Finding Your Lost Pet: The Benefits of Microchipping and How It Works
No pet owner wants to imagine becoming separated from their four-legged friend. Unfortunately, though, things do happen. From an inadvertently opened door to a car wreck to a natural disaster, sometimes our pets become separated from us. Curem Veterinary Care is all about ways to help them find their way back to you. That is why we want to make sure that pet owners understand the importance of pet microchipping.
What Microchipping Your Pet Actually Is
The microchips we place in pets are a small chip (about the size of a grain of rice) encased in an inert glass cylinder.
The microchip itself does not have a power source, rather it emits radio waves that can be detected by a special scanner. This scanner reads a unique number sequence unique to that chip, similar to a barcode.
Many pet owners have some common misconceptions about microchips. Pet microchips:
- Do not track your pet or emit a GPS signal
- Are a one-time investment (one chip should last a pet its entire lifespan)
- Are not noticeable to you or your pet after implantation
- Are unlikely to move once placed
- Have an extremely low incidence of complications/failure
- Do not share your information with anyone whom you have not authorized
A microchip is implanted under the skin, typically in the area between the shoulders. It is a quick procedure that most pets tolerate well awake, but a microchip can also be implanted under anesthesia.
Identification as Part of Pet Safety and Security
All animal owners should consider identification as part of pet safety and security. Collars, tags, and the like are important to help pets return home when separated from their owners.
Microchipping your pet should also be a part of your pet’s care. Microchipped dogs are over twice as likely to find their owners again. The numbers for cats are even more impressive.
Use pet identification technology to up your pet care game by:
- Having your pet microchipped
- Making sure that your pet’s microchip is registered to you (not all facilities automatically register the chip for you)
- Checking that your microchip’s registration is current annually
- Having our team scan your pet’s chip once a year
With four-legged family members having a one in three chance of getting lost at some point in their life, the importance of pet microchipping speaks for itself. Collars and tags can become lost and broken, but so long as you do your part in keeping your pet’s microchip current, it should last as long as your pet needs it. Contact us today to learn more about microchipping your pet.