Identification and registration of cats
New legislation requires cat owners to register their cat with the Swedish Board of Agriculture. Before you can do so, your cat must first be ID marked. Among other things, the new legislation is intended to make it easier for stray cats to be reunited with their owners. If you have a facility in which you keep cats – for example, if you are a cat breeder or run an animal sanctuary – you must also register your facility in a separate register.
Cats must be registered
From 2023, your cat must be ID marked and registered with the Swedish Board of Agriculture. It must be marked and registered before it is 4 months old. If you buy or take over a cat that is over 3 months old, you must ensure that it is or will be ID marked and you must register as an owner within 4 weeks. This applies whether your cat is an indoor or outdoor cat. This requirement applies even if your cat is registered in a voluntary register.
When cats are ID marked and registered, it becomes easier to reunite a stray cat with its owner. It is also possible to see which cats are homeless and to help them find a caring home. The county administrative board is the supervisory authority and may decide on measures if a cat is unregistered and/or has no ID marking.
How to register your cat
You can register your cat using our e-service. It costs SEK 40 per cat and you can pay by credit/debit card or Swish. After registration, it can take up to one hour before you can see your cat in the register.
If you do not wish to use the e-service, or are unable to do so, you can register your cat by sending in a form. It costs SEK 100 per cat and you will be sent an invoice for payment. Your cat will not appear in the register until we have had time to manually process registration. If you register your cat by posting a form you will receive a confirmation letter once registration is complete. The invoice will be posted at the end of the year.
We are unable to accept registration over the telephone.
Rules for kittens
Kittens must be ID marked and registered before they reach four months.
Cats exempted from ID marking and registration
You are under no obligation to register your cat if it was born before 1 January 2008. However, you may register it in our cat register if you wish to do so.
If your cat dies or leaves the country
If your cat dies or leaves the country you must deregister your cat. You can do so using our e-service or by sending a form.
Changing details of a cat or owner
You can change the owner and other information concerning the cat. If a cat changes hands, the new owner is responsible for registering themselves as the new owner. It is not possible for the previous owner to make this change. To register yourself as a registered cat’s new owner, you will need the cat’s ID marking and the previous owner’s personal identity number or company registration number.
If you use the e-service, it costs SEK 40 to register a change of ownership. If you send a form, it costs SEK 100.
If you move, the register will be automatically updated with information from the population register when you report your change of address to the Swedish Tax Agency. However, if you change your telephone number or email address, you will need to update the information yourself. You can do so either by logging in to Mina sidor [My pages] on the Swedish Board of Agriculture website at Jordbruksverket.se or by contacting our customer services.
Search for a cat in the cat register
To search for a cat, you need the cat’s ID microchip number or tattoo. If the cat’s owner has chosen to be searchable as a private person in the register, you will be able to see their details. If the owner has chosen to withhold this information, only the Swedish Board of Agriculture and county administrative board can see the registered information.
Rules for cat sanctuaries
Cat sanctuaries and other charities that care for stray cats should to a large extent ID mark and register the cats in their care. However, the most important thing is to ensure that the new owner registers the cat.
Power of attorney is required to register an organisation as an owner
Before a charity or other organisation can use the e-service to register as the owner of a cat, it must print out a power of attorney. The organisation’s authorised signatories can give power of attorney to a representative of the organisation. The power of attorney is then sent to the Swedish Board of Agriculture. Once power of attorney is registered with the Swedish Board of Agriculture, the individual in question can select the option to represent the organisation in the e-service.
This is why cat sanctuaries need to register cats
While the legal obligation to register a cat rests with the owner, in the case of cats it is not always self-evident that someone considers themselves to be the owner. If someone takes on the responsibility described in the Swedish Animal Welfare Act (SFS 2018:1192) – i.e., to care for the cat, feed and water it and take it to the veterinarian – then that natural or legal person can be considered to be the party responsible for registering the cat. As such, cat sanctuaries and other charities may be required to register cats in their care.
If the owner’s identity is known
If a charity or other organisation caring for a stray cat is aware of the identity of the owner, or the prospective new owner, there is no requirement to register as the owner of the cat. However, under such circumstances it is important to inform the owner that the cat must be ID marked and registered with the Swedish Board of Agriculture.
How to ID mark your cat
As a cat owner, you are required to have your cat ID marked with either a microchip or a tattoo, so that it can be identified and registered. Cats must be ID marked before the age of four months. If you purchase an unmarked cat which is older than three months of age, it must be marked within four weeks.
You may even need to update an existing ID marking if a tattoo has become blurred or a microchip unreadable. The cat can then be correctly identified if it runs away or gets lost. Please note that the cat may only be marked again if the existing tattoo has become blurred or the microchip has become unreadable.
If you are unsure whether or not your cat is ID marked, or if you lose the microchip number, a veterinarian can scan the chip for you.
A veterinarian can mark your cat with a microchip or a tattoo. The tattoo is places in one of the cat's ears. Please advise your veterinarian if you are uncertain about which method is most appropriate for your cat.
Marking cats with a microchip may also be carried out by an ID marker. An ID marker is a person whom has successfully completed training in cat identification with a microchip before doing it professionally.
Travelling to an EU Member State or entering Sweden with your cat
If the cat is going to travel to another EU Member State or travel into Sweden, it must be marked with a microchip that complies with certain requirements. This ID marking must have been done before, or in connection with the animal’s vaccination against rabies. Otherwise, the rabies vaccination will not be valid. Read more on our pages about taking cats out of or bringing them into Sweden.
You may also need to register your facility
If you keep cats for a purpose other than as pets, or outside the household or for commercial purposes, you are required to register the facility at which you keep the animals. Veterinary clinics are exempt from this regulation. Nor are you required to register your home as a facility if you keep cats as household pets without any commercial purpose. The purpose of registering facilities is to be able to trace animals in the event of an outbreak of disease. Each individual cat must be registered in our cat register.
If pets move between countries due to a change of ownership, or travel abroad more than five days before or after their owner, then the destination must be registered as a facility in each country. However, if the buyer collects the animal in Sweden the destination need not be registered as a facility.
In the following cases, a facility must always be registered
If the purpose of keeping the animal is to earn money, this is considered a commercial purpose.
It is also a commercial purpose if you:
- breed three or more litters of kittens per year;
- take payment for leasing/lending three or more cats per year;
- sell cats from three or more litters per year that you have bred yourself;
- sell three or more cats per year from litters bred by someone else; or
- take payment for board and lodging for four or more cats per year.
Material for those who want to disseminate information about the cat register
There are posters and flyers available to inform people about the cat register. You can either print out or order this material. An English-language version of the flyer is also available to print out. The material may be freely used.
Questions and answers
My cat is already registered in a cat register, do I still need to register it?
Yes, you do. The National Association of Swedish Cat Clubs (SVERAK) and Swedish Kennel Club (SKK) are two organisations that keep voluntary cat registers. These are not the same things as the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s new cat register. Even if you have already registered your cat in a voluntary register, from 1 January 2023 you still need to register it with us. No registrations from other cat registers will be transferred to our cat register.
I don’t know the age of my cat. How do I go about registering it?
If you do not know when your cat was born, make your own rough estimation. Feel free to consult a veterinarian, who will be able to assess your cat’s age.
Even if you estimate your cat was born before 1 January 2008, you can still register it is you so choose. Cats born before 1 January 2008 were exempted from the act by legislators to spare them the procedure of being ID marked.
What happens if I don’t register my cat?
One purpose of the legislation is to make it easier to reunite a stray cat with its owner. If your cat is not ID marked or registered, it will be more difficult to reunite it with you if it strays.
County administrative boards are the supervisory authority with responsibility for ensuring compliance with the law on ID marking and registration. County administrative boards also decide on any measures. The first course of action is to inform the cat owner of their obligation to ID mark and register their cat with the Swedish Board of Agriculture. If, having received this information, a cat owner fails to ID mark and/or register their cat the county administrative board may issue an injunction to the cat owner to comply with legislation subject to a fine.
Can I pay with cash?
You may pay the SEK 100 fee in cash. If you wish to do so, please contact customer services.
Contact
If you have any questions you are welcome to contact Customer service by phone or e-mail.
Revision date: 2023-06-22