Dogs and cats can be microchipped, and the procedure is about the same for both pets. While there is no federal law in the United States about microchipping your pet for identification, many shelters require all adopted animals to have one before leaving the shelter.
Microchipping is so helpful that elsewhere in the world it is now law. The United Kingdom, for instance, now requires all dogs older than eight weeks be chipped or the owner could face a fine. A microchip contains a serial number unique to your pet and a phone number that belongs to the registry that owns the chip. A handheld scanner reads the chip and displays the information. From that point, the vet or shelter clinician who found the information can then reach out to the company to retrieve your contact details.
While microchipping pets can help reunite an animal with his family, the technology does have limitations that pet parents should understand. If you move or your phone number changes and you don't notify the microchip company, your pet's microchip will have outdated information.
If your pet goes out gallivanting and is found by a vet or clinician, they will have no way of contacting you, so always make sure to keep your contact information up-to-date.
And while microchips are always inserted between the shoulder blades, the chip can sometimes travel to another part of the body, making it difficult for a scanner to find. A good way to check your pet's microchip placement is to ask your vet to scan for the chip at least once a year to make sure it's still where it should be. Because of those limitations, it's important that you don't use microchipping your pet as the only way of identifying your dog and cat.
Your pet should always wear a tag with your updated contact information. Many animal shelters require animals to have microchips before moving to their forever home because it can help reunite the pet with his or her family in the event of being lost. Fifteen percent of cats and dogs go missing every year, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Animals.
Microchipping pets can help bring them home again. If you are planning on adopting a dog or cat from a local shelter be sure to ask them if they microchip their dogs and cats before they adopt them out.
Have them run through the details of the program with you and what to do if your new pet does get lost. While microchipping pets is the most common high-tech way of reuniting pets with their family, there are other ways of permanently identifying dogs and cats. New techniques for identifying pets that people are experimenting with include pet facial recognition. There are even apps—PiP and FindingRover are two—that use facial recognition technology and the power of online communities to return lost pets home.
This, of course, requires widespread use that a social community is large enough to work together to reunite pets with pet parents. Another newer option is GPS tracking. A GPS unit installed in a collar is used to track the location of your pet at all times. The information about your pet's whereabouts can be found right on your smartphone. Like the other options, however, it also has drawbacks.
Short ranges and short battery life are two, according to Consumer Reports. A third option is a QR-coded tags or collar that allow anyone with a smartphone to scan and find out not only where your pet belongs, but also alternative contact numbers and information including your dog's name, age, medications, and allergies. While new ways of identifying lost pets could very well end up being mainstream in the future, a microchip is currently the most common way of identifying a cat or dog that is lost and missing his tags.
It is a safe procedure, relatively inexpensive, and almost all shelters will scan an animal for a microchip immediately upon his arrival.
Your pet is part of your family, but unlike your two-legged relatives, can't tell someone where he lives and that he's lost and scared. A microchip helps your pet communicate that he is loved and is one more tool you can use to make sure that he comes home again. Each microchip contains a registration number and the phone number of the registry for the particular brand of chip.
A handheld scanner reads the radio frequency of the chip and displays this information. An animal shelter or vet clinic that finds your pet can contact the registry to get your name and phone number. Your pet's subcutaneous tissue usually bonds to the chip within 24 hours, preventing it from moving.
There's a small chance that the chip could migrate to another part of the body, but it can't actually get lost. Many veterinarians and some animal shelters implant microchips for a small fee.
But—and this is very important—just getting a microchip isn't enough—you also need to register your pet with the microchip company.
Sign up to receive our exclusive e-book full of training techniques, problem-solving and important information about caring for your pet. Complete the paperwork that comes with the chip and send it to the registry, or do it online if that option is available.
Some companies charge a one-time registration fee while others charge an annual fee. Yes, and that used to be a problem. Competing microchip companies use different frequencies to send signals to scanners, and until recently there was no universal scanner that could read all the different frequencies. That was a problem if a pet had a microchip that a particular scanner couldn't detect.
Many microchip companies now produce universal scanners and provide them to animal shelters and animal control agencies at no or very low cost. The technology of a pet microchip is simple and safe. The brilliance of a microchip implant is its simplicity. Share this Article Print. More in Microchips. How Pet Microchips Work Get the on how microchips help keep your pet safe. How Are Microchips Implanted?
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