--- title: "Cats Protection vs RSPCA: Key Differences & Ratings" description: "Cats Protection vs RSPCA compared: a cats-only charity run as one UK-wide organisation vs all-animal cruelty prevention with separate branches, 2025 reports." source: https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/compare/cats-protection-vs-rspca retrieved: 2026-10-23T14:58:03.267Z date_note: "Retrieval time is not the filing, register-extract or editorial-review date; cite those dates from the content." license: "Charity data © Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0" --- [CP](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/charity/cats-protection) [CATS PROTECTION](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/charity/cats-protection) 76/100 4★ Reg. 203644 compared with [RS](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/charity/royal-society-for-the-prevention-of-cruelty-to-animals) [ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/charity/royal-society-for-the-prevention-of-cruelty-to-animals) 89/100 4★ Reg. 219099 # Cats Protection vs RSPCA **In short:** Cats Protection works only with cats, rehoming and neutering them through centres and volunteer teams run as one UK-wide charity. The RSPCA works on cruelty to all animals in England and Wales, with 131 separately registered branches. Last reviewed 23 October 2026 by CharityCompare editorial. Both rely on local volunteer networks, organised differently. Cats Protection’s branches are part of one charity covering the whole UK; the RSPCA’s 131 branches are separate charities with their own accounts. In 2025 Cats Protection rehomed about 27,000 cats and neutered 92,000, while RSPCA branches rehomed 21,614 animals of all species. These are outputs, not welfare outcomes. ## Cats Protection vs RSPCA: key differences | What to compare | CATS PROTECTION | ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS | | --- | --- | --- | | Registered work and operating model | Cat rehoming, neutering and welfare information across the UK, through adoption centres and volunteer teams in one charity. | Prevention of cruelty to animals of all kinds in England and Wales, alongside 131 separately registered branches. | | What to consider | Its 2025 rehoming and neutering totals fell from 2024 after it closed sites that no longer met its welfare standards and moved to more targeted neutering. Its report presents centres and volunteer teams as one charity. | Its rehoming figure comes from its branches, which are separate charities not consolidated into the RSPCA’s accounts. The national charity’s own measures include calls to its cruelty line and prosecutions. | | Access and practical checks | Adopt through its centres or local volunteer teams. Owners on means-tested benefits or with a household income under £25,000 may get help with neutering costs, and it fosters cats for owners fleeing domestic abuse. | Report suspected cruelty through its cruelty line. For adoption, contact the RSPCA branch or centre near you, and note that a branch has its own charity number and accounts. | | Sourced result or evidence gap | About 27,000: Cats rehomed. 2025, UK. A rounded, charity-reported output, down from 29,000 in 2024. It also neutered 92,000 cats and kittens, including 6,250 feral cats, and fostered 620 cats for 340 owners fleeing domestic abuse. | 21,614: Animals rehomed by RSPCA branches. 2025, England and Wales. A charity-reported output for separately registered branches, which took in 27,226 animals; the national charity separately reports 933,000 calls to its cruelty line. | ## What the latest filings show Figures from the accounts held in our dated dataset; the live register may contain newer filings. Ratios can span multiple years, as labelled. Clarity scores use our [methodology](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/methodology). Cost to raise £1 of donations is not part of the score; legacies make it lumpy, and it is withheld where trading costs would distort it ([how it works](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/methodology#cost-to-raise)). These snapshots have different latest accounts years. Compare the same period in the full profiles before drawing a conclusion from a financial difference. | Metric | CATS PROTECTION | ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS | | --- | --- | --- | | Latest accounts year in our snapshot | 2025 | 2024 | | Financial snapshot refreshed | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-06 | | Ratio reporting window | 3-yr avg | 3-yr avg | | Overall score | 76/100 (4★) | 89/100 (4★) | | Accountability & Finance | 75/100 | 100/100 | | Spend on charitable activities | 68% of expenditure | 81% of expenditure | | Fundraising efficiency | £3.0 total income per £1 fundraising (2023–2025, disclosed years) | £5.4 total income per £1 fundraising (2022–2024, disclosed years) | | Cost to raise £1 of donations | Not shown for 2025: trading income was 25% of donations | 26p per £1 (2024) · 21p over 2022–2024 | | Latest income | £106m | £153m | | Fundraising spend | 32% of expenditure | 19% of expenditure | | Reserves | 6 months | 9 months | | Accounts filing | On time | On time | | Data confidence | high | high | | Charity number | 203644 | 219099 | [CATS PROTECTION on the register](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=203644&subId=0) · [ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS on the register](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=219099&subId=0) ## Considering Cats Protection - You want to fund cat welfare only, across all four UK nations. - You want to support help with neutering costs for owners on low incomes. [Full profile →](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/charity/cats-protection) ## Considering RSPCA - You want to support cruelty investigation, prosecutions and advocacy for animals of all kinds. - You prefer to give locally: your RSPCA branch is a separate charity with its own accounts. [Full profile →](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/charity/royal-society-for-the-prevention-of-cruelty-to-animals) ## Cats Protection vs RSPCA: questions answered ### Cats Protection or RSPCA: which should I support? There is no universal winner. Cats Protection focuses on cats across the UK, through rehoming, neutering and owner support; the RSPCA works on cruelty to animals of all kinds in England and Wales, with separately registered branches that run their own animal centres. Choose the work you want to fund, then check the accounts period. A financial rating is not an impact assessment. ### Are Cats Protection branches separate charities? Its 2025 report describes its work in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as managed as one charity under the same governance and management structure, and does not describe branches as separate charities. RSPCA branches differ: each is separately registered, publishes its own accounts and is not consolidated into the national RSPCA’s accounts. ### Why did Cats Protection rehome and neuter fewer cats in 2025? Its report says it closed some sites that could no longer meet its welfare expectations, which reduced rehoming capacity, and moved to a more targeted neutering approach based on its cat population model. Rehoming fell from 29,000 to about 27,000 and neutering from 168,000 to 92,000. 100 How we score charities + The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically. [Full methodology →](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/methodology) Accountability & Transparency Scored from filings 40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10). Financial Health Scored from filings 30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises). Financial Efficiency Scored from filings 20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below). Community Support Scored from filings 10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio. Overall score Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated. [Compare these charities side-by-side](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/compare-charities?ids=cats-protection,royal-society-for-the-prevention-of-cruelty-to-animals) [Back to compare](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/compare-charities) **Information only** — not donation advice. We do not tell you where to give. Sources: [Cats Protection: Registered activities, identity and accounts](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=203644&subId=0), [Cats Protection: Annual Report 2025](https://www.cats.org.uk/media/1cepomt5/cats-protection-annual-report-2025.pdf), [Cats Protection: Neutering financial assistance](https://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/neutering/financial-assistance), [RSPCA: Registered activities, identity and accounts](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=219099&subId=0), [RSPCA: Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts 2025](https://www.rspca.org.uk/documents/d/rspca/2527_tra_2026_master_0508). See also [how we score](https://charitycompare.pages.dev/compare-charities#how-we-score).