Is it permissible to buy cats?

Yes, it is permissible to buy and sell cats. This is the view of the overwhelming majority of scholars, the view of the four imams as well. This is based on a hadith where the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in Sahih Bukhari that there was a female who had a cat and she caged that cat up. She wasn't good to that cat or kind to the cat. And so because of this, the Prophet ﷺ said she's deserving of being punished in Jahannam. Now, the hadith shows that she owned the cat and something that you own, you can buy and you can sell. This is the view, as I said, of the majority of scholars. There is a second view. The Zahiris mentioned this, Ibn al-Qaym also mentions this, which is that it's not permissible because there is a narration from the Prophet ﷺ that mentions the price of a cat is not something permissible. Now, the majority of scholars, they go back to the hadith and they analyze it and they say, no, this refers to a wild cat. It doesn't refer to the normal cat you would buy and sell. And also they say that the hadith is referring specifically to dogs in and of itself and not to cats. So according to the majority, no issue with it, inshallah.