre at Tingley, which is closer than people assume, just off junction 28 of the M62 near the White Rose Centre. Ask each of them for the price of the exact thing you need, and ask whether it includes pain relief and the post op check, because sometimes it does not.
Help with the cost in Bradford
If the cost is what is stopping you, work down this list.
1. PDSA
If you receive Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support or Universal Credit with a housing element, and you live in their catchment, neutering is part of what they do. The Bradford hospital is at 1 Lorne Street, East Bowling, BD4 7PS, 01274 740070. Check the eligibility checker on pdsa.org.uk first.
2. Cats Protection vouchers
These cover most of the cost of neutering and microchipping at a participating vet, for people on means tested benefits, households under £25,000 a year, and full time students living away from home. Details at cats.org.uk. What is available depends on demand and funding at the time and varies by area, so contact them directly.
3. RSPCA
Our local branch is Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford and District, based at Wade Street in Halifax. They list neutering, microchipping and veterinary financial aid. Branch office 01422 341160.
4. Ask your vet about paying in instalments
Several local practices will spread the cost, and some work with schemes like Payment Assist. It costs nothing to ask, and vets would much rather neuter your cat now than treat a pyometra later.
5. Our £30 vouchers
If you live on the Thorpe Edge or Ravenscliffe estates and money is tight, we run £30 neutering vouchers. We started this because those are the areas where we are pulling the most cats off the streets, and it is far better to stop a litter than to find homes for one. Email sarah@thecathouserescue.com and we will tell you whether we can help.
Four things we hear every week
"She should have one litter first"
There is no evidence for it, and it works against her. Spaying before the first or second season gives the most protection against mammary tumours, so a litter first raises her risk rather than lowering it.
"He's a boy, so it doesn't matter"
He is fathering the litters. He is also the one roaming across roads, fighting, and picking up FIV through bite wounds. Toms who are not neutered live shorter lives.
"It will make him fat and lazy"
Neutering lowers what a cat needs to eat by a bit. Feeding him exactly the same amount afterwards is what makes him fat. Adjust the food and it is a non issue.
"He never goes out"
Indoor cats get out. A door left open, a window on the latch, a delivery. It only takes once, and unneutered indoor toms spray indoors anyway.
When should it be done?
From four months old. That is before a female can get pregnant, which is the whole point, and it is what most UK vets and cat charities now recommend. If your cat is older than that, it is not too late, it is just more urgent.
Need help getting it done?
Ask us. If we cannot help directly we will point you at whoever can.
Prices quoted are typical 2026 figures for the north of England and are given as a guide only. Vet fees, benefit rules and voucher schemes all change, so check directly with each practice or organisation.