Demystifying the Microchip

One in three pets go missing in their lifetime. Chances are, you or someone you know has lost a pet. One method of identifying pets and making it easier to return them to their families is called microchipping. According to the American Kennel Club, pets with microchips are 20 times more likely to be reunited with their humans. But what exactly is microchipping?

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What is a microchip?

A microchip is a tiny, grain of rice-sized device that gets implanted in a companion animal for identification purposes. Like a vaccine, it's a quick and relatively painless process. It's also incredibly low-risk and designed to last for the lifetime of your pet. The microchip has a special ID number unique to your pet and your pet alone. It's not a GPS or tracking device. It's got no battery or power source. It simply has a little antenna within it that can only be read by a special kind of scanner. Veterinarians, animal shelters, and animal control facilities usually have microchip readers. This tells them an animal's unique ID number if they indeed have a microchip.

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What's the point?

Say your pet gets lost or runs away. If someone finds your pet, they will likely take them to an animal shelter. Standard shelter policy nowadays is to scan the animal to see if they have a microchip. When they obtain your pet's ID number, they can look it up using various databases and then find your contact information, and voila! You can be reunited with your beloved animal companion!

So, once you get your pet microchipped, you need to then register them with a microchip database, where their ID number will be connected with your personal contact information.

It's practical to have both a standard collar with ID tags as well as a microchip. With a collar, your contact information is immediately available. But collars and ID tags can break off or be removed. That's where the microchip comes in. It's a much more permanent solution and a solid complement to the traditional ID tags.

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Microchip registries

There are many, many different microchip registries you can choose from. Just getting a microchip without registering it won't be nearly as helpful a registering the number online, because if you don't register it, then you can't connect your contact information to your pet's ID number.

If you've found an animal and know their ID number, you can use the American Animal Hospital Association's online tool to find out the registry where the pet's information and owner's contact information are listed. If someone failed to register their pet's microchip ID, perhaps the manufacturer could potentially be tracked down, and one could attempt to trace back the financial exchanges involved in the history of this particular microchip.

Many microchip registries offer additional services, sometimes for an extra cost. These other features can include a "pet alert" service, additional resources for locating a lost pet, and access to assistance hotlines. Some are free, some have one-time fees, and some are billed annually.

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Examples of microchip registries:

• AKC Reunite

• 24 Pet Watch

• AVID FriendChip

• Free Pet Chip Registry

• Home Again

• PETIDCO

• Petkey

• Petlink

• Smart Tag

What are the risks?

Some people have concerns about microchips causing cancer in pets. The research, however, indicates that this is a highly unlikely scenario. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has managed a database of adverse reactions to microchips since 1996. 4 million animals have been microchipped since then, and only 391 reactions were reported   most of which were 'migration' of the microchip (it shifted position from where it was originally injected). The formation of tumors was much less frequent. The likelihood of an adverse reaction to microchipping is below 0.01%.

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Other considerations

• There are many different kinds of animals that can be microchipped, not just dogs and cats! People microchip horses, snakes, fish, birds, livestock, tortoises, and rabbits, to name a few species. The only thing that changes is the placement of the microchip, according to Adobe Vet Center. For example, a horse would get a microchip implanted in its neck, a tortoise on its hind leg, and a parrot on its chest.

• It's worthwhile to note that microchips are generally required for pets for international travel purposes. Pets traveling abroad to most countries need an international health certificate, and a microchip ID number is required to fill out the form.

• Microchip frequency is also important to take into consideration. The most advisable route to go is to find a microchip that is ISO standard, or International Standards Organization approved. Developing a global standard is intended to make a consistent system that everybody uses to simplify matters. The ISO standard is 134.2 kHz, according to the AVMA.

• A universal scanner is a good idea for vet clinics, shelters, and animal control to invest in, because if the scanner they have only picks up one frequency, that could mean they don't detect a microchip and thus aren't able to reunite a pet with their family. A universal scanner can read all microchip frequencies. These are also called forward and backward scanners. Forward-only scanners can only detect ISO microchips.

• To make sure a microchip is still working, you can ask your vet to scan it at your pet's annual wellness appointment. They are designed to last for a pet's lifetime, but if you have any worries, it doesn't hurt anything to check it.

• Check the Chip Day, celebrated annually on August 15th, was established to encourage people to get their pets microchipped and to make sure their registration information is up to date.

For further information, check out the AVMA's microchipping FAQ article, which dives deeper into other questions people might have.

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Conclusion

Microchips are an effective way of helping to ID your pet and vastly increase the chances of you reuniting with your animal companion should they become lost. If you're interested in getting your pet microchipped, contact your local veterinarian's office to learn more about the process.