One Day. 200 Lives.
Apr 21, 2025
Feral Cat Spay Day helps prevent unwanted litters—and builds a No Kill Chicago.





Each spring and summer, shelters across the city are inundated with kittens. PAWS Chicago’s medical team knew something had to be done to get ahead of the harm caused when too many homeless cats overwhelm the city’s ability to serve them.
That’s why we’re launching the 2025 Feral Cat Spay Day at our Lurie Clinic.
On April 29, we’re mobilizing our medical team, operations staff, community cat volunteers, and colony caretakers, to perform 200 spay/neuter surgeries on feral cats in one day, preventing thousands of future litters and giving outdoor cats a safer, healthier life—and we’re inviting our community of animal-lovers to join us in taking this proactive step towards building a No Kill Chicago.
“Be the fix” for a broken system.
Cats are able to produce 45 times as many offspring as humans. They can get pregnant every 62 days and usually give birth to multiple kittens per litter. Spay/neuter is the single most effective way to address the killing of homeless pets. But we can’t do it without your help.
Your donation today support our work—funding surgeries, supplies, transportation, and community outreach to reach the cats who need it most.
PAWS’s work focuses on Chicago ZIP codes with the highest number of stray animal calls and shelter intakes—communities where veterinary resources are scarce but the need is great. Every week, PAWS is in these neighborhoods performing TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return), offering transportation, medical care, and support to dozens of outdoor cats and their caretakers.
Since opening the Lurie Clinic in 2000, PAWS Chicago has provided more than 338,450 spay/neuter surgeries for free and at a reduced cost to make sure it is accessible for all pets.
Donate today to help us expand our reach and empower more Chicagoans to care for feral cats with compassion.
Special thanks to cats in action
We want to express gratitude to our friends at Cats in Action — a Chicago nonprofit that provides TNR resources for the community—who are helping us trap 100 of the cats to be spayed or neutered on April 29. Our partnership helps us save more together.
What is TNR—and why does it matter?
TNR is a humane method of managing outdoor cat colonies by trapping feral cats, having them spayed or neutered, then returning them to their territory where they can live out their lives without contributing to pet overpopulation.
PAWS Chicago’s Community Cats program supports residents already feeding and watching over these animals, turning caring individuals into registered colony caretakers with the tools and resources to do more.
Your support saves lives
PAWS Chicago is the only large-scale, free and low-cost spay/neuter provider in the region. In 2025, we’re on pace to perform nearly 19,000 spay/neuter surgeries, with every single one helping to reduce the number of homeless animals and save lives.
Since our founding in 1997, when more than 42,000 pets were killed in Chicago, PAWS has helped reduce the number of animals euthanized in Chicago by 89%. But even with this progress, thousands of dogs and cats still enter Chicago’s city pound every year, and that number continues to climb. The most effective solution is clear: spay and neuter. With your support, we can provide more surgeries, prevent more unwanted litters, and drive euthanasia numbers even lower.
Let’s make April 29 a turning point for feral cats in Chicago. Please join us. And be the fix.
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