Microchipping at Home: Can You Chip Your Own Pet?
Chipping has to be done by a vet or trained implanter, but it can still happen in your own home. Who qualifies, how to find a mobile service near you, and the route to becoming an implanter yourself.
Chipping your own cat or dog isn’t legal, however straightforward the kits online make it look. In England, the law limits who may implant a chip to a vet, a vet nurse or student under a vet’s direction, or someone who has passed an approved training course. There’s still a way to get it done at home, though: in some areas a vet or a trained implanter will come to you.
Who is allowed to microchip a cat or dog
In England, anyone who isn’t a trained implanter and implants a chip in a cat or dog commits an offence, with a fine on conviction. That includes you as the owner, however confident you feel with a needle. Buying a microchip kit online doesn’t change what you’re allowed to do with it.
Chipping a cat or dog in the usual way, with a quick injection under the skin, isn’t classed as veterinary surgery, which is why trained non-vets are allowed to do it. BSAVA says it does become vet territory if the wound needs closing, your pet needs sedating, or there’s a particular health risk; in those cases the chip has to go in with a vet involved.
What about other pets?
The implanter rule in the England regulations covers cats and dogs specifically. Rabbits, guinea pigs, tortoises and other pets sit outside it. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) says implanting by routes other than under the skingenerally amounts to veterinary surgery. For any other species, ask your vet.
Ferrets have their own rule because of pet travel. When a ferret is chipped for travel, the same restrictions that apply to cats and dogs apply to ferrets too, so the person implanting the chip must be a vet, a supervised member of their team, or an approved implanter.
Home visits from a vet or trained implanter
If getting to a practice is awkward, or your pet gets stressed in the car, a home visit may suit you better. Mobile services do exist in some areas. Some mobile vets offer home microchipping across whole regions, like Central and Greater London. Other nurse-led services run visits from branches in different parts of the country, including Wigan, South Derbyshire and Medway. These visits usually include database registration.
Search for mobile vets or home visit pet services near your postcode and ring to check. The same legal rules apply in your kitchen as in a consulting room, so ask who will be doing the implanting and what their qualification is. Our guide to finding a chipping service anywhere in the UK covers vets and charities in more detail.
If no mobile service is nearby, ask your vet, your local council or a local rescue centre whether they can chip your dog or cat. Some charities and councils run free or low-cost chipping events, so it’s worth a phone call before you pay full price.
Keeping the record is your part
Whoever chips your pet and wherever it happens, the chip only works if the number is registered to you and your contact details stay current. A chip with no current record behind it leaves a scanner with a number and no name to call.
If your pet’s chip isn’t on a database yet, you can register it with Pet Database. The implanter has done their part; the record is yours to keep up to date.
