Operation Spay Bay recognizes that there is a feral cat overpopulation in Bay and surrounding counties. So our goal is to humanely decrease the number of unwanted cats and kittens in our community. In order to do so we have made it as easy as possible for local individuals and groups to get low cost and convenient spay/neuter surgeries.
The cost for a feral or community cat is $50 for surgery, ear tip, and rabies.
Can you offer financial help to fix feral cats in your community? “OSB TNR!” Learn How: HERE
***If your address is within the City of Panama City Beach city limits you may be eligible for FREE spay/neuter vouchers as part of a city initiative to help control the feral population. Learn More HERE
What’s the Process?
1. Call us at (850) 215-1022 to schedule an appointment. While we do understand that it can be difficult to estimate WHEN you successfully trap a feral cat, we DO need an appointment at this time. Please like our Facebook page HERE, as we occasionally have grants where we can take in additional feral cat appointments.
2. Trap the cat(s) and bring them to us AT YOUR APPOINTMENT TIME. Withhold food the night prior to surgery if the cat is over four months of age. Any cat under four months can have food up until 5:30 a.m. the day of their surgery. Always provide fresh water for cats regardless of age. If you are in need of help with traps or transport, reach out to an organization in our Rescue Network. Click HERE to learn more about our rescue partners.
For the safety of the cat and our staff, all feral cats must come in a humane, live-release trap or hard sided carrying kennel.
3. All patients will receive a spay/neuter surgery, rabies vaccination and ear tip.
Cats’ left ears will be tipped for future identification that they have been sterilized and vaccinated for rabies.
4. We do reserve the right to delay the surgery of ferals until the next day, dependent on the surgery schedule.
Why Doesn’t Removing Cats From an Area Work?
Cats choose their territories for a variety of reasons. Usually it’s because of a food source or the shelter an area provides. Removing cats doesn’t address whatever drew the cats to the area in the first place, so new cats will move in, or the few remaining cats will breed again to capacity. We’ve seen communities that have spent lots of money rounding up and removing all the cats, only to have a new group move in a year or two later, and continue producing more unwanted kittens! Fixing them is the answer!