Cat Breeding Laws in the US: Federal, State and Local Rules Explained

Breeding outside the US? Cat Breeding Laws Outside the US covers licensing, sale ages, microchipping and sale paperwork in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

There is no single license that makes someone a legal cat breeder in the United States. There are three layers of rules, and most breeders only ever need to deal with two of them. The trouble is that the one people talk about most (the federal USDA rule) is the one least likely to apply to a small cattery, while the one people forget (their own city's animal ordinance) is the one most likely to bite.

This guide explains all three layers, what they actually require, and how to check the rules for your own address. It is a guide, not legal advice; for anything that matters, read the statute or ask a lawyer.

The short version of who regulates what:

• Federal: how you sell and the scale and type of operation
• State: breeder or dealer licensing, animal-sale and consumer rules
• Local: animal limits, breeder permits, zoning and home-business rules

Layer one: federal

The Animal Welfare Act and the USDA

The Animal Welfare Act is enforced by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). It regulates commercial breeders, dealers and exhibitors, and it is the source of the "USDA licensed" language you see on some breeder websites.

Two exemptions cover most small catteries, and they are separate from each other.

The four-breeding-females exemption. A breeder who maintains four or fewer breeding female cats (the count includes dogs and small exotic mammals too) and sells only offspring born and raised on their own premises is exempt from licensing, however the kittens are sold.

The face-to-face exemption. Sales where the seller, the buyer and the animal are all physically present, so the buyer sees the kitten before taking it, are exempt regardless of how many breeding females the seller keeps. This is the "retail pet store" definition as narrowed by the 2013 rule. A video call does not count; the buyer has to be there.

Put together: a typical small cattery with four or fewer breeding females whose kittens are born and raised on the premises will generally fall within the small-breeder exemption. A breeder who sells kittens only in face-to-face transactions may separately qualify for the retail pet store exemption. Breeders who fall outside both, meaning more than four breeding females and kittens sold sight unseen, should use the APHIS Licensing and Registration Assistant (a five-minute online questionnaire) or contact APHIS to determine whether a license is required.

What "breeding female" means matters. APHIS counts females capable of breeding, not just the ones you are currently breeding, so a retired queen who hasn't been spayed can count. If you are anywhere near the line, read the APHIS guidance directly and, if in doubt, ask them; they answer email.

Interstate transport and health certificates

Moving a kitten across state lines can trigger another set of rules, but these are largely set by the destination state, not by one universal federal health-certificate rule. A state may require a certificate of veterinary inspection (CVI), vaccinations, testing, an entry permit or other documentation, and requirements vary by destination and change over time. USDA APHIS maintains a directory of state and territory animal entry requirements; check the destination state's rules before arranging transport, and remember that airlines and commercial pet transporters may impose requirements of their own.

Layer two: state

States regulate breeders in very different ways, and most people are surprised by how uneven it is. Broadly, states fall into a few groups:

States with a breeder or pet dealer license, with thresholds. A number of states require a license once you exceed a certain number of animals or litters per year, and inspect licensed facilities. Colorado is the clearest example: it regulates pet animal facilities under the Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act, and defines a "feline hobby breeder facility" as one that produces or transfers no more than 24 cats per year or breeds no more than three litters per year; larger cat breeder facilities are licensed and inspected by the state Department of Agriculture. Because exemptions and licensing categories depend on the statutory definitions, Colorado breeders should check their specific situation with the Department rather than relying on the numbers alone. Other states set their thresholds by animals sold per year rather than litters, and some count dogs and cats together.

States with care standards but no license. Some states set minimum care, housing or sales requirements for breeders in statute without running a licensing program.

States with consumer protection ("pet lemon") laws. A number of states have pet purchase protection laws that give buyers remedies when a purchased animal becomes ill or is diagnosed with certain congenital or hereditary conditions within specified periods. Which sellers and animals are covered varies considerably by state; some cover cats as well as dogs, and some apply to any seller, not just pet stores. If your state has one, it shapes what your health guarantee has to say.

States with essentially nothing specific to cat breeders. Many. General animal cruelty law and general business law still apply.

Because this changes as legislatures meet, treat summaries as starting points. CFA's Legislative Group publishes a useful state breeder-law series and ongoing legislative updates, but some entries in the series are several years old. Use it to learn what to look for, then verify the current law with your state's legislature, department of agriculture or other responsible agency, which is where breeder licensing usually lives. Your breed club will often know what applies too.

Layer three: city and county

This is the layer that actually stops people.

Local animal ordinances may cap the number of cats and dogs that can be kept at a residence; require a permit (variously called a kennel, cattery, hobby breeder or multiple animal permit) above a specified number or for anyone breeding; impose breeding-permit requirements; or restrict commercial animal activity in residential areas through zoning.

Some cities also require intact cats to be registered or charge a higher license fee for them, and a few have breeding permit requirements tied to spay and neuter ordinances.

Two things make this layer tricky. The rules differ between a city and the unincorporated county around it, so your address matters, not your mailing city. A breeder five miles away from you may legally operate under different rules because their property is outside city limits. And the wording often counts "cats" without distinguishing a litter of eight-week-old kittens from adults, so read the definitions.

How to check: search your city's municipal code (most are online, usually under a title like "Animals") for "cat," "cattery," "kennel," "breeder" and "number of animals"; then do the same for the county if you are outside city limits. If it is unclear, call animal control and ask for the ordinance section, in writing. Do this before the first breeding cat arrives, not after.

The rules that aren't about breeding

A few other things apply to anyone selling kittens.

Taxes. Kitten sales are income. Several states apply sales tax or gross receipts tax to animal sales, and some require a seller's permit before you sell anything. Your state's revenue department can tell you in one call.

Business registration. Not required to breed, but an LLC or a registered trade name is common, and some cities require a business license for any home business.

Contracts and consumer law. Written contracts are enforceable and disputes over kittens do end up in small claims court. Health guarantees, deposit terms and return policies should be clear, and where your state has a pet purchase protection law, your contract cannot give the buyer less than it requires.

Registry rules. TICA, CFA, ACFA and CCA-AFC each have breeder codes of ethics and registration rules that are not law but are conditions of staying registered.

A checklist before your first litter

1. Count your breeding females and look at how you sell kittens. If you appear to qualify for either the four-or-fewer-breeding-females exemption or the face-to-face retail exemption, confirm it against current APHIS guidance. If you fall outside both, use the APHIS Licensing and Registration Assistant to determine whether licensing may be required.
2. Look up your state's department of agriculture for a breeder or pet dealer license and its threshold, and check whether your state has a pet purchase protection law that covers cats.
3. Read your city or county animal ordinance for the number-of-animals limit, any breeding or cattery permit, and zoning.
4. Check with your state revenue department about sales or gross receipts tax on animal sales.
5. Decide on a business entity and any local business license.
6. Write your contract to meet whatever your state's consumer law requires.
7. Keep records of all of it. If anyone ever asks, you want the answer to be a folder, not a memory.

Whatever the rules say where you live, buyers on Purry see the same thing on every listing: a verified seller, the price, and a note to meet the cat before paying. The Breeder plan includes a cattery site, listings with ready dates, litter waitlists and reviews from real buyers, and the first month is free.

Set up your cattery on Purry

Sources and further reading

• USDA APHIS, Animal Welfare; Retail Pet Stores and Licensing Exemptions, Federal Register, September 18, 2013: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/09/18/2013-22616/animal-welfare-retail-pet-stores-and-licensing-exemptions
• USDA APHIS, Licensing and Registration Assistant: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/LRAssistant/s/
• USDA APHIS, Apply for an Animal Welfare License or Registration: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/awa/apply
• USDA APHIS, Pet Travel (state and territory entry requirements for domestic travel): https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel
• Colorado Department of Agriculture, PACFA licensing (cat breeder facility threshold): https://ag.colorado.gov/animal-welfare/pet-animal-care-facilities-act-pacfa/pacfa-licensing
• Colorado Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act, full text (feline hobby breeder facility definition): https://www.animallaw.info/statute/co-pet-shop-article-80-pet-animal-care-and-facilities-act
• CFA Legislative Group, State Breeder Laws Every Resident Fancier Should Know (series): https://legislative.cfa.org/
• TICA, Legislative Policy: https://tica.org/legislative-policy/
• Purry guide: How to become a registered cat breeder in the US: /guides/how-to-become-a-cat-breeder

The federal rule and the Colorado example were checked against the primary sources in September 2026. State and local rules change with every legislative session; treat this guide as a map of what to look for, and confirm the current rule with your state department of agriculture and your local animal ordinance before you rely on it.