microchip Archives - Cats Herd You

It’s Check the Chip Day

August 15 is National Check the Chip Day. It’s a reminder to all of us that getting your cat microchipped isn’t the only step in the process in giving her a much higher chance of getting home. A 2009 study at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Ohio State revealed found that cats have a 20 times higher chance of being returned to their owners after entering an animal shelter if they are microchipped.

A pet microchip is slightly bigger than a grain of rice

Just having a microchip isn’t enough. There is a three-step process you should complete for any microchipped pet:

Step 1: Get Chipped

Getting your cat microchipped is a simple procedure that can be done at your veterinarian’s office. Reduced-cost and sometimes even free microchips are available at events in your community. Microchips are implanted under the skin with a large-gauge needle, like getting a vaccination.

Step 2: Get Registered and Keep Contact Information Current

Register your microchip, and keep it up to date if your contact information changes. 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. Keep your contact information up to date with the chip registry to be found when your pet needs you most.

Step 3: Check The Chip

An example of an RFID scanner used to check microchips

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. 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 won’t be energized by the electromagnetic field produced by the scanner. 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.

References

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

National Chip Your Pet Month

Pierre: Hey, everybody. Did you know that May is National Chip your Pet Month?

Ashton: Chip your pet? Where? When can we start? I love corn chips! Potato chips too!

Pierre: They don’t mean corn chips. they mean microchips, Ashton. You have one, and so do I. They are to help us in case we get lost. The American Humane Association (AHA) estimates that over ten million dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the United States every year. One in three pets are lost during their life at some point.

Ashton: Those are scary numbers! I don’t want to be lost! I’ll miss the potato chips!

Pierre: A study by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association shows:

52% of microchipped dogs were reunited with an owner versus 22% of unchipped dogs
38% of microchipped cats were reunited with an owner versus 2% of unchipped cats

Ashton: So having a chip means that a lost cat or dog has a better chance of getting home again?

Pierre: It does. We shouldn’t rely on it alone. The AHA recommends that pets wear collars as a primary means of identification. It says right on their web page: “All cats and dogs need to wear collars with ID tags, rabies vaccination tags and city or county licenses (where applicable).” Collars let anyone who finds a lost cat or dog to help them get home by just reading the tag and calling the number on it.

Ashton: So microchips are a like a backup for a collar and tag, since they don’t fall off, and they last a lifetime?

Pierre: That’s right. Even if your we are completely indoor cats, unexpected disasters can strike, like scary weather. Many pets were reunited with owners after hurricane Katrina only because of the microchips they carried. Some as many as five years later!

Ashton: What are people waiting for? They should get microchips now. And potato chips, too.

Pierre: Many shelters, humane societies, and veterinarians have special pricing on microchips for your cat or dog during May in honor of Chip Your Pet Month, so if you’re thinking about getting a chip for your pet, this could be a cost-effective time to do it. Just remember that getting the chip inserted is the first step, and registering the chip is the second step. Without doing both, no one knows how to call you if your pet is lost.

Ashton: And if they don’t know who to call, your cat can never get home in time for potato chips.

Pierre: I think this diet has gone to your brain.