How to Check If a Cat Is Chipped

How to Check if a Cat Is Chipped

A quick scan is the only way to know for sure, and it costs nothing at most vets. From the chip's number you can trace the database holding the owner's details.

Pet Database

Microchipping Experts

Date published

A tabby cat standing on a vet's reception floor with its tail up while a hand reaches over the counter holding a small scanner above its shoulders.

You can’t tell whether a cat is chipped by looking at them, so the only way to check is a scan. A vet or rescue centre can run a scanner over the cat and read the chip’s number. This guide covers where to get that done, what the scan shows and what to do with the number.

Getting a cat scanned

The simplest option is to take the cat to a local vet. The PDSA says that if you’ve found a cat with no identification, your local vet will scan them for a microchip free of charge.

A cat peeks out of a carrier on the back seat of a car, on the way to the vet. — A local vet practice can scan a cat for its chip number.

If you can’t get the cat to a vet, Cats Protection says your local Cats Protection branch may be able to come out and scan the cat where they are. Another animal welfare organisation may be able to do the same. Councils have no duty to deal with stray cats, so a vet or rescue centre is the right first call.

Where the chip sits on a cat

The chip is a tiny device, about the size of a grain of rice, and in the UK it sits under the skin between the shoulder blades. If you’re thinking about getting your own cat chipped, our cat microchipping page covers how it’s done, and our guide to microchip placement covers where the chip sits, why it can shift and how to check it’s still in place.

A long-haired cat walks along with a small chip marked between its shoulder blades. — The chip sits just under the skin, in front of the shoulder blades.

What the scan tells you

The scan reads the chip’s 15-digit number and nothing else. The chip itself holds no name, address or phone number. Those details sit on the database where the chip is registered, and there is no single national database.

Once you have the number, our chip checker searches multiple UK databases at once and shows whether the chip is registered and which database holds the record. It doesn’t show the owner’s contact details, but it tells you where the record lives. The vet or rescue with the cat can then contact that database.

For the fuller picture of how the UK databases fit together, our guide to microchip databases and how to check which one your pet is on explains it.

If you've found a cat

Our found a cat page covers what to do. If the cat is healthy and sticks around, a scan is the step that tells you whether there’s an owner looking for them. A registered chip leads back to a person.