August 15 was billed as “National Check the Chip Day”, a day to remind pet owners to make sure that their pets’ microchips were registered with the owners’ current contact information. Many people move or change phone numbers and forget to update that information with the microchip company; this can make it difficult to reunite a lost animal with its owner.
So, being the good veterinarian and pet owner that I am, I checked my dog Asha’s microchip information and found… that I had never sent in the paperwork after she was microchipped! So if my poor Asha got out, somebody may have scanned her microchip but not known how to get her back to me. I promptly registered her, and just got confirmation back from the microchip company that all of her information is now in their system.
If you have a pet that is microchipped, I encourage you to check to see if all of its information is current. Microchips administered at Woodland Veterinary Hospital are from the company AVID—their website is www.avidid.com. For other or unknown microchips, there is a “universal” pet microchip lookup tool at www.petmicrochiplookup.org; however, AVID doesn’t participate in this site, so AVID chips will not show up there.
If your pet is not microchipped, this would be a good opportunity to have that done. Microchips significant increase the chance that a lost pet will make its way back home. Even Cooper, my indoor-only cat, is chipped—even though the likelihood of him getting out and getting lost is low, it is still possible. The injection is quick and easy, and can be done on an outpatient basis. You can call Woodland Veterinary Hospital at (530) 666-2461 for more information about microchips.
By Keith Rode, DVM