The Importance of Cat and Dog Microchipping
in East Lansing
According to American Humane, roughly 10 million pets get lost in the US each year, and many never return to their original home. If the data is accurate, only about 15% of dogs and 2% of cats that end up in shelters reunite with their families. While you can’t always prevent a pet from slipping out of their harness or escaping through a door that hasn’t been properly closed, you can greatly increase your odds of finding them again if you have them microchipped. Cat and dog microchips are a permanent form of ID that will last your pet’s entire lifetime.
Call (517) 332-2511 to schedule a cat or dog microchipping appointment today!
About the Microchip
A microchip is a tiny transponder about the size of a grain of rice with its own unique ID number. When registered under your name and contact information, this number links your pet directly to you.
How Microchips are Detected
To obtain a cat or dog’s microchip ID number when they are brought to a shelter or animal hospital, a microchip scanner (preferably universal, so it can read virtually any chip) must be used to detect the chip’s frequency. Once the pet’s chip number appears on the microchip scanner screen, staff can search for it online and see if it comes up in any microchip databases. A chip that has been correctly registered should yield the owner’s contact information, which will then be used to get in touch.
Microchipping is not Painful for Dogs and Cats
Pets should feel little to no pain during their microchipping procedure, which is remarkably quick. A needle is used to inject the microchip under the skin at the back of your pet’s neck or between their shoulder blades, where it will remain for life. Cat and dog microchips do not expire, so there is no need to worry about microchipping your pet again in the future.
Don’t Wait to Register Your Cat or Dog’s Microchip
Cat and dog microchipping is useless if owners do not register their pets’ chip ID number under their current contact information. As soon as you can, use the information your veterinarian has provided to go online and register your name, phone number, and address into the database.
If you and your pet relocate, be sure to go back in and update your information right away.
Call our team at (517) 332-2511 with any questions or to book an appointment!
