It’s National Pet Identification week, and we are sharing this information again, because it’s so important. Do you know if your cat has the right ID to help kitty find her way home to you?

Your cat doesn’t have pockets to carry a wallet, so ID for cats takes the form of a microchip and tag. Only two percent of cats who end up in shelters have some form of ID, and until your cat learns to talk, that’s the only way your cat can tell people where she lives.

“A pet’s looks and fur can change drastically in only a few days or weeks on their own,” says Kim Freeman, pet detective and owner of Lost Cat Finder. Cats covered in dirt or wet can look surprisingly different than a nearby lost cat sign that has their photo on it, so ID is the best way for someone to tell it really is your cat.

Microchips

A microchip is a small transponder about the size of a grain of rice that is has with a unique identification number. The chip is implanted by a simple procedure at your vet or even at a local shelter. Reduced-cost and sometimes even free microchips are available at events in your community at various times during the year.

Be sure to register your chip so that if someone finds your kitty, they can get your contact information. Your chip isn’t registered automatically!

If You Move to a New Home

Update your contact information with the microchip registry so that if someone finds your cat, they will be able to contact you. Animal shelters run into heartbreaking dead ends when they scan a cat for a chip but the phone number on the chip is disconnected. Don’t let this happen to your cat!

Collars

If your cat will wear a collar, make sure you use a breakaway collar that will come off if your cat gets it caught on something. Safety first!

Include daytime and evening contact information on your cat’s tag, since you never know when someone might have to try to call you. If your cat has a medical condition like diabetes, you can include that on the tag, too, so that if your kitty is lost, he can get the appropriate care until you are reunited.

If the noise of a metal tag bothers you or your cat, there are lots of options available, including silent silicon tags and metal tags that slide onto a collar so they don’t dangle.

If You Move to a New Home

Make sure your cat’s tag includes a cell phone number or the number of someone who knows how to reach you.

Microchip Plus Collar

The ASPCA recommends your cat have a registered microchip and also wear a collar with personalized ID tag. Anyone who finds your cat can read an ID tag, while the microchip reader requires the good Samaritan to go to a veterinarian or shelter where they can read the chip.

Collars with tags make it easy for anyone to get your cat home to you. A microchip, hidden beneath your cat’s fur, won’t be lost like a collar can, so it’s a great way to be sure your cat won’t “lose her wallet” and not have any ID when lost.

We all hope our cat never gets lost, but make sure your kitty has the best chance to get back home to you as quickly as possible by chipping and collaring your cat with ID for your cat.

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On Veteran’s Day, we are often reminded to thank a veteran for their service to the country. The animal community is saying a special thank you to veterans now with a special program called Pets for Patriots.

1 in 5 veterans from Iraq or Afghanistan suffers from major depression. Science has begun to recognize what may people who live with pets have known for years: animal-assisted intervention can help people suffering from depression.

The benefits of living with pets aren’t just psychological ones! Just the presence of pets reduces human stress levels  and blood pressure.

While the love and acceptance a veteran receives from a pet can make a huge difference to the veteran, the adoption helps animals, too. The Pets for Patriots program adopts from shelters, and it focuses on animals most likely to spend extended time in shelters and possibly not be adopted at all:

• Cats (or dogs), two years or older
• Special needs cats (or dogs) with birth defects, disabilities, or chronic medical conditions, regardless or their age
• Large 40+ lb dogs

Pets for Patriots also helps veterans with keeping their pets when they suffer short-term financial hardship. Instead of sending pets back to shelters, the organization provides aid to keep veterans and their pets together where they belong.

Additionally, the organization educates the military community and the public about the plight of animals surrendered to shelters. They promote adopting shelter pets as the only alternative to buying or breeding.

So a big thank you to veterans everywhere today and also to everyone who makes it possible for cats (and dogs) to make a difference for veterans.

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Research and further reading:

Journal for Vascular and Inverventional Neurology, Cat ownership and the Risk of Fatal Cardiovascular Diseases, Results from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Study Mortality Follow-up Study
Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative Foundation, Animal-Assisted Intervention for People with Depression

Photo credits:

depoitphotos/stokkete
depositphotos/belchonock

Adoption of less-adoptable cats is a cause close to our hearts because Ashton is a less-adoptable cat. So for Flashback Friday, we are bringing back a reminder about Adopt a Less-Adoptable Pet Week.

According to a PetFinder survey, 99% of shelters and rescue organizations have pets they are having difficulty placing in good homes. These “less-adoptable” pets fall into several categories.

Less Adoptable Cat Types

Senior Cats

Many adopters decide against senior cats because they are adopting after losing a previous pet, and they don’t want to imagine that happening again for a very long time. The thought of losing a senior cat to old age in only a few years makes them choose to adopt younger cats. Adopters may also be afraid of senior cats developing expensive medical conditions with their advanced age.

With the aging of the baby boom generation, a growing number of senior pets who lived their entire lives with a single human find themselves homeless when their human who becomes unable to take care of them due to their own age-related issues or even because of their human’s death. When the remaining family members are unable to care for the cat, frightened, disoriented senior pets don’t appear to be good potential companions and are harder to adopt.

Given time to settle into a new home, seniors can make wonderful, loving companions, great for adopters who want a cat to cuddle with but don’t want to have to wear a young cat out with a lot of exercise and play every day.

Shy Cats

Like the frightened senior pets mentioned above, shy cats don’t warm up to potential adopters when they come to a shelter or rescue organization to look for a new companion. Shy cats don’t “show well,” and their shyness can look like aggression when they are especially afraid at adoption events. The same cat that hisses at a potential adopter when being pulled out of the safety of his cage at an adoption event will come out of his shell after being given more time to warm up to strange humans, but it’s hard for the shy cat to get the chance to let his personality shine.

Shy cats can blossom in foster homes, but it can be hard for a potential adopter to take a shelter’s word that the cat cowering in their litterbox will be friendly and outgoing in their home environment once they have time to adjust to new surroundings.

Special Needs Cats

There are many types of special needs cats, like diabetic cats or cats that need special diets for ongoing conditions. Each of these may worry potential adopters because they aren’t sure if they understand what care the cat will need, even though the extra care is often minimal. Education is key to understanding how much or little care a special need cat will require.

One of the most common conditions that causes cats to be considered special needs is Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), found commonly among stray cats. While there is a lot of lingering fear and misunderstanding about the transmission of this virus, studies have shown that friendly FIV-positive and negative cats live together without transmitting the disease. While FIV-positive cats should see their vet more promptly at any sign of illness, they can also live long, happy lives with their human and feline families. Still, lingering fear and misunderstanding make these cats harder to adopt.

Imperfect Cats

Many cats are simply imperfect. Even though they need no extra care, they may be missing an eye like our Ashton or a leg like our Cousin Earl. Others might have tattered ears or visible scars. These imperfections are usually from a previous mishap, and the cats simply aren’t as appealing to potential adopters on sight.

These different-looking cats are just as wonderful companions as their two-eyed or four-legged companions, but they are often overlooked because they don’t have as much “curb appeal” as unblemished cats.

Bonded Pairs

Cats who are relinquished to a shelter or rescue together sometimes turn to each other for comfort. It’s no wonder that the rescue organization decides that they must go to a home together so that they can continue to rely on each other for solace during stressful transitions and play together during joyful times. Not everyone wants to adopt two cats, or if they do, they may not want the particular combination of personalities, colors, or other characteristics that the bonded pair represents.

Bonded pairs of cats, with each other to help their confidence, may adapt more quickly to new situations then they would alone, but some adopters still hesitate.

Cats Who Must be “Onlies”

At the other end of the spectrum, cats who must go to homes with no other cats can take longer to adopt because the most likely adopters already have one or more cats. Some only cats also need to be the only pet in the home so they can’t join a household with dogs or other pets, either. This limits their potential pool of adopters and keeps them at the shelter or rescue group longer.

These “only” cats bond closely to their human family members, especially since they have no other feline companions.

Black Cats

People who work in shelters and rescues continue to report that black cats with wonderful personalities take longer to adopt than their more colorful counterparts. Black cats may not show well in the muted light of cages in shelters or may be victims of superstitions about their being unlucky. Anyone who has lived with a black cat can report that they are anything but unlucky, but are great companions with winning personalities.

What Shelters Are Doing to Help

Most shelters work to get their less-adoptable pets extra attention, knowing that they are going to take more families considering them than average before one decides that they have found the perfect companion.

Some shelters and rescues offer programs that help defray the potential costs of medical care that might put people off of adopting seniors or special needs cats. Others offer foster-to-adopt arrangements so that shy cats have time to come out of their shell in a home environment and show their potential adopter what loving companions they can be.

A number of shelters are also working hard to find innovative ways to help seniors keep their less-adoptable pets, serve as long-term foster homes, and adopt senior pets of their own.

Shelter outreach and programs alone won’t help place all of their less-adoptable pets. The next time you’re looking for a new family member, think beyond a kitten to a less-adoptable cat who could be a perfect fit for your family!

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References and further reading:

Petfinder, Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week
The Veterinary Journal, Transmission of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) among cohabiting cats in two cat rescue shelters

Photo credit: depositphotos/cynoclub

Every August 15 is National Check the Chip Day. This is a great reminder to all of us that getting your cat microchipped isn’t the only step in the process in giving her a much better chance of getting home.

Cats have a 20 times higher chance of being returned to their owners after entering an animal shelter if they are microchipped, but just having the microchip isn’t enough. That chip must be readable and the information must be up to date so the call about your kitty can find you. That’s what Check the Chip Day reminds you about.

First Step: Get Chipped

If your kitty isn’t already microchipped, don’t worry, it’s a simple procedure that can be done at your veterinarian’s office. Reduced-cost and sometimes even free microchips are often available at events in your community.

Microchips are a little larger than a grain of rice, and they are implanted under the skin with a large-gauge needle, like getting a vaccination.

Second Step: Get Registered and Keep Contact Information Current

Register your microchip, and keep it up to date if your contact information changes. Sometimes the veterinarian or organization who chips your cat will register your cat for you, but it’s best to follow up and make sure the paperwork got to the chip registry if you aren’t handling it yourself. If you move to a new address or get a new phone number, don’t just tell your friends. Tell the microchip registry, too.

This is important because one of the leading causes of microchipped pets not being able to get home is not being able to find the current contact information for the pet’s home. If you get a microchip implanted in your kitty and then move across the country, your old vet who implanted it may lose touch with you. If your microchip isn’t registered, the last person the microchip company knew had the chip was your old vet, and a call from an animal shelter trying to get your cat home can’t find you. So keep your contact information up to date with the chip registry to be found when your cat needs you most.

Third Step: Check The Chip

Check the chip! Microchips are implanted between the shoulder blades. When Ashton was a bony, little kitten, you could feel the chip, about the size of a big grain of rice, if you scritched her shoulders just right, just past the end of her neck at her shoulders.

In rare cases, a microchip can migrate. Pierre’s chip has migrated about two inches so you can feel it when you rub his shoulder blade. This is unusual enough that when our vet felt it, he called in some vet techs to feel Pierre’s chip so that they would recognize a migrated chip if they felt one.

In rare cases, a microchip can migrate. this doesn’t hurt your cat or dog, but it does mean that if someone passes a microchip scanner over your pet’s shoulders, it may not be be energized by the scanner’s electromagnetic field. This can lead to the microchip not being detected. To be sure this hasn’t happened, ask your veterinarian to scan for your cat’s chip as a part of their routine veterinary exam.

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References and further reading:

OSU Research News, Microchips Result in High Rate of Return of Shelter Animals to Owners
AVMA, Microchipping of Animals

Photo Credits:

depositphotos/vetkit
depositphotos/fotoluxstudio
Wikimedia Commons/Joel Mills
depositphotos/ivonnewierink