RSPCA ACT has called for greater prevention and pet owner education efforts with president of the cat society Capital Cats raising questions about how the issue will be practically policed.

The current laws, in place since 2000, require cat owners to de-sex their animal once it has reached three months of age or face a $7000 fine.

Exceptions are given cats born before 2001 or to owners with an granted with an exemption permit for the breeding and health concerns.

President of cat society Capital Cats, Denise White, felt the number of feral and unwanted cats was a big problem however questioned how the government would enforce the laws without herding cats.

"There will be big problems in policing in a practical sense," she said. "They have had the laws a long time and there has been no move to police them. Are they going to put a whole lot of people on from the pound rounding up cats?"

RSPCA ACT chief executive Tammy Ven Dange said compared with dog owners who are required to de-sex when their pooch is six months old, early de-sexing for cats was crucial as kittens as young as four months could become pregnant.

"One reason the cat population is so difficult to control is if you have an animal that is not de-sexed, they are constantly on heat basically," she said.

In 2016 the RSPCA had 2300 felines in care and worked to re-home 1800.

The society's figures show of cats that arrived to the RSPCA in February 22 per cent were microchipped and 31 per cent de sexed.

Ms Ven Dange urged the government to think beyond enforcement and work to support long-term public education and prevention methods.

RSPCA runs Frisky Tom's, a month campaign of free de-sexing, each year. They offer discounts for pension recipients and payment plans for others.

The organisation is also developing a cartoon strip to target primary school students with messages about pet ownership obligations.

"One thing that will make the big difference is the education side of it," she said. "Enforcement is the last course. You use it when you have tried prevention and education which hasn't been done honestly."

She hoped debating the Animal Welfare and Management Strategy would unearth long-term programs to boost community awareness of pet ownership, better manage feral cat colonies, stop unlicensed breeding and change the culture so roaming and un-de-sexed cats were viewed in the same way as dogs.

"We have these community expectations on dogs but they haven't translated to the same with cats," she said.