Adopt a cat in Singapore: licence, microchip and home limits

To adopt a cat in Singapore now, the paperwork comes first. Since 1 September 2026 it has been an offence under the Animals and Birds Act to keep an unlicensed pet cat, and a licence needs a microchip in the cat and, if this is your first cat licence, a free online pet ownership course. A licence for a sterilised cat costs S$15 for one year or S$35 for its lifetime, before a 10% rebate for paying online, AVS's fee page says. Your home also sets a ceiling: two cats in an HDB flat, or three cats or dogs in total in private premises.

Before you say yes to a kitten, check your household's room under the limit, your windows, and the licence on the Animal & Veterinary Service's (AVS) Pet Animal Licensing System, PALS.

What do you need before you adopt a cat in Singapore?

AVS, a cluster of the National Parks Board (NParks), sets two prerequisites for a cat licence, both stated in the finalised Cat Management Framework of 11 May 2024:

1. A microchip. Every pet cat must be microchipped before it can be licensed. The chip gives the cat a unique number, which the licence ties to its owner and address, the July 2026 release explains. If a rescue group has already chipped the cat, you still need a licence in your own name.
2. The pet ownership course, once. First-time cat or dog licence applicants must finish a free online course on basic pet care and responsible ownership before a licence is issued.

Two cat-keeping rules also apply, and they are conditions of the licence:

• A safe home. Owners must take reasonable steps to protect the cat from hazards, including installing mesh, grilles, screens or other barriers so it cannot roam freely or fall from height.
• Physical control in public. Outside the home the cat must be in a carrier or on a harness.

How many cats can you keep in an HDB flat or a condo?

The limits in the August 2024 announcement are:

• HDB flat: up to two cats, plus one dog of an approved breed under HDB's existing dog rule.
• Private premises: up to three cats or dogs, or a combination of both.

Some households legally keep more under a one-off transition arrangement: cats owned before 1 September 2024 and licensed during the transition can all be kept, and owners above the limit had to declare that their cats were owned before that date. It covered those existing cats only. On our reading, a household already at or above its limit cannot license a new cat.

In HDB flats, owners who repeatedly ignore advice after neighbours' feedback may also face HDB enforcement and a fine of up to S$4,000, the same announcement says.

Does your home have room? Three illustrative households

These households are fictional; the limits are the official ones above.

• Farah and her mother, 4-room HDB flat, one cat licensed in 2025. They want a bonded pair of kittens, but two more would make three cats in a flat that allows two, so they can adopt only one.
• The Tan family, condominium, one dog and one cat. Private premises allow three cats or dogs combined, so they have room for one more cat.
• Mr Pillai, 3-room HDB flat, three cats he has had since 2023, all licensed in 2025. He may keep all three as existing cats licensed during the transition. On our reading, because he is already above the two-cat limit, a new kitten is not an option, and he would have room for one only once he is down to a single cat.

What will a cat cost, and what could we not confirm?

Licence fees. Licensing was free during the transition, which closed on 31 August 2026. AVS's licence fees page, last updated on 1 September 2026, lists these fees for each of a household's first three cats and/or dogs:

• Sterilised cat: S$15 for a one-year licence, S$25 for two years, or S$35 for a one-time licence valid for the cat's life.
• Non-sterilised cat: S$90 for one year, S$165 for two years or S$230 for three years.
• Kitten below five months: S$15 for a one-year licence.

The quoted prices exclude a 10% rebate for paying online, by GIRO or via AXS, so on our arithmetic a one-time licence for a sterilised cat paid online comes to S$31.50 (S$35 less S$3.50). A fourth or subsequent cat or dog costs more. AVS waives licensing fees for cats fostered by approved fosterers from 3 August 2026 to 31 July 2028, its July 2026 release says.

Microchipping. AVS's free drives and sessions, over 120 of them, had chipped about 11,500 cats by July 2026, its release of that month says. We found no free drive listed after the transition, so budget to pay a vet and ask the price when you book.

Help for lower-income households. The Pet Cat Sterilisation Support (PCSS) programme gives free sterilisation and microchipping to lower-income households' pet cats; more than 5,200 cats from over 2,500 households had been helped by July 2026.

Running costs. Food and litter recur monthly; our unit price calculator compares bag sizes by price per 100 g.

Ask AVS how soon a newly adopted cat must be licensed; we could not confirm it.

Adopting from a rescue group or buying from a seller

AVS's Trap-Neuter-Rehome/Release-Manage (TNRM) programme rehomes community cats where it can, and the public can adopt them through its partners, which the July 2026 release names: the Cat Welfare Society (AVS's lead partner), Causes for Animals (Singapore), LUNI Singapore, Noah's Ark CARES, Purely Adopts and the SPCA.

AVS defines a fosterer as someone caring for a cat to find it a permanent home or give it medical or palliative care, and approved fosterers must sterilise all their cats. On that definition the pilot is not a way to try a cat before adopting, and the higher limit applies only once AVS approves you.

Wherever the cat comes from, ask before paying:

• Is the cat microchipped, and what is the chip number?
• Is it sterilised, and is there a vet record? The licence fee depends on it.
• What does the fee cover, and is any of it refundable if the cat cannot stay?

A seller who wants a deposit before you have met the cat deserves the same checks before you pay online as any other purchase. Keep the adoption form, receipt and vet record together, as you would for any purchase that could go wrong.

A checklist for adopting a cat

1. Count the cats and dogs already at home against your flat's or private premises' limit.
2. Do the pet ownership course if this is your first cat licence; no licence is issued until you have finished it.
3. Mesh windows, the service yard and any balcony before the cat arrives.
4. Get the microchip number and sterilisation record from the rescue group, seller or vet.
5. Apply on PALS in your own name and pay the licence fee.
6. Buy a carrier or harness for vet visits and any time outside.

More guides on looking after what you own are in the ownership topic.

Common questions