Microchipping Your Pet
by Dr. Walt Ingwersen and Kate Johnson
Tags and collars are a good start—they're certainly better than no ID at all—but they aren't 100 percent dependable. Tags
can fade, rust, or get scratched and be impossible to read. Collars can tear or slip off, or even worse, get caught on
something while your pet is wandering in the wilderness and hurt or kill him. With microchipping, on the other hand, a
veterinarian injects a tiny computer chip—about the size of a grain of rice—just under your pet's skin, between the shoulder
blades. Then the number on the computer chip is entered in an international database, like the Central Animal Registry or
PETtrac. If your dog or cat is found, any animal hospital, shelter, or humane society can use a microchip reader to read
the unique ID number contained on the chip. The veterinarian or worker then calls the database, or accesses it on the computer,
and enters the number given off by the microchip. The database matches the number to your name and phone number. The chip
can't be lost or damaged, and it lasts for the pet's lifetime.
While the price can vary from one veterinarian to another, it often falls between $25 and $40. A lot of veterinarians will
charge even less if they perform the implantation at the same time as another procedure, like spaying, neutering, or dental
work. It's a one-time fee; the chip never needs maintenance or replacement. There may be a fee, generally under $20, to enter
your pet's ID number in a database, and there may be a small fee for changing your address, phone number, or other contact
information in the database. Still, microchip identification is cheaper than making flyers, calling around town, and taking
time off work to find a lost pet.
The procedure is simple, routine, and painless, and it doesn't require any anesthesia. Your pet simply gets an injection just
under the loose skin between the shoulder blades; it's a lot like getting vaccinated. Most animals don't react at all.
Microchipping is safe, effective, durable, and dependable, but it can’t absolutely guarantee that a lost pet will be found. The
best way to keep your pet safe is to use more than one form of identification. Microchips are long lasting and a wonderful means
of identification, but there is a chance a shelter won’t have a reader, so a tattoo would be an effective backup form of
identification. If kind strangers find your dog in the street, on the other hand, they won’t have a reader handy to check for a
microchip and won’t know where to call to match a animal’s tattoo to an owner. A tag with your name and address would let them
bring your pet right back to your door. Another possibility would be a tag that informs readers that your pet has been microchipped
and/or tattooed and gives them the number to call to reach the ID number database. There’s always the possibility that one kind of
identification could fail, but if your pet has two or three kinds of ID, there’s a good chance that at least one will help bring her
home to you. Talk to your veterinarian about the best types of identification for your pet.
In a perfect world, leashes, fences, and doors would be enough to keep your pet safe at home. In the real world, accidents happen,
and your pet depends on you to protect her against the things that could go wrong. With a little effort now, you can take a big step
toward ensuring that your furry friend will be with you in the future.
Back to the Articles Index
Back to the Home Page