Calaveras County, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Calaveras County Code does not impose a license requirement or a leash requirement on domestic cats. Section 6.04.030 defines a 'cat' as a member of the species Felis catus. There is no cat-at-large prohibition equivalent to the dog 'at large' rule, but a few provisions do apply to cats. Section 6.10.060 requires every owner of a female cat (or dog) to 'strictly confine such animal during its breeding season (i.e., while it is in heat) in a building or other enclosure'; a third violation within 24 months is a misdemeanor. Under Section 6.16.010, an animal permit is required to keep five or more cats over four months of age for noncommercial purposes, and after a permit denial or revocation an owner must reduce to no more than four cats. Cats are also covered by the general nuisance, trespass, and abandonment provisions of Chapter 6.10. On the state-law side, Calaveras County Animal Services applies California Food & Agricultural Code Section 31751.7, which sets escalating fines ($35, then $50, then $100) for owners reclaiming an impounded cat that has not been spayed or neutered. Owners of free-roaming cats should also be mindful that cats off the owner's property may be impounded under Chapter 6.08.