The Benefits of Microchips For Your Pet

Why Should I Microchip My Pet?

            It can happen in an instant.  Someone leaves the door open a second too long, and your cat or dog darts outside not wearing his collar or any identification.  Or, even worse, you are traveling with your pet and he or she gets loose and disappears.  Our staff and clients have brought in found animals not wearing any identification.  Some may truly be strays with no owners, but many are someone’s lost pet.  Many pets do not wear collars or tags for various reasons, but a microchip is a permanent identification that cannot fall off or be removed.  Patton Veterinary Hospital makes it a point to scan any stray or lost pets for microchip identification.  We have certainly found some chips that have allowed us to track down the pets’ owners.  But many pets, especially cats, do not have microchips.

            So, what exactly is a microchip?  The microchips used for identifying pets are radiofrequency or RFID chips.  They are small, glass coated, non-reactive chips about the size and shape of a piece of long grain rice. They do not emit any sort of tracking signal, but, if scanned with a device to detect the radio frequency, a number linked to a database with your address and personal information is revealed.  So, if a pet is lost, and the microchip number obtained, the database can be searched online and the pet’s owner can be located.  There are several different companies that produce microchips, but universal chip scanners should pick up the signal from any brand. 

            Microchips are implanted under the skin between the shoulder blades.  Pets do not need to be sedated, and insertion of the chip takes only a second or two, so pain is minimal.  We often implant them at the time a pet is spayed or neutered, but a pet can really receive a microchip anytime.  For dogs, there is the added benefit of paying a separate fee to the York County Treasurer’s Office for a permanent or lifetime dog license.  Dogs must be licensed every year in Pennsylvania, and many people forget to buy their tags.  If your dog is not properly licensed, you may have to pay a hefty fine.  The lifetime license is a permanent dog license.  You do not need to remember to license your dog annually and, it may actually be less expensive over the lifetime of the pet to purchase a one time permanent license. 

Cats in PA do not require licensing, but many cats are found as strays and most do not have microchips or any form of identification.  Cats are notorious for losing or breaking collars, and many do not wear collars if they go outdoors for fear of getting caught on something and strangling, so, a microchip makes perfect sense for a cat.

            A microchip ID is a great way of permanently identifying your pet should the unthinkable happen.  We have seen many pets reunited with their owners because they had chips, but many more whose owners could not be located because they did not have a chip or other form of identification. 

            Patton Veterinary Hospital offers this service using AKC brand ISO internationally recognized chips for pets of any age.  Please consider having your dog or cat microchipped as a permanent form of identification. 

            This blog brought to you by The Patton Veterinary Hospital serving Red Lion, York and the surrounding areas.