A microchip scan gives a finder one thing: the chip number. The names, addresses and phone numbers live in a registry's record, and when that record still shows a previous owner, every call about your cat goes to the wrong person. Rehoming paperwork alone does not fix it, and neither does updating anything in an app. The registry itself has to change its record, and registries differ in what they demand before they will. These eight questions, asked on one phone call and noted as you go, cover the whole process, including the step many owners never learn about until it goes wrong.
The Eight Questions for the Registry
Ask them in this order. Can this record be transferred into my name, and what proof of the rehoming do you need from me? Does the previous keeper have to confirm the transfer, and what happens if they cannot be reached? Is there a fee for the transfer, and how is it paid? How long does the transfer take from the day you receive everything? What chip number do you hold on this record, read back to me, so we know we are discussing the same chip that was scanned? Are there duplicate records for this chip anywhere in your system? When the new details are saved, will you read them back to me so I can check them on the spot? And before we finish: what is your direct contact for this record, and what confirmation reference should I note for this change? Write the answers beside the chip number, with the name of the person you spoke to, and keep that note with her paperwork.
Proof, the Previous Keeper and Dead Ends
Expect the proof question to have a practical answer: rehoming documents from the rescue or previous keeper, a vet letter, or a signed statement from you may each be accepted, and the registry will tell you which it wants rather than leaving you to guess. The previous keeper's role varies too. Some registries write to the old address and proceed if no objection arrives within a set period; others need active confirmation, which is why the unreachable-keeper question matters: ask what their process is when letters go unanswered and phone numbers are dead, and how long that route takes, so a silent record does not stay silent forever. If duplicate records surface, ask which one a scanner's enquiry would actually reach and have the spare corrected or closed, because a tidy single record is the whole point of the exercise. Fees and timescales are unglamorous, but knowing them on day one stops the transfer stalling half-finished in a drawer.
Read-Back: When a Transfer Is Really Complete
A transfer is not complete when you have posted the form, paid the fee or been told it should be fine. It is complete when the registry's saved record holds your details, and the proof of that is hearing them read back to you: your name, your phone number, your address, spelled and spoken exactly as a finder would receive them. Ask for that read-back on the call when the change is made, or ring back and ask for it once the timescale has passed, and check every digit, because one wrong number in a phone field quietly undoes the entire transfer. Note the registry's contact and the confirmation reference they give you with the read-back, so any later query starts from a reference rather than a retelling. Keep the two systems distinct in your notes: a profile moves between keepers through Transferrable Profiles in KinsLe, while the registry record changes only when registry staff save and read back the new details.