Is My Pet's Microchip Registered? How to Check in Two Minutes
A chip on its own cannot bring your pet home; the contact details behind it can. See how to confirm your record exists and put it right if it does not.
You know your pet has a chip, but the chip itself is only a number. What matters is the record behind it, and you can find out where you stand in a couple of minutes with a free online check.
Is microchipping the same as registering?
No, and the difference matters. A microchip holds a 15-digit number and nothing else. Registration is your name, address and phone number recorded against that number on a database, and it’s the record that gets you the call if your pet is ever found. If you’re not sure your pet’s chip was ever registered, our guide to registration after chipping covers it in full.
Why a chipped pet can still have the wrong details
Most owners believe their record is fine. In 2025, the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) found that 91% of owners of microchipped pets say their contact details are up to date.
The strays coming through rescues tell a different story. Battersea Dogs and Cats Home’s 2026 report found 34% of stray dogs had a chip whose record hadn’t been updated with the current owner’s details, and a further 14% had a chip that was never registered at all. So a chipped pet can still have no working route back to you. That can happen because the phone number changed, the pet moved to a new owner, or the record was never made in the first place.
How to check your pet's microchip is registered
If your pet is microchipped, you should have a confirmation letter or email with the chip number on it. Your vet can scan your pet to check, and may already have the chip number on file.
- Find the 15-digit chip number. It should be on the paperwork from the implant, and your vet can scan your pet and read it out if you can’t find it. Our page on finding your pet’s microchip number goes through the options.
- Enter the number in our chip checker. It’s free, needs no account, and searches multiple UK databases at once.
- Read the result. The checker tells you whether the chip is registered and which database holds the record.
If you want more background on the databases themselves, our guide to microchip databases in the UK explains how they fit together.
What to do with the result
If the check comes back registered, your next step is logging into that database and reading what’s on the record. Check the phone number and address are the ones you’d answer today, and update anything that’s changed.
Registration documents usually arrive within a couple of weeks of chipping, so if nothing turned up, check with the person or organisation that microchipped your pet. If you’ve taken on a pet from elsewhere, ask for the chip information and see if you can get the original paperwork.
If the chip isn’t registered, you can register it yourself. If you’ve recently taken on a pet from someone else and the record still holds their details, Pet Database’s transfer process puts it right: you enter the chip number, confirm you’re the owner, then add your contact details and confirm.
A chip can’t bring your pet home on its own; the record behind it can. Two minutes with our chip checker tells you whether that record exists and which database holds it.
