This can depend on where you live and what our partner vets are offering at the time. We are limited only by the amount of funds we are able to raise. Kotor Kitties would gladly sterilize every cat and dog in Montenegro if we could raise enough money!

For your pet cat, our program can offer low-cost spays and neuters at our reduced rate: it costs € 20 before tax (€24.20 with VAT) for a male cat’s neuter and € 30 before tax (€36.30 with VAT) for a female cat’s spay. This is given to the vet as a donation for Kotor Kitties at the time of surgery. Please contact us to find out which vets will accommodate this pricing.

Not at all! The name sounded fun when we chose it, and we didn’t anticipate how quickly the project would grow, or how widespread the interest and need would be! Our mission is to help all of the community animals of Montenegro — cats and dogs — through resource development, education, coordination and advocacy.

We limit our surgery funds to cats because no other group in Montenegro focuses on them. We have expanded to work with vets in 4 cities, and our only limitation is our fundraising ability. One of our vets even travels to outlying areas to perform sterilizations in farm clinics and other facilities, working to interest other vets in the idea of HQHVSN (High Quality, High Volume Spay-Neuter).

To sterilize an animal means to remove its reproductive organs and permanently stop its ability to reproduce. The term “spay” refers to the surgical procedure used on female animals. “Neuter” is commonly used to refer to the surgery performed on males. Detailed information is here.

Our funds are limited. We have to make a choice: how can we spend our donors’ money MOST EFFECTIVELY to solve the problems of overpopulation? How can we have the greatest impact on the most animals?

€30 can pay for one X-ray, OR 5 kitten vaccines, OR ….a spay that prevents the birth of several dozen kittens, and allows the sterilized cat to gain weight, to stop fighting off males, and to make a more adoptable companion animal, should someone take notice of her!

Someday we hope the population of unwanted animals is reduced to a point that fits Montenegro’s capacity to care for them humanely. The only way to get to that goal is to spay and neuter as many animals as possible, working our way through colonies, apartment buildings, and neighborhoods. As we spay we educate, unendingly, in every conversation, with every interaction we have.

We call that an “ear tip,” and it is an internationally recognized sign that a cat has been sterilized. The vet removes a small portion of the point of the ear while the cat is under anesthesia for the surgery. While it may make us cringe to think about, the cats don’t seem at all bothered by it when they wake up! The ear is still fully functional for hearing, balance and movement: it twitches and swivels in the same way it did before the tip was removed.

We think of eartips as a sign of love — somebody cared enough to take the cat to a vet and have it spayed or neutered so it won’t continue to add to the overpopulation of unwanted cats.

The benefits of an ear tip are primarily for the cat — when you are trapping a population of feral cats, you don’t want to needlessly trap a cat a second time, or subject it to a second surgery to ensure that it is spayed! The ear tip alerts trappers that they should focus on other cats, or if they have caught an ear-tipped cat by accident, to release it immediately.

In addition, ear tips make it easier to notice when a new, unsterilized cat starts showing up for dinner: time to make an appointment and borrow a trap!

Ear tips also tell people in a neighborhood that the cats are being cared for responsibly, so they are less likely to be hurt, poisoned, or shot as “population control.”

Our vets place the ear tips as done by the Feral Cat Spay-Neuter Project in Seattle, Washington: right ear tip means a female; left ear tipped means a male.

Following their surgery, the cats are released to their caretakers, feeders, or drivers with instructions for aftercare. Most of the cats are released the next day to a colony situation. Please see our page on Trap-Neuter-Return of feral cats for more details on why this is usually best. If complications arise during surgery, they may be held in the vet clinic or by their caretaker until they are ready for release.

If this is your PET, then it should be taken home from the clinic and left in a calm, warm place for a day. During this time, provide them with access to water and a small amount of food. Within one day (24 hours) after the operation, the animal will fully recover.

They do not need any additional therapy or care after surgery. There is no need to come to the veterinarian to have the stitches removed. It is usually not necessary to put a special veterinary collar on the animal. Our veterinarians are well-versed in modern techniques for performing sterilization operations: they make a minimal incision and use self-absorbable surgical sutures. There is little risk that the animal will lick or bite the stitches unless they are very bored or they have an allergic reaction to the suture material. This has been proven by many years of veterinary practice.

If it is a STREET CAT and you have caught it in a trap, the vet will return it to you after surgery in the trap. Find an opportunity to place the cat trap in a calm, safe, warm place and cover it with a cloth so that the animal does not worry when it wakes up. If possible, put some wet food in the trap and leave the animal alone for a day. Water is not advisable because they often spill it and end up wet.

After 24-48 hours, the animal will be fully recovered and can be released outside. It should be eating well and be steady when it walks, runs, or jumps. We kindly ask you to release the animal exactly in the place where you caught it. This minimizes stress for the animal: the animal will be in a familiar environment, where it can take refuge and find food.

Spaying or neutering does more than prevent unwanted litters! It also helps protect against some serious health problems and may reduce many of the behavioral problems associated with the mating instinct.

Removing a female dog or cat’s ovaries eliminates heat cycles and generally reduces the unwanted behaviors that may lead to owner frustration. Removing the testes from male dogs and cats reduces the breeding instinct, making them less inclined to roam and more content to stay at home. This reduces their risk of being hit by cars, or being involved in fights where they contract infections and deadly diseases. 

After surgery male cats lose the desire to mark the territory or to fight, which certainly reduces the number of problems for the owner: you no longer need to fight the smell and do special treatment of the territory, overcome the discontent of neighbors, or worry as much when he doesn’t show up for dinner!

Early spaying of female dogs and cats can help protect them from some serious health problems later in life such as uterine infections and breast cancer. Neutering your male pet can also lessen its risk of developing benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate gland) and testicular cancer.

The procedure has no effect on a pet’s intelligence or ability to learn, play, work or hunt. Some pets tend to be better behaved following surgical removal of their ovaries or testes, making them more desirable companions.

We recommend spaying and neutering when the kitty reaches 1 kg (usually between 10 and 15 weeks of age) or by 4 months of age. Cats can begin reproducing at about 4 months of age, so you’ll want to be sure to get it done by then, before they go into heat or start any unwanted behaviors! 

The surgery is easy for kittens and they recover quickly – often in a matter of hours! If you have adopted an adult cat, please sterilize them as soon as possible. Just understand that it may take them a day or two to really become active and energetic again.

Early spaying/neutering has a beneficial effect on the cat’s health and even prolongs its life. The optimal age for the operation is from 3.5 to 5 months. This is the period of life before the first signs of puberty appear.

This can vary. In our first full year of operation, Kotor Kitties sterilized 1,435 cats. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our numbers was much lower: 1,099 cats sterilized.

Working with our vets to estimate our capacity in years when sufficient fundraising allows more spays, our present capacity is about 4,500 cats per year. This translates to roughly €145,200, or $173,000 USD or £130,000 GBP.

Most veterinarians in Montenegro charge between 35 and 60 euros for a cat, depending on the gender. They may charge extra for females who are “in heat” (ready to mate) or pregnant, or for males that have undescended testicles. There is a 21% tax on top of the price for surgery. 

Through Kotor Kitties: Our program is “free” for community cats with one of our Partner Vets. The vets give us a special rate because of the high volume of cats we sterilize, and to support our efforts to control the population of unwanted animals.

For your pet cat our program can offer low-cost spays and neuters at our reduced rate: it costs €20 before tax (24.20 with VAT) for a male cat’s neuter and €30 before tax (36.30 with VAT) for a female cat’s spay. This is given to the vet as a donation to Kotor Kitties at the time of surgery. 

We have a very limited sponsorship fund to help owners who cannot pay the entire amount. Please contact us if you need financial assistance with your pet sterilization. If you have multiple cats, Kotor Kitties can help you decide the order and timeline in which to do them all. When you prioritize, you won’t have the entire expense at once, and can avoid an unwanted pregnancy.

That’s a great question! There are many, many ways that people and groups can avoid paying the 21% tax, but they are not legal. Kotor Kitties has decided that we want to set an example not only of how to treat animals, but of how to treat other people and respect the laws of our host country.

We want to see this tax removed, both to help make sterilization more affordable, and to demonstrate the government’s commitment to solving the problem of overpopulation. As added incentive, we believe they should remove the tax on all veterinary services for sterilized animals! Breeders or owners who choose not to sterilize their pets should pay the 21% VAT for vet services.

This means starting a dialogue with the government about the crisis with animal overpopulation. It’s not a conversation they welcome. We encourage Montenegrin citizens to contact their Parliamentary representative and ask that the government stop taxing the solution to this problem.

The short answer is simple: click here for links to all of the donation platforms for both the US and UK groups.

The long answer depends on where you live: Kotor Kitties (US) accepts donations through PayPal, Facebook, and GoFundMe. We are also happy to be a recognized charity with AmazonSmile and Giving Assistant in the US. Donations can also be mailed to Kotor Kitties or made directly to our bank account in Seattle.

Because of the generous support of the British government for registered charities, it is important that our supporters in the UK donate through the separate Kotor Kitties UK accounts for PayPal or contact contactuk@kotorkitties.org so we can benefit from Gift Aid. Support can also be shown with AmazonSmile and Easyfundraising.org in the UK.

PayPal, Facebook, and other fundraising platforms are unavailable for use in Montenegro. Residents of Montenegro can leave donations (and get a receipt) with any of our participating veterinarians (see contact details in the final FAQ at the bottom of this page:  What are the Partner Vets’ Contact Details?).

We also have DONATION CANISTERS in shops in Kotor, Perast, Herceg Novi, and Budva. Kotorske Macke does not yet have a bank account.

Tourists in Montenegro can also look for Kotor Kitties’ informational flyers. These contain a QR CODE that allows you to donate directly to one of our accounts outside Montenegro.

You could raise money in your local community by organizing events and you could also help by trapping cats and/or transporting them to one of our Partner Vets, and collecting them to be returned to their area. For other ideas, please see the How to Help section of this website.

Please remind them of the Montenegrin Animal Welfare Law. It is illegal to abandon animals, because it is cruel to the animals and cruel to your neighbors who may find them. Remind them that there is a humane and legal alternative, which is to spay the mother cat.

You can remind them of the benefits of sterilizing their cat. You can let them know about our low-cost spay and neuter program using our Partner Vets. It costs Kotor Kitties 24.20 euros for a male cat’s neuter and 36.30 euros for a female cat’s spay. We ask that owners donate what they can afford — part or all of the cost — which would be given as a donation to Kotor Kitties to help us cover the costs.

A spayathon is when one of our Partner Vets has a day dedicated to spays and neuters. They may even travel to a separate part of Montenegro to carry this out.

Yes – this is possible. Please contact us here and we can advise you.

We would like to!

Formally registering the NVO (Montenegrin non-governmental organization), Kotorske Macke, will open more doors for participation with the government.

Our participating veterinarians are in touch with the Veterinary Chamber of Montenegro and with individual veterinary colleagues. Not all veterinarians agree that public education, client education, or advocacy for the animals should be part of their professional activities.

Cultural change is a slow process. That’s what we’re working on in Montenegro: changing individual attitudes, encouraging institutional interest and capacity, building public and private partnerships. We’ll keep working on it!