Cat Microchipping Law in the UK: What Owners Need to Know

Yes. In England every pet cat must be microchipped and registered on a government-approved database by the time it is 20 weeks old, and that has been the law since 10 June 2024. If a council finds your cat without a chip, you get 21 days to have one fitted, and after that you can be fined up to £500. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland microchipping cats is still optional, although it is just as useful there.

The law in England at a glance

The rules are in the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023. GOV.UK sums them up for owners. This is what they mean for you.

The government estimated in 2023 that more than 9 million pet cats live in England and that up to 2.3 million of them had no chip. In a consultation, 99% of people who responded supported the new law.

Which cats the law covers

Indoor cats. They are included. An indoor cat that slips out through an open door or window does not know the area, so a chip matters just as much.

Older cats. Age makes no difference. A 15-year-old cat that was never chipped needs a chip now. The procedure is the same quick injection as for a kitten.

Kittens. The deadline is 20 weeks. Many owners combine it with neutering, because the kitten is already under anaesthetic, or with the first vaccinations. There is no minimum age.

Farm, feral and community cats. Cats that live freely with little or no human interaction or dependency are not covered. A farm cat that sleeps in the kitchen and is fed by the family is unlikely to count as free-living, so give it a chip.

Cats that cannot be chipped for health reasons. A vet can sign an exemption certificate on a form approved by the government. The keeper signs it too, and it states how long the cat is unfit to be chipped. When that period ends, the duty to chip applies again.

A chip also keeps working when a collar or tracker comes off. If you use a tracker on a breakaway collar, our guide to the best GPS tracker for cats explains why you still need the chip as a backup.

What happens if your cat is not microchipped

Councils enforce the law. A council officer can scan a cat to check whether it has a chip. If it does not, and there is no exemption certificate, the keeper can be served a notice to have the cat chipped and registered within 21 days.

If you do nothing, the council can arrange the microchipping itself and recover the cost from you, and you can be prosecuted and fined up to £500. The same fine applies if you obstruct an officer. You can appeal against a notice to the First-tier Tribunal, and the notice is on hold until the appeal is decided.

In practice, most unchipped cats come to light when they are found as strays, handed in to a vet or rescue centre, or scanned after an accident. That is exactly when an up-to-date chip makes the difference.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Animal welfare is devolved, so the English law does not apply in the other three nations. This is where things stood in early November 2026.

Cats Protection estimates that around 69% of owned cats in Scotland are chipped, which leaves about 260,000 without one. The advice from vets and charities is the same everywhere in the UK: chip your cat and keep the details current, whether the law requires it or not.

Getting your cat microchipped

Who can do it. A vet, a vet nurse working under a vet's direction, or someone who has passed an approved implanting course. You cannot do it yourself. Vets, some councils and rescue centres offer it.

What it costs. Usually between £10 and £30, according to the RSPCA, the PDSA and Battersea. Some charities chip for less or for free, and some vet health plans include it. Cats adopted from a rescue such as Cats Protection are normally chipped before they go home.

How it works. The chip is about the size of a grain of rice. It goes under the skin between the shoulder blades with a needle, which takes a few seconds. It has no battery and no moving parts, and it is designed to last for life. It only holds a number. Your name, address and phone number sit on the database that number is linked to.

Does it hurt? It feels like any injection, says the PDSA: a tiny amount of discomfort for a few seconds. Most cats barely react, and a treat afterwards helps.

Side effects. Cats Protection says a small swelling at the spot occasionally appears and usually goes down within a few days. Chips sometimes move a short distance from where they were put in, which the PDSA says does not usually cause problems and does not stop the chip being read. A chip that stops working is very rare. If it happens, the manufacturer usually supplies a replacement, and the old chip can stay where it is. In England, adverse reactions, chips that have moved and chips that fail must be reported to the government. Your vet can do this for you.

How to check your cat is microchipped and where it is registered

1. Look for the number. It is on the microchip certificate, your vet records, the vaccination card or a pet passport. Pet insurance papers often show it too.
2. No paperwork? Ask your vet, a rescue centre or the council's animal warden to scan your cat. Your phone cannot read a chip on its own.
3. Find the database. Enter the number at Check-a-chip. It searches the compliant UK databases and tells you which one holds the record, without showing anyone's personal details.
4. Check the record. Log in or call that database and make sure the name, address, phone number and email are yours and current.

A practical tip: ask your vet to scan the chip at the yearly check-up. Vets do not scan every cat at every visit, so a chip that has stopped working or a number that never got registered can go unnoticed for years.

How to update your microchip details

Updating your vet records does not change the chip database. The two are separate, and only the database is used to find you when your cat is found. To update it:

1. Find the chip number and the database, as above.
2. Contact that database through its website or by phone. GOV.UK lists all approved databases, such as Petlog, Identi, UK PETtrac and Animal Tracker, and removes any that stop meeting the standards.
3. Change your address, phone number and email. Add a second contact person if the database allows it.
4. Expect a possible fee. Some databases charge per change, others offer a one-off payment for unlimited changes during your cat's life.

Update the record when you move house, change your phone number or email, or take your cat on as a new keeper. Charities say many found cats cannot be returned simply because the details are out of date.

Watch out for scams. GOV.UK warns that emails from databases that are not on its approved list, asking you to pay to register your pet, could be scams. Only deal with the database your cat is actually registered on, which you can confirm with Check-a-chip.

Buying, adopting or rehoming a cat

Getting a cat. Ask for proof that the cat is chipped, such as the microchip certificate, vet records or a pet passport, and get the database record moved into your name straight away. In England the new keeper has to make sure their details are recorded, unless the previous keeper has already done it. If you take home a kitten under 20 weeks that has not been chipped yet, having it done before 20 weeks becomes your job.

Passing a cat on. In England a cat that has to be chipped may not be handed over to a new keeper until it is. Contact your database before the handover. Most give you a transfer form or code for the new keeper.

Moving to England with a cat from abroad

If you bring a cat into England, it must be microchipped within 30 days of arriving. Many cats from abroad already have a 15-digit chip because of pet travel rules. In that case, ask a vet to scan it and register the number with your UK address on one of the approved databases listed on GOV.UK. A registration that only exists on a database abroad is not enough. If the foreign chip cannot be registered on a UK database, the vet can fit a second chip and leave the first one in place, says the RCVS. Our guide to travelling with a cat by car covers the trip itself and the paperwork for travel between Great Britain and the EU.

If your cat goes missing

1. Report your cat as missing to the microchip database the same day. They can flag the chip, so anyone who scans it knows the cat is being looked for.
2. Call local vets, rescue centres and the council. Give them the chip number and a description.
3. Search close to home. Frightened cats often hide nearby, in sheds, garages and under cars.
4. Check your contact details again. A scanned cat can only come home if the phone number and address on the record still work.

Fireworks are a common reason cats bolt. Our guide to cats and fireworks has a checklist for Bonfire Night and New Year's Eve.

What a microchip does not do

A chip is a way to identify your cat once someone has found it. It does not send a location, so it cannot tell you where your cat is. It also needs a scanner, which is why a found cat has to be taken to a vet or rescue centre first. For live tracking you need a separate tracker on the collar.

The chip can also do something useful at home. A microchip cat flap reads the chip your cat already has and only opens for your own cats, which keeps visiting cats out. Our guide to the best microchip cat flap explains which flaps read which chips.

What may change next

The government in England has proposed reforms to the database system, including a single point of access so approved users can look up a chip record quickly, and regular reminders asking owners to keep their details up to date. GOV.UK is the place to check whether and when these apply. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, charities including Cats Protection, the RSPCA and the USPCA are still campaigning for cats to be included. If the rules change, we will update this page.

Frequently asked questions