Lakewood, CO Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

010(A) requires: "Owners of dogs, cats, and ferrets over the age of four months shall have said dogs, cats, and ferrets inoculated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian, and re-vaccinated thereafter, at the expiration of the vaccination used," with proof obtained at the time of inoculation. An owner who acquires an unvaccinated cat has 30 days from acquisition, or 30 days after the cat turns four months old, whichever is later, to get it vaccinated; harboring an unvaccinated cat past that window is unlawful. Subsection (C) makes it separately unlawful to affix a rabies tag issued for one animal onto the collar of another, or to present a mismatched tag to an Animal Control Officer.

015 applies only to dogs, with no parallel cat-licensing chapter. 020: an owner whose cat bites someone, or is exposed to a suspected rabid animal, must immediately notify an Animal Control Officer and confine the cat for observation, at the owner's expense, rather than destroying or releasing it before the confinement period the officer sets under Colorado Department of Health guidelines.