Rescue cats for adoption and rehoming in and around Liverpool

None of the cat rescues we list is inside the City of Liverpool itself (our Liverpool cat rescues guide). The nearest is Freshfields Animal Rescue at Ince Blundell in Sefton, about 8 miles north, and Kitten Karers keeps its cats with foster carers in St Helens.

Further out, Warrington Animal Welfare on Slutchers Lane and Woodlands Animal Sanctuary at Holmeswood keep cats at their own sites. Cats Guidance Rescue is in Wigan, PawPurrs Halfway House at Hindley and Animals in Distress at Irlam, while Tails Animal Rescue and Willowsway Cat Rescue foster around Northwich.

Two cat rescues are in North Wales: North Clwyd Animal Rescue at Trelogan in Flintshire and Feline Fur Babies North Wales at Prestatyn in Denbighshire. Each profile here links to the rescue that cares for the cat, and you apply with them.

Each rescue's rules decide which cats it can place with you (how to choose a Liverpool cat rescue). These are the ones Liverpool adopters meet most often.

• Busy roads. Warrington Animal Welfare won't rehome cats on or near a main or busy road, PawPurrs Halfway House won't rehome a cat that will go outdoors there, and Freshfields Animal Rescue checks how close the main roads are.
• Flats. Warrington Animal Welfare won't rehome a cat to a flat above the ground floor without direct access outside, and doesn't rehome most cats as house cats.
• Renting. Freshfields, Warrington Animal Welfare and PawPurrs Halfway House all want evidence of your landlord's permission.
• Children and other cats. Warrington Animal Welfare doesn't rehome to families with children under 5, and North Clwyd Animal Rescue not where there are children under 2. Woodlands Animal Sanctuary won't rehome an adult cat to a home that already has one.
• Distance and age. Woodlands won't consider applications from more than an hour's drive away, North Clwyd takes requests from up to 70 miles away, and Animals in Distress says adopters must be over 21.
• Settling in. Cats Guidance Rescue asks for a new cat to stay indoors for at least 8 weeks, and Feline Fur Babies North Wales says no kitten should go outside in its first year.

Liverpool-area cat rescues that publish a fee ask £95 a cat at Cats Guidance Rescue, Woodlands Animal Sanctuary and North Clwyd Animal Rescue, £105 or £135 at Freshfields Animal Rescue depending on vaccinations, £110 for an adult at Warrington Animal Welfare, £140 at Kitten Karers and £150 for an adult at Feline Fur Babies North Wales.

Pairs cost less per cat: £180 at Woodlands and £200 at Warrington Animal Welfare. A kitten is £120 at North Clwyd and Warrington, and £190 or £200 at Feline Fur Babies. North Clwyd asks a £10 deposit when you reserve a cat (its cat page), and Cats Guidance Rescue prefers its fee paid by bank transfer before adoption.

Each rescue sets its own adoption fee. Cats Protection says you can expect to pay £80 to £120 on average for an adult cat and £100 to £120 for a kitten, varying between its branches, and Blue Cross fees start from £150 for cats aged 4 months to 7 years. The fee usually covers neutering, microchipping and first vaccinations, and each rescue confirms its own fee.

These charities rehome cats around Liverpool (our guide to them). Apart from Carla Lane, we don't list their cats, so search their own sites.

• Cats Protection's Liverpool branch, which covers L1 to L39 and L69 postcodes, runs its adoptions through Cats Protection Merseyside Cat Centre on Chester Lane, St Helens.
• On the Wirral, Cats Protection North Wirral (CH41 to CH49) and South Wirral (CH60 to CH66) each ask £75 for an adult cat and £95 for a kitten. Cats Protection Warrington Cat Centre, which covers Widnes and Runcorn, asks £85 and £105.
• Carla Lane Animals in Need at Melling, about 8 miles north, rehomes cats as well as dogs and rabbits; unlike the others here, its cats are now listed with us too (our Carla Lane page).
• The RSPCA also rehomes animals; search on its own site.

Take it to a vet or a cat rescue to be scanned for a microchip, so its owner can be traced. The council stray service is for dogs: in England, section 149 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 deals with stray dogs, not cats. In England a pet cat must now be microchipped, so a scan is the quickest way home.

Looking for a kitten? Our rescue kittens guide for Liverpool covers which rescues ask for pairs and how long kittens stay indoors, and the kittens page lists every kitten near Liverpool today. There are pages too for older cats, indoor cats and bonded pairs.

Need to rehome your own cat instead? Our Liverpool rehoming page covers the Cats Protection branch for your postcode, the cat waiting lists at Freshfields and Carla Lane Animals in Need, and Jackson's Animal Rescue near Mold.