Annual scheme to ‘snip and chip’ the district’s felines is launched

Owners can have their pets spayed/snipped and chipped at participating veterinary clinics for £15 with the remainder of the costs being covered by Cats Protection throughout February.

The veterinary practices teaming up with Cherwell Cats Protection are: Hook Norton Vets, Deddington, Hawthorne Lodge Vets, Vets4Pets and West Bar Vets all in Banbury

The charity also covers Bicester and Kidlington with Beaumont Vet Group, Kidlington, Bicester Vets, Medivet, Kidlington, Vets4Pets, Bicester and Beaumont Vet Group, Kidlington all taking part in the scheme.

If the cat or kitten doesn’t need both procedures, owners have the option of £5 microchipping or £10 neutering only.

The neutering offer covers one routine neutering procedure for a healthy kitten or cat. All surgeries are to be performed between February 1 through February 29 and any additional costs during or after surgery are to be covered by the cat owners.

Pet owners must live in the following postcodes to be eligible: OX5, OX15, OX16, OX17, OX25, OX26, OX27 or NN13.

The benefits of neutering are enormous. It is the most humane way to reduce unwanted pregnancies, but it also makes cats less likely to roam, to spray and to fight, reducing the possibility of contracting life-threatening diseases that can be transmitted by bites and saliva.

Cats Protection recommends that cats are neutered at around four months of age or younger.

Microchipping, which involves a small data chip being inserted under the cat’s skin under the shoulder blades, has important benefits too.

With the details stored in a national database, it gives owners some peace of mind that they will be reunited with their pet cat should it ever go missing.

For more information about Cherwell Cats Protection, or how to participate in this February offer, visit www.cherwell.cats.org.uk/cherwell.