Mason's Mewsings: September 2014

Hello, blogger fans! It has been a long and fun summer and everything is now winding down for the fall. That also means lots of moving, kids going to school and moving for college, and fall changes. So, today, I would like to talk to you about microchipping.

What is microchipping, you may ask? Well, a microchip is a tiny electronic device (about the size of a grain of rice) that uses radio waves to transmit stored information when it is read by the right kind of scanner. Microchips for pets store a unique identification number and do not need a power source, and they have no moving parts, so they do not wear out. Microchips are made of a material that is compatible with body tissues, so rejection and infection at the site are rare. After injection, the microchip becomes encased in the tissue at the injection site (usually around the back and shoulders). It may move slightly, but it usually stays at or near the place it was injected. To read the chip, a compatible scanner must be passed over it. Different microchip companies use different chips; however, there are scanners that can read all kinds of chips.

To complete the microchipping process, you must register your pet’s microchip with the microchip company. Unless the microchip company has your information, there is no way for the identification number on the microchip to link you with your lost pet! This is the number one way to reunite an owner with their pet, and we here at our hospital have many happy stories about reuniting pets and owners due to a microchip and the information attached with the microchip.

So, what happens if your pet becomes lost? When a lost or injured pet is taken to an emergency room, veterinary office, or shelter, he or she can be scanned for the presence of a microchip. If the pet has a chip, the scanner reads the pet’s identification number. If the chip has been properly registered, the shelter or hospital can provide the number to the microchip company, which maintains the owner's contact information. The microchip company or hospital then contacts the owner, and the pet can be reunited with his or her family!

The use of tattoos as permanent identification for pets has for the most part been made obsolete by microchip technology. A microchip and an ID tag, however, work best together, and I recommend that every pet have both. The most important thing to remember about any form of pet ID is to keep your contact information current! If you move or change your phone number, update your microchip information immediately. Don’t wait, because a move is a high-risk time when your pet is more likely to slip out and go missing. And get a new ID tag as well: Many pet-supply stores have machines that make them while you wait, in five minutes or less! No excuses!

The bottom line, though, is that if your pet is lost, you want to make sure you have done everything you can to make his return home as quick and easy as possible. You don’t want to have to rely on posters plastered around town or hope a harried shelter worker will have the time and resources to figure out where your pet belongs. Tags, microchips and other innovative ways of identifying pets all help to produce happy endings for lost pets and their owners.

To sum up, here's why you should use a microchip as an identifier for your pet:

Microchips are a way of permanently identifying your pet.

Microchips must be registered with a microchip company to reunite you with your pet.

Microchipping is a simple, quick procedure that can be performed by your veterinarian.

Many lost pets are never returned to their owners because they do not have any form of identification.

To keep your pet safe in the face of the unknown, try a microchip today! Coupled with an ID tag or ID collar, your pet will have the best chance possible to be reunited with you. And I should know - I'm microchipped, too!

Til next meow,