Article provided by - Today's Veterinary Nurse
There is no denying that pets are a part of the family. If something were to separate them from you—a door is left open, your dog slips out of its collar, or your cat takes an unintentional (or sometimes intentional) hiatus from your family—you’d want a way to reunite with them. Microchipping is a painless, safe, and easy way to exponentially increase the chances of your pet’s protection and return to you.
WHY YOU SHOULD CHIP
There are many situations that can separate a pet from their owner and odds are it will happen at least once in your time together. Collars and tags can be physically removed when a pet gets lost or stolen, but a microchip is tamper-proof and makes it nearly impossible to permanently lose a pet. Although microchips can’t tell you where your pet is (it doesn’t have GPS capabilities), it does alert you when it is activated. Most people who rescue animals off the street know to bring them to a vet or shelter. From there, the first thing a veterinarian or shelter worker will do is check for a microchip, which is why it is so important to chip your pet. Microchips also last a lifetime and only need to be updated with your current information whenever it changes, such as when you move or change your phone number. For quality assurance, have your vet check it once a year to make sure it is still in place and working properly.
HOW IT WORKS
Inserting a microchip is as easy as giving your pet a shot. It’s a small electronic chip in a glass cylinder that is injected by a hypodermic needle. Once inserted by your veterinarian—under the skin and between the shoulder blades—it is imperative that you register it with the manufacturer. Without registering the microchip, it won’t have any information on it and is essentially useless. Once registered, the manufacturer will assign your pet a unique identification number and shutterstock.com/Lucky Business you can go online to their recovery database in your information. If your pet gets lost and taken to a clinic or shelter, once scanned you will get an alert that your pet’s microchip has been activated and you will be contacted according to the information you have provided in the database. And don’t worry— random people won’t have access to your information. The chip only provides the registration number and manufacturer’s registry phone number; the registry will then contact the owner.
DON'T DELAY - GET THE CHIP TODAY!
Microchipping gives the greatest possibility of getting your pet back should they get lost or stolen. It’s such a simple, cheap process that there really is no reason not to take advantage. There is no maintenance beyond registering it and providing your information and it offers endless peace of mind if the unthinkable were to happen and you couldn’t find your pet. Call your vet today and ask about microchipping your family’s pet!