Importance of Micro-Chips

Micro-chipping your pet will improve the greatly improve the odds of having a lost pet returned. The following is a true account from the people who found a lost cat wandering along a busy highway and then contacted Cathryn for advice:

“We found this sweet, gray cat wandering along the highway and weren’t sure what to do, but we decided we couldn’t leave him there. He’s super friendly and let us hold him in the car coming home. He purrs and follows us around the garage. We’re sure he’s a lost pet. Any suggestions for next steps?”

Cathryn explained that when a found animal is taken to a shelter or veterinary clinic, one of the first things they do is scan the animal for a microchip. If they find a one, and if the microchip has current contact information, they can quickly find the animal's owner.

When she heard from the rescuers again, they had good news:

We were able to get him to our vet this evening to check the chip. The cats name is Sebastian, a neutered male. He was thought to be stolen as a kitten from his home in Creedmore back in February and the little girl in the family was devastated. He's going to stay at our vet’s office until Monday when his people are going to come get him. Happy Ending!

According the micro-chipping FAQ page on the American Veterinary Medicine Association’s website, a study of more than 7,700 stray animals at animal shelters showed that dogs with micro-chips were returned to their owners almost 2 1/2 times more often than those without chips.

For cats the number is even more dramatic. Micro-chipped cats were returned to their homes almost 20 times more often than un-chipped animals. The reason for animals having chips not being return home was usually due to incorrect information on the chip—the owners had not updated the info.

You can read all about the importance of chips on the AVMA FAQ page here. https://www.avma.org/microchipping-animals-faq