Cats Protection vs Battersea — charity comparison
In short: Cats Protection is a national cats-only welfare and rehoming charity; Battersea rescues and rehomes dogs and cats — closer like-for-like than RSPCA vs Battersea, but still a species-mix choice.
Data from Charity Commission register, last updated .
When donors search Cats Protection vs Battersea they usually want rehoming, not an inspectorate. The remaining difference is cats-only versus dogs and cats, plus how each organisation is structured. Compare filings and Clarity Score beacons rather than picking a logo.
Key differences
| What to compare | CATS PROTECTION | BATTERSEA DOGS' AND CATS' HOME |
|---|---|---|
| Primary model | Cat welfare, neutering and rehoming at scale | Dog and cat rescue and rehoming |
| Species focus | Cats | Dogs and cats |
| Comparison type | Rehoming peer (cats) | Rehoming peer (dogs and cats) |
| Best if you want | A major cats-only charity | A major dogs-and-cats rehoming charity |
What the latest filings show
Figures from the most recent annual accounts on the Charity Commission register. Clarity scores use our methodology.
| Metric | CATS PROTECTION | BATTERSEA DOGS' AND CATS' HOME |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 74/100 (3★) | 89/100 (4★) |
| Accountability & Finance | 75/100 | 100/100 |
| Spend on charitable activities | 68% of expenditure | 68% of expenditure |
| Fundraising efficiency | £2.9 raised per £1 fundraising (3-yr avg) | £4.3 raised per £1 fundraising (3-yr avg) |
| Latest income | £97m | £70m |
| Fundraising spend | 32% of expenditure | 26% of expenditure |
| Reserves | 5 months | 11 months |
| Accounts filing | On time | On time |
| Data confidence | high | high |
| Charity number | 203644 | 206394 |
CATS PROTECTION on the register · BATTERSEA DOGS' AND CATS' HOME on the register
CATS PROTECTION may suit you if…
- You specifically want to fund cats
- You already know Cats Protection branches or adoption
BATTERSEA DOGS' AND CATS' HOME may suit you if…
- You want dogs and cats included
- You already know Battersea’s centres
Common questions
Cats Protection vs Battersea — which should I donate to?
Both are major rehoming organisations. Compare Clarity Scores, cause spend and reserves, then pick the species mix you intend. For dogs-only, see Dogs Trust vs Battersea. For inspectorate work, see RSPCA vs Battersea.
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.
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.