How to keep your pet YOUR pet?

The easiest way to positively identify your pet as “yours and only yours” is to have a microchip inserted into them. The procedure is fast, just like a vaccination; permanent, designed not to migrate and affordable to all owners. At Primary Pet Care, the cost is $24.99 (with a $15 visit). Each individual microchip has a unique number associated with it that is read with a microchip scanner.  These chips unfortunately are not able to track an animals position via GPS, however they do provide immediate identification when scanned.  According to Home Again (by Intervet Schering-Plough Animal Health), 1 in 3 pets goes missing during its lifetime, and without an ID, 90% of pets never return home. Most pets that get lost have somehow gotten out of their collar.  How can the pound or shelter know if the dog is an owned, loved animal without some sort of identification? All veterinary clinics, rescues and shelters have the microchip readers and they do check all found animals for a chip. Collars with tags can come off, dogs have been known to jump fences, or the kids let the dog out without a leash. Microchips are used on dogs and cats and even on horses. Make sure your pet gets home if they ever get lost by getting them microchipped as soon as possible.

This entry was written by John Gifford, DVM, posted on January 26, 2011 at 4:30 pm, filed under The Vet is In - Ask the Pet Specialists. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.