UK cat laws 2026: what every cat 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, and a light tag such as a QR code cat tag (about 4 g). 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.

There's no law that says a cat has to be kept in, which is why a neighbour's cat can wander into your garden. The rules that make owners keep animals off other people's land are for livestock, and the Animals Act 1971 defines livestock as cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, goats, poultry and farmed deer, not cats.

That doesn't mean owners have no duties. Cats Protection points out that an owner still has to take reasonable care that their cat doesn't injure people or damage property.

If a neighbour's cat is a nuisance, only humane deterrents are allowed. Causing a cat unnecessary suffering is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, with up to five years in prison in England and Wales since 2021. A cat is also its owner's property, so injuring one can be criminal damage, and a cat that strays or is fed by someone else still belongs to its owner and should be returned, not kept.

Since 1 May 2026, if you rent privately in England, you can ask your landlord to let you keep a cat, or any other pet. Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, the landlord must consider your request, can't unreasonably refuse it, and should give you a reason if they say no. It's always reasonable for them to refuse if their own landlord, such as the freeholder of a block of flats, bans pets.

If you think a refusal is unfair, the government says you'll be able to take it to the new Private Rented Sector Ombudsman, or to court. Damage a pet causes can be paid for from your tenancy deposit. These are England's rules: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own renting laws.

• In England, pet shops and other licensed sellers can't sell a kitten under six months old unless they bred it themselves, so you buy direct from the breeder or adopt from a rescue. 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.