Novi, MI Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Cat licensing
- No cat-specific license required
- Governing definition
- "Animal" defined broadly at § 5-2
- At-large ban
- Applies to cats via § 5-5
- Waste cleanup
- Required under § 5-7, own fine schedule
- Cats in heat
- Must be confined per § 5-9
- Feral colonies
- No ordinance exists in Novi's code
Summary
Novi's Code of Ordinances does not create a separate cat-licensing or feral-colony program. Chapter 5's definitions make "animal" mean "any vertebrate other than human beings," so the citywide at-large ban in Section 5-5, barring an owner from letting an animal roam free or trespass onto another's property, is the rule that governs cats.
Animal shall mean any vertebrate other than human beings. At large shall mean any animal that is off the property of its owner and not under the physical control of a competent person. ... ... Sec. 5-5. - Running at large. It shall be unlawful for any owner of an animal to allow or permit the animal to run at large, or to enter onto the private property of another without the express permission of the owner or occupant of the private property.
Full Breakdown
The City of Novi regulates cats through Chapter 5's general animal provisions rather than through any cat-specific licensing scheme. Section 5-2 defines "animal" as "any vertebrate other than human beings," a definition broad enough to sweep in cats even though the chapter's more detailed rules, like the public-restraint and rabies-immunization requirement in Section 5-4, are written for "dogs" specifically and do not apply to cats. What does apply to cats is Section 5-5's at-large prohibition, which makes it unlawful for "any owner of an animal" to allow the animal to run at large or enter someone else's private property without permission.
The chapter also folds in sanitation duties: Section 5-7 bars letting any animal, cats included, defecate on public property or another's private property without the owner promptly and sanitarily removing the waste, and it sets its own separate fine schedule for that specific violation. Female cats in heat face an additional restriction under Section 5-9, which requires the owner to keep such an animal confined so it cannot roam or attract other animals for unintended breeding. Novi has no ordinance authorizing or regulating managed feral cat colonies, and none of Chapter 5's provisions distinguish owned cats from unowned or community cats. Enforcement of these sections falls to the Novi Police Department's animal control function, along with the city's code compliance officials.
Violations & Fines
Letting a cat run at large or trespass onto private property, under Section 5-5, is a municipal civil infraction under the chapter's general schedule in Section 5-3: seven hundred fifty dollars first offense, fifteen hundred dollars second, three thousand dollars third or subsequent. Failing to clean up a cat's waste under Section 5-7 instead carries that section's own fine: one hundred dollars first offense, two hundred dollars second, four hundred dollars third or subsequent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the City of Novi require a cat license?
Can my cat roam outside freely in Novi?
Does Novi have a feral or community cat program?
What if my outdoor cat leaves droppings on a neighbor's lawn?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Novi
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