Your Pet and Micro Chips

Hello I’m Dr. Adam Petersen from Skyline Animal Hospital in Idaho falls, Idaho, and I’d like to spend a few minutes and talk about microchips – why microchips are important and how they may save the life of your dog or your cat.

We recommend that every dog and every cat be microchipped.  The main reason for is that the vast majority lost pets never make it home.  If a dog becomes lost only 10 – 20% ever make it back home.  If a cat becomes lost, wanders away from home longer than expected.  They have less than a 10% chance of making it back home.  

Microchips can make the difference between life and death.  Because just having a microchip changes those percentages. 10%, or 20% up to 75% of those pets make it back home.  The reason, is because lost pets often make it to three places:  humane societies, animal shelters, and veterinary clinics.  The first thing that we do, when a lost pet arrives, is scan for a micro chip.

And once scanned, we contact the company registered to the chip and then they will contact you,  to tell you where you animal is, that they are safe and that you can go get them.  

So having a microchip honestly can save your pets life. A microchip in my mind is similar to car insurance.  You never want to have to use it but when you need it, it can literally change their life. The micro chip which is about the size of a grain of rice, is implanted between the shoulder blades of your pet.   There is a number that is associated with each microchip which will also be associated with you, the pet’s owner.

Now it’s implanted just in a few seconds at a veterinary clinic, we put it the under the skin between the shoulder blades, it’s often no more traumatizing than a vaccination, and it is truly a procedure that just in a few seconds can literally save the life of your animal.  

So I recommend that you talk to your veterinarian about microchips, about the procedure to place the microchip, and the importance of having it.