Helping Stray Cats in Cyprus: Neutering (TNR) Schemes, Feeding, Injured Cats and the Charities to Contact

If you want to help stray cats in Cyprus, the single most useful thing you can do is get them neutered, through your municipality or a registered cat charity taking part in the state sterilisation scheme. Feeding, first aid and rescue all matter too, but without neutering, every colony you feed simply grows.

This guide explains how the 2026 schemes work, the rules on feeding, what to do with an injured cat or a box of kittens, and which groups to contact in each district.

How big is the stray cat problem in Cyprus?

Very big. Estimates range from about one million stray and feral cats to more than two million, against fewer than a million people living in the Republic. A study published in August 2026, based on interviews with people working with strays in Cyprus, Greece and Portugal, suggested Cyprus may have more stray cats per resident than anywhere else.

You will see the result everywhere: colonies behind supermarkets, at bins, in parks, on building sites and around hotels and tavernas. Many cats are healthy, but kitten deaths, untreated injuries, eye infections and cat flu are common, and colonies can grow quickly because cats breed several times a year in the mild climate.

How does the state cat neutering scheme work?

The island-wide stray cat sterilisation programme is run by the Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Agriculture. On World Animal Day in October 2025 the government announced that the cat budget would triple from €100,000 to €300,000, with a separate €100,000 for dogs for the first time. Officials said in June 2026 that the programme neuters about 2,200 cats a year, a small number against the size of the population.

For the 2026 round, applications opened in June and closed on 26 June. The rules were:

• Who can take part: local authorities, registered animal welfare organisations and private vets with a suitably equipped clinic.
• Who cannot apply directly: individuals and unregistered volunteer groups. They have to work through their local authority or a registered charity.
• How the work is shared: procedures are spread fairly between participating clinics, and the Veterinary Services publish the list of participating local authorities and organisations on their website.

The Commissioner for the Environment and Animal Welfare and the Veterinary Services agreed in September 2026 to expand the scheme from October, to look at microchipping cats at the time of neutering, and to set up a formal authorisation for trap-neuter-return (TNR) volunteers. Details of how the expansion works had not been published by early November 2026, so ask your district veterinary office or municipality for the current position.

What are municipalities doing?

Several of the new merged municipalities now run their own programmes alongside the state scheme:

If your area is not listed, phone or email your municipality's health or environment department and ask whether it takes part in the Veterinary Services scheme. Community councils in villages often rely on the district authority (EOA) or a local charity.

How do you get a colony neutered?

Step by step

1. Count the cats. Note how many there are, roughly how many are female, and whether any already have a notched or tipped ear, which usually means they have been neutered.
2. Contact your municipality. Ask whether it has places in the state scheme or its own voucher or coupon system, and how volunteers register.
3. Or contact a registered charity. If the municipality has nothing, a registered welfare group in your district may include your colony in its quota or point you to low-cost neutering. In the Famagusta area, the Helping Hands charity shop in Paralimni sells neutering vouchers for €20 for a male and €25 for a female (2026); the vet charges only for an antibiotic injection.
4. Book the vet before you trap. Agree the day and time with the clinic so cats are not kept in traps for long.
5. Trap humanely. Use a proper humane trap or a secure carrier, cover it with a towel to calm the cat, and never trap in extreme heat. Hold back food for a few hours beforehand so the cat goes in.
6. Let them recover, then return them. Keep the cat in a covered carrier somewhere quiet and cool overnight, then release it exactly where you caught it.

Be ready for questions

In February 2026 there were reports from Latsia, Limassol and Larnaca of neutered, ear-tipped cats disappearing, and in June 2026 rescue groups under the Cyprus Voice for Animals federation paused their TNR work after volunteers were threatened and even taken to police stations by suspicious residents. If you trap cats, tell neighbours or the building committee what you are doing, carry proof of your vet appointment or municipal coupon, and stay polite if challenged.

What are the rules on feeding stray cats?

Feeding strays is not banned across Cyprus. The animal welfare law protects stray feeding and drinking spots from being destroyed and lets local authorities designate official feeding areas. Some municipalities now ask residents to use only those areas, so check what applies where you live.

Good practice keeps neighbours on side:

• Feed at set times and collect leftovers, plates and packaging within about half an hour. Food left out attracts rats, ants and complaints.
• Use the municipal feeding points in Nicosia, Larnaca and Paralimni–Deryneia rather than pavements and car parks.
• Always leave clean waterEspecially from June to October.
• Feed and neuter together. Feeding without neutering means more kittens next spring.

Feeding cats in an apartment building

Lobbies, stairwells, gardens, car parks and pool areas are common property, run by the building's management committee. Ask the committee before you put food or shelters in shared areas, and expect some owners to object. Our guide to communal fees and apartment buildings explains how committees work. If you rent, check your contract before keeping or feeding animals on the property; see renting in Cyprus.

What should you do with an injured or sick stray?

1. Contain the cat safely. Wear gloves or wrap it in a thick towel, and put it in a carrier or a box with air holes. Injured cats bite and scratch.
2. Phone a vet first. Say it is a stray and ask whether they can see it now and what it will cost. Many clinics treat strays, but you will usually be the paying client.
3. Out of hours, call a clinic with a 24/7 emergency line before you drive. Most work on call rather than as walk-in hospitals. Our vets by city guide lists clinics and emergency lines in every district.
4. Ask for help with the bill. Charities cannot fund every case, but some will help with neutering or treatment for colonies they know, especially if you offer to foster during recovery.

Signs that a cat needs a vet quickly include bleeding, limping, crusted or closed eyes, drooling, wobbling, or a sudden collapse, which can mean poisoning.

What about kittens?

Most kittens are born between spring and early autumn. If you find kittens alone, do not move them straight away: the mother is usually out hunting and comes back. Watch from a distance for a few hours. Step in if the kittens are cold, wet, crying constantly, injured, or in danger from traffic or dogs.

Very young kittens need warmth more than food. Keep them in a box with a towel and a wrapped warm water bottle, and never give cow's milk. Ask a vet for kitten milk replacer and how often to feed. Have the mother neutered as soon as the kittens are weaned so the cycle does not repeat.

Can you adopt or foster a stray?

Yes, and fostering is often the most practical choice for expats who rent or travel. Kittens and friendly adults from a colony can be rehomed once they are vaccinated and neutered. Rescues also rehome cats abroad: Tala Cats in Paphos, for example, flies cats monthly from Larnaca to London Heathrow, at an approximate total of £550. Our guide to adopting a pet in Cyprus covers shelters, the adoption process and fostering in detail.

Cats do not yet have to be microchipped in Cyprus, but EU rules expected from 2028 will require it, so it makes sense to chip any cat you adopt.

Which cat charities and sanctuaries can you contact?

These groups were active in 2025–26. Most are small and run by volunteers, so email or message first and be patient.

Start with your municipality and the feeding-point volunteers it works with, and ask a local vet, who will usually know who looks after which colony.

How do you report cruelty or poisoning?

Animal cruelty, including poisoning, is a criminal offence. Since April 2025, a first conviction can bring a fine of up to €20,000, up to two years in prison, or both, and repeat offences up to €30,000 and three years. Police investigated 208 animal abuse cases from January to October 2026, including the shooting of a kitten in Paphos in October.

• An animal in immediate danger: call 112.
• Cruelty you have witnessed: report it at your local police station, with photos, times, locations and any vehicle registration numbers. See the Cyprus Police site for station contacts.
• Suspected poisoned baits: contact the Game and Fauna Service anti-poison units. The numbers are in our hunting season safety guide.

What are the winter and hunting-season risks?

The resident game hunting season runs on Sundays and Wednesdays from 1 November to 27 December 2026, followed by the thrush season in January and February 2027. Poisoned baits and illegal traps are a risk for village and edge-of-town colonies at this time, so check feeding spots for strange food and dead birds.

Winter rain and cold nights, especially in Nicosia and the hill villages, are hard on kittens and older cats. Simple insulated shelters, such as a polystyrene box with a cat-sized hole and straw rather than blankets, which soak up water, keep cats dry. Cats also climb into warm car engines, so knock on the bonnet before you start the car on cold mornings.

What to do next

Contact your municipality about the sterilisation scheme, save a 24/7 vet number from our vets by city guide, and read adopting a pet in Cyprus if you are thinking of giving a cat a home. For your own pets, see pet care in Cyprus.