To not want to get my cat microchipped

Just to dispel a few myths on here. Vets are not the microchip police! Nothing will happen if you don't chip your elderly cats. The most a vet can do is recommend that you do. They DO NOT report those who aren't, it's not their job.
Also as someone who has chipped hundreds of cats and kittens I can say the majority don't even notice it being done (especially if you feed them likilix at the same time!). Dogs tend to be a bit more dramatic!

I feel coerced into telephoning the vet tomorrow to make an appointment for our elderly cat to be microchipped. Both the fine and being told that the vets will not treat her if we don't have this done. Cats belong to themselves, they choose to stay with us. They choose their owners.

This is incorrect. There are many databases that microchips get recorded onto, and they're national so, yes, if a cat travelled from Portsmouth to Glasgow in a van a vet in Scotland could look up the owner's details.

Not all cats are the same, though. What one elderly cat would take in their stride could potentially kill another.

One of our cats was microchipped at age 14 as it wasn't a requirement until then. She didn't like it when she was injected but she fights harder when we're doing the spot-on. She's had no issues.

I would talkto the vet about it when you take her in for something else, or phone them and ask.

My young cat is now and elderly one suffering from pain and I can tell you she would be fine. However, I wouldn’t get an indoor cat done but wait until I had to take them to the vet for something else and get it done then, if I and the vet thought it necessary.

I guess the question is, if someone finds out, can you pay the fine? Or would you struggle? Or would it make you go into debt? If the answer is ‘no, £500 is a pain to lose but I won’t lose sleep over it’ then don’t do it.

TBH (nicely) your cat is 18. You’ve managed so far. Why bother now if you can afford not to?

@aodirjjd yes, our vet refused to chip our kitten until he was under anaesthetic for his neuter.

I wouldn't be putting an 18 yo cat under anaesthetic for anything, really, let alone something as minor as a microchip!

I think it’s also how do you define invasive. It’s a needle big enough to inject a grain of rice into a cat. Of course it hurts them, it would hurt us! but it is over and done with quickly . Probably quickly forgotten about in a young cat, still ideally done when cat under anaesthetic for other reasons like being spade.

The thing is, what's not invasive for a young, healthy kitten is potentially incredibly traumatic for an elderly cat that's likely suffering from pain and senility/dementia.

9 times out of 10 it will be because the owner doesn’t want to be found. When my chipped cat went missing I still phoned around all the local vets and posted on various social media sites, even if she didn’t have a chip I would have found her that way, not just waited for someone to scan her and phone me.

I can't understand why you've never had it done before!

My dog was scanned every year at the vets after the rules came in.

Most sensible answer so far!

Defra are on a mission to register cats (and chickens) it would seem.

Feral cats are not included in the legislation.

Apparently vets only have a local database and there is no national database that records microchips so it seems a bit pointless to me. Your cat could jump in a van and get driven 50 miles and taken to a vet there. The microchip would tell vets at the other end diddly squat other than that the cat has a microchip.

It's all very bizarre. Why this need to control and register everything?

You can be sure the answer is either money or disease control. Either microchip companies are making a fortune or the government are anticipating some sort of cat Covid.

Either way, I won't be microchipping my elderly cat!

The vet always scan their chip every visit even though it’s the same practice and one is 12 and the other 8 🤷🏻‍♀️

The new law says you will have 21 days to microchip your pet (presumably after a vet discovers it doesn't have one) before you face a fine. I think you should get your cat microchipped at the next regular vet appointment op.

You have to make a decision about how close your cat is to the end of life. I had a cat who made it to nearly 25. That sort of longevity is extremely rare though so it’s unlikely you would no compliant with the law for so long.

you should know that the procedure is actually very quick and simple. It’s just a shot at this point. If it’s done at the vet it can be very expensive, but our cats have always been chipped at mass events sponsored by rescues. The price drops considerably that way.

Ours are chipped and have been since they were kittens. I would not have an 18 year old house at chipped. I think it's unnecessary and at that age probably quite a trauma.

It’s not invasive. They do it into the scruff of the neck and my cat didn’t even flinch.

I work at a vets. The amount of deceased non chipped or non up to date chip cats we get bought in that never have an owner come forward is heartbreaking. For the sake of a simple one off procedure that takes seconds I don’t really understand why you wouldn’t. It’s that peace of mind if she ever were to get out. I’ve seen pets reunited with owners in less than half an hour thanks to up to date chips. So many more unclaimed deceased cats that end up getting sent off for cremation however

We also get a lot of sick/injured strays with no chip so it creates a stressful grey area of how much can we do when there’s no one to pick up the bill. It often ends up falling on a generous rescue if we find one. We’ve also had issues of people handing in injured strays with no chips (happens with dogs still too) waiting for us to treat them and then wanting to claim them once they’re better.

Exactly this

The amount of dogs that go missing round here is unreal. They picked up by people/vets/rescues who can't find their owners because they aren't chipped. There are never any repercussions and all dogs have to be chipped now.

I have four cats. Two of mine were chipped as they used to go out. My other two are house cats and aren't chipped. I see no need for it - they don't go out. They're also thick as mince so wouldn't escape.

People who have animals who don't give a shit about them (and there are lots) are definitely not going to be chipping their cats.

At that age, being an indoor cat I would hope a vet would use common sense.

It good to get the chip regularly scanned by the vet, to make sure it’s not migrated, but I’ve never had a vet do it without asking.