UK cat laws: what every owner needs to know

Since 10 June 2024, pet cats in England must be microchipped and registered on an approved database by the time they're 20 weeks old, including cats that usually stay indoors. You must keep the details up to date. If you're found not to have microchipped your cat, you'll be given 21 days to do it, and then you can be fined up to £500.

Microchipping cats is optional in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but still a good idea. See our guide to cat microchipping law.

No law says a cat has to wear a collar or tag: the Control of Dogs Order 1992, which sets out what a dog's tag must show, only covers dogs. If your cat does wear a collar, choose a quick-release one that opens if it gets caught. Our guides to cat collars and what to put on a cat tag have more.

Drivers don't have to report hitting a cat to the police. The law that says you must stop and report an accident with an animal covers dogs, horses and farm animals, but not cats. Cats Protection still asks drivers to stop if it's safe and take the cat to a vet, who can scan for a microchip and tell the owner. See what to do if you hit a dog or cat.

The Pet Abduction Act 2024 made cat abduction a crime in England and Northern Ireland. Stealing a pet can lead to up to five years in prison, a fine, or both. Recorded cat thefts rose from 150 in 2015 to 441 in 2020 in the police forces that responded, according to the government's Pet Theft Taskforce: see our UK pet statistics.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, you must take reasonable steps to meet your cat's needs: a suitable place to live, a suitable diet, being able to behave normally, being housed with or apart from other animals as it needs, and protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease. That's the law in England and Wales, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own animal welfare laws.

• In England, kittens under six months old can only be sold by the person who bred them, or rehomed by a rescue centre. That's Lucy's Law, covered in our new kitten checklist.
• The council's stray dog rules don't cover cats. If you find a cat that seems lost, ask a vet to scan it for a microchip. Our guide to finding a lost dog or cat has the other steps.
• Taking your cat from Great Britain to the EU or Northern Ireland needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination and an animal health certificate. See taking your dog or cat abroad.