The paperwork decoded: Puppy Contract and Kitten Checklist

If you're buying a puppy, the document to know about is the Puppy Contract, a free resource developed by the Animal Welfare Foundation and the RSPCA. It isn't a legal requirement, but a good breeder uses it willingly, and its real value is as a checklist that makes a seller show their working.

The Puppy Contract has two parts. The first is a Puppy Information Pack, filled in by the breeder, covering the puppy's health, its parents, the health tests that have been done, how the puppy has been reared and socialised, and its worming and vaccination so far. The second is the contract of sale itself, which sets out the terms of the sale between you and the breeder.

Here's why it's such a good tool even if you never sign anything: to complete it honestly, a breeder has to have actually done the things it asks about. A breeder who can fill it in fully has health-tested the parents, kept veterinary records, and reared the litter thoughtfully. A breeder who's evasive about it, or who's never heard of it, is telling you something too. You can download it in advance, read it through, and use it as your own list of questions on the day, whether or not the breeder produces their own copy. If a seller reacts badly to being asked to complete a free RSPCA-backed document about the puppy's health, treat that as one of the bad-seller red flags.

Kitten buyers have their own version, and it deserves to be far better known than it is. The Kitten Checklist was produced by the Cat Group and International Cat Care (iCatCare) to help buyers ask the right questions and recognise a well-bred, well-reared kitten.

It walks you through the same territory as the Puppy Contract, adapted for cats: the kitten's health and the mother's, the socialisation and handling the kitten has had, its worming and any vaccination, and, importantly for cats, whether it has been tested for FeLV and FIV where relevant, and whether the parents have any breed-specific health testing. For a pedigree kitten, that last point matters, because several breeds carry inherited conditions that responsible breeders screen for.

Print it, take it with you, and work through it with the seller. As with the Puppy Contract, its power is that it makes a good seller easy to recognise and a poor one hard to hide. And if the checklist raises the question of infectious disease, our guides to FeLV and FIV testing and cat flu will help you understand what the answers mean.

Whatever else you're handed, there should be a clear record of the animal's veterinary care so far. For both puppies and kittens, expect to see:

• A vaccination record, showing which vaccines have been given and when, ideally stamped or signed by the vet who gave them. Watch for records with no vet's details at all, which can mean the vaccines were never actually given by a vet. Note the dates, because they determine when the next dose is due, and the primary course isn't finished on collection day. Our vaccination schedule explains what should have happened and what comes next.
• A worming and flea record, showing the product used and the dates. Puppies and kittens are wormed frequently in their first weeks, so a genuine record has several entries, not one vague note.
• Any veterinary health check, such as a first vet examination or, for some breeds, specific checks.

Take a photo of everything, and take the originals if they're offered. You'll want these at the first vet visit, where your own vet will go through them and pick up the schedule from where the breeder left off.

Here the paperwork stops being a nice-to-have and becomes a legal duty, so it's worth getting exactly right.

Dog microchipping has been compulsory in the UK since 2016. A puppy must be microchipped and registered before it goes to a new home, and it's the breeder's legal responsibility to have done this, with the breeder recorded as the first keeper. When you collect the puppy, you should be given the microchip number and the paperwork to transfer the registration into your name. Don't skip this step. A chip registered to the wrong person, or to no one, is close to useless if your dog is ever lost.

Cat microchipping became compulsory in England on 10 June 2024, for cats over 20 weeks of age. The same logic applies: your kitten should be, or soon must be, microchipped, and the registration needs to be in your name with your current contact details.

For both species, the single most common failure isn't the chip itself, it's the database record. A microchip only works if the details on the registered database are correct and up to date. So on collection day, get the microchip number, confirm which database it's registered with, and complete the transfer of keepership to you as soon as you can. Then, any time you move house or change your phone number over the animal's whole life, update it. It's a two-minute job that reunites lost pets.

If you're buying a pedigree animal, you may be offered registration papers, for a dog usually from the Kennel Club, for a cat often from the GCCF or a breed registry. These record the animal's ancestry and confirm it's a recognised pedigree.

It's worth being clear about what they mean. Pedigree papers tell you about breeding and lineage. They are not a guarantee of health, and they are not a substitute for the health tests that matter. A Kennel Club "Assured Breeder", for example, is held to higher standards including relevant health testing, which is more meaningful for your puppy's future than the pedigree certificate alone. So by all means value the papers, but ask separately about health testing, and don't let a fancy certificate stand in for the health record above.

Some breeders and rescues send a puppy or kitten home with a few weeks of free introductory insurance. That's a genuinely useful bridge, but it's short, and it's not a substitute for choosing your own cover deliberately. In fact, the arrival of a new animal is exactly the moment to sort proper insurance, because cover is most valuable when it's in place before any health problem appears. We explain why the timing matters so much, and how the different types of cover differ, in pet insurance for a new pet. If you're handed introductory cover, note when it ends and have your own policy ready to take over.

Bring this list, mentally or on your phone, and you'll walk in knowing exactly what to look for.

• The Puppy Contract (for a puppy) or Kitten Checklist (for a kitten), completed by the seller, or your own copy to work through with them.
• A vaccination record, ideally vet-stamped, with dates.
• A worming and flea record with dates and products.
• The microchip number and the transfer-of-keepership paperwork, so you can register the animal to yourself.
• For a pedigree, the registration papers, plus separate evidence of the parents' health testing.
• Details of any diet the animal is currently on and any introductory insurance.
• The seller's contact details, because a good one is happy to hear from you afterwards.

If most of these are present and in order, that's a reassuring sign. If several are missing, vague or won't add up, that's worth pausing on, and our guide to buying safely will help you decide whether to walk away.

Do one thing before collection day: download the Puppy Contract or Kitten Checklist now, read it through, and bring it with you so you can work through it with the seller rather than reading it for the first time on the doorstep. Then, on the day, get that microchip transferred into your name, and book the first vet visit so your own vet can check the animal over and pick up the vaccination and worming schedule from where the breeder left off.