How to Become a Registered Cat Breeder Outside the US

Breeding in the US? How to Become a Registered Cat Breeder in the US covers the US registries, state rules and the path from first cat to first litter.

Most of what makes a good cattery is the same in Kraków, Kent or Kyoto: one breed, a mentor, health-tested cats, a plan for the births that go wrong, and a reputation built before the first litter. Our US guide, How to Become a Registered Cat Breeder in the US, covers that path in detail and most of it applies anywhere. This guide covers what is different outside North America: which registry you join, what the law asks of you, and what to prepare if you want to sell kittens abroad.

What does not change

Read the US guide for these; they are the same everywhere.

• Start with one breed and learn its standard, history and genetics.
• Find a mentor before you buy a breeding cat. A pedigree alone does not give you breeding rights; those are granted explicitly by the breeder, usually as part of the sale agreement.
• Buy breeding-quality cats for structure, temperament and pedigree, not photos.
• Health test for your breed (DNA panels, heart scans for HCM breeds, infectious disease screening) before the first mating.
• Expect the first litter to be about two years from your first kitten, and expect it not to pay the program back.
• Keep a paper trail for every kitten: contract, pedigree, health record, microchip, registration.

What changes: the registry

In the US you choose between four registries. Elsewhere the choice is usually made for you by geography. Cat Registries Around the World has the full profiles; the short version:

• United Kingdom: GCCF, and register your prefix before the first litter. Kittens are registered Active (may breed) or Non-Active (pet), which is how pet-only sales are enforced.
• Continental Europe: your country's FIFe member club (SVERAK, Felis Polonia, NRR and so on), or a WCF club. The cattery name is registered through the club and is unique across the federation.
• France: LOOF is required by law for any cat sold as a pedigree cat.
• Australia: ANCATS, or your state cat council under the CCCA.
• New Zealand: NZCF.
• Japan: JCC, with TICA and CFA both widely used alongside it.
• For international sales, TICA can be useful as a second registry. It operates internationally and is familiar to many American buyers.

Whichever you join, the rule from the US guide holds: register the cattery name or prefix before the first litter is born, so the kittens carry it.

What changes: the law

The US has three layers (federal, state, local) and most small catteries only meet two. Other countries are often simpler, but a few have rules that catch new breeders out. Details are in Cat Breeding Laws Outside the US; the ones that change how you set up:

• Scotland requires a cat breeding licence if you breed three or more litters in any 12-month period, whether or not the kittens are sold. England has no equivalent cat breeder licence, but commercial sellers may need a local authority licence for selling animals as pets. Wales has its own animal sale and welfare rules, so check with your local authority before breeding commercially.
• France treats you as an éleveur once you meet the legal definition of a breeder, which for most people selling kittens means registering for a SIREN number. Kittens must be more than eight weeks old before sale, identified and registered with I-CAD, and sold with a recent vet certificate. The buyer must receive a certificat d'engagement et de connaissance at least seven days before acquiring the kitten.
• Japan requires commercial breeders and sellers to register as a first-class animal handling business. Kittens cannot be sold or displayed for sale before 56 days of age. Sellers must show the animal directly to the buyer and provide the required care information face to face at the registered premises, and breeders are subject to Japan's microchip requirements.
• Victoria, Australia: breeders with three or more fertile females who breed to sell generally must register with their council as a domestic animal business unless an exemption applies; members of approved applicable organisations are treated as recreational breeders under different thresholds. Even small breeders need a Pet Exchange Register source number, and every advertisement must carry the seller's source number and the animal's microchip number. Other states differ.
• European Union: breeder registration, identification, minimum sale age and welfare requirements are set at national level. Do not assume another EU country's rules apply to yours; check your national animal welfare authority and your registry before the first litter.

If your country is not listed, your national registry's code of ethics is the place to start. It usually mirrors the law and adds the breeder community's own rules.

What changes: taxes and business setup

Once money changes hands, check your country's tax and business registration rules. Whether a small cattery is a hobby or a business, and when income must be reported, varies by country. Some local names:

• UK: if gross trading income exceeds the £1,000 trading allowance, you generally report it to HMRC and may need to register for Self Assessment as a sole trader.
• EU: VAT thresholds and hobby rules vary by country. France requires the SIREN before selling as a breeder.
• Australia: an ABN if you are carrying on a business; the tax office, not the breeder, draws the hobby line.
• Japan: business registration and income declaration once you sell regularly.

Keep deposits, contracts and vet invoices from day one. It is the same paperwork a registry asks for, and the same paperwork a buyer dispute turns on.

What changes if you sell abroad

Many European catteries export, and the United States is a common destination. If that is your plan, add these to the setup:

1. A TICA (or CFA) registration alongside your home registry. American buyers recognize it, and a later transfer to a US registry is simple.
2. A vet who understands international export paperwork and can tell you which health certificate, government endorsement or electronic notification the destination requires. EU breeders should check the national and EU export procedures before accepting an overseas buyer.
3. A transport plan before you advertise: flight nanny, cargo, or buyer collects. Put it on every listing.
4. A contract in English that says who pays transport, what happens if the flight is delayed or embargoed by hot weather, and when ownership passes.
5. A price in the buyer's currency, with the exchange rate date written down. Purry will carry currencies per country once that ships.

Our guide Bringing a Cat to the United States covers the entry rules from the American side: what the CDC, USDA, the destination state and the airline each require.

Prepare your space, prepare for emergencies

Nothing here changes by country except the phone numbers. Have a reproductive emergency vet identified before the first mating, keep a fund for a caesarean, and have a quiet kittening room and an isolation space. Winters in Scandinavia and summers in Australia both change what "a warm, draft-free kittening area" means in practice.

Build your reputation before you have kittens

A cattery page with your cats, health results and program written down attracts the right buyers, in any language. The Breeder plan includes a hosted cattery page; sellers outside the US and Canada can subscribe and be verified now, and listing opens for each country as its currency is added.

The short version

• Pick one breed and a mentor. Same as anywhere.
• Join the registry your country uses, and add TICA if you will export.
• Register the prefix or cattery name before the first litter.
• Check whether your country licenses breeders (Scotland, Japan, parts of Australia do) or has sale rules (France, most of the EU).
• Microchip and register every kitten before it leaves, and keep the minimum age.
• Check your tax and business registration obligations before the first sale.
• If selling to the US: TICA, an export-ready vet, a transport plan and an English contract.