Hemet, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Cat rules come from both Hemet's zoning code and the adopted county ordinance. Under Hemet Municipal Code Sec. 90-77, a household may keep up to 4 cats over four months old (with kittens not counted until four months). Through HMC Sec. 10-1, Hemet adopts Riverside County Ordinance 630, which governs the operational cat rules. Under Ordinance 630, it is unlawful for any person to own, harbor, or keep an unspayed or unaltered cat four months of age or older within the county (and thus in Hemet, which adopts the ordinance), subject to the ordinance's exceptions. Cat licensing is optional rather than mandatory: an owner may obtain a cat license and tag upon presenting a veterinarian's certificate of rabies vaccination and paying the optional fee. Keeping 10 or more cats meets the ordinance's definition of a Cattery, which carries permit and zoning requirements. As with all animals, Sec. 90-77's general standards apply: cats may not be kept in a way that creates a public nuisance, and conditions must protect public health and the health of the animals. There is no specific Hemet ordinance requiring cats to be confined or leashed, but a cat allowed to roam and cause a nuisance can prompt code-enforcement or county animal-services action.