Can I call this cat my own now and anyone know about changing microchip details?

[cupofcoffee]

A cat turned up at my house 2 years ago looking lost, hungry and bit thin. He was lingering round so I fed him. I took him to my vet and he was scanned for a microchip. They found a chip so I was positive they would be able to return the cat to the owners. They tried to contact the owners but couldn't get through so asked if I would take the cat home while they kept trying. A while later I had a call from the vets saying they had contacted the address where the cat was registered only to find the registered owner had moved 4 months previously and had not left a forwarding address.

I went on to advertise him as found in the local paper, RSPCA, etc. No owner was traced so I gave up and have kept the cat. My vet gave me the microchip number so that I could contact the company to register myself as the owner. I have now emailed the microchip company to explain the situation and ask if they can put my details on the file. They have said they need a letter from the original owner to state they give up ownership. I have emailed back asking how they think this will be possible given that there has been no contact from them so far. I have said they can contact my vet to verify how long it has been since I first took him there and to confirm the story about them trying to trace the owners via the microchip. Surely there must come a point when I can call this cat my own and after 2 years of feeding, cleaning up his fur and paying his vets bills I think I should now be classed as his registered owner.

Anyone ever managed to change the microchip details without having previous owner's say so?

Wow that's really difficult- if I was you I would contact the vet- they will have some practical experience of this I'm sure

Also- is it worth contacting the people who live at the old registered address? They should have the name of the estate agent etc and should be able to backtrack and provide you with the information on their possible whereabouts now?

Thanks Hedgeblunder. It is a difficult one. I wonder how often this happens. I have taken in a few stray/lost cats in the past but none of them had a chip so I had to rely on advertising and then kept them if no response. I was really surprised by this one because I thought that owners who bothered to have their pet microchiped would not just abandon, but of course there could me more to the story that I am not aware of.

The vets told me that they could not pass the owner's personal details on to me due to data protection. They just told me the area where the registered address was and it is about 10mins drive from my house. So I think unless the cat had managed to wonder a long way he might have been dumped, inadvertently got into a vehicle or maybe the previous owner's new address is near my house and he got lost after moving.