Why did I microchip my pets?
One of the worst feelings in the world is realizing that one of your four legged family members is missing! It has happened to me, twice. The first time it happened was 20 years ago, before microchips were readily available for family pets.
Our very first cat (who was an indoor only cat) was only 14 weeks old and somehow snuck outside and was nowhere to be found. We looked everywhere, for hours and hours. We finally gave up and went to bed around 2 am.
As soon as the sun was up the next morning we were back out looking again. While talking to one of the people up the street she mentioned that one of the other neighbors was headed to a shelter to surrender a stray kitten soon.
Luckily it was Zeus! It was pure chance and luck that we were able to get him back.
It was because of this experience that I have always had a microchip implanted in our pets, both cats and dogs, for the purposes of having them identified as a member of my family. Here are some of the brands of microchips that are commercially available.
- Home Again
- AVID
- resQ
- Trovan
The next time we had a missing pet, we didn’t know she was missing until the microchip company called me at work to say they found my dog. We had just moved to a new neighborhood and my husband was home unpacking and somehow our black lab Shannon got off her run and headed for the hills.
One of our new neighbors caught her with food (she is a lab after all) and spotted the tag on her collar saying she had a microchip. The dog warden called Home Again after scanning her with her number. Home Again then called me to happily report my missing dog had been found! I may have been irritated by her escape (and my husband for not noticing) but I was thrilled to know that the microchip did its job.
Other Microchip Success Stories
I have heard stories of pets that have been missing for years that get scanned for a microchip for some reason or another and the original owner is tracked down and reunited. One story that has always stuck with me was a small dog that was missing for three years!!
He was found wandering around an apartment complex and brought to a local vet because she was considering keeping him. The veterinarian scanned him because he was a stray and found a chip, contacted the company to look up the info and reunited with his owner. No one knows where he was for the three years prior to this lady finding him.
This story is not unique. Microchip websites have plenty of similar success stories of families that are overjoyed by the return of a treasured pet.
Ow! And Conspiracy Theory
There are many popular misconceptions about microchips ranging from they require surgery and are very painful to conspiracy theories theorizing that they give “big brother” insight into your household. In reality they can be easily implanted under the skin during an appointment. The picture shown here is my own 5 month old kitten getting his microchip implanted.
As far as tracking abilities or spy theories, it is just not possible. These microchips do not emit any radiation and are not able to be tracked by any device.
Microchips simply contain a number that has to be read by a scanner.
If you would like more information or are interested in scheduling a time to have your pet microchipped please contact us through our website or by calling us directly at 207-941-8840.
~Stacey, LVT/Hospital Manager
