Check the Chip Day: 5 important reasons

Today is Check the Chip Day!

This day is sponsored by American Veterinary Medicine Association and the American Animal Hospital Association to remind people to make sure their pet's michrochip is working right and the information is up-to-date.

A couple weeks ago we talked about the dos and don'ts of microchipping your pet. Today, we're going to talk about the five important reasons to make sure your pet's chip is working. After, check out some of my other blogging friends on microchipping.

1) When was the last time you had the chip checked? Chips can malfunction, or scanners can lose the ability to scan them. If a scanner isn't properly reading your chip, the vet won't be able to find your contact info if your pet is lost.

2) Is your chip still there? Not all chips are built to prevent migrating, and some chips will migrate from their insertion point (usually around the shoulder blades). It's good to make sure the chip is still where it needs to be.

3) Have you moved? How many of us went back and updated our pets information on the chosen registration every time they moved? Heck, some people never registered the microchip in the first place! When the vet registers your pet's number, they can check it against the registries to make sure it is up to date.

4) Is your chip on the right registries? There is no universal registry, but AAHA is working with several microchip companies to get one together. That's the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool.

If your pet is not registered with a company on the AAHA tool, that is only a problem if a vet or shelter doesn't try to look at another registry to identify your pet. You can register your chip with more than one registry. Here's the list of registries currently tied to the AAHA tool:

• AKC Companion Animal Recovery (AKC-CAR)    
• EIDAP  
• Found Animals 
• HomeAgain (includes Banfield chips)  
• InfoPet 
• Microchip I.D. Systems
• PetKey 
• PetLink    
• Save This Life   
• SmartTag Microchip    

5) When was the last time you took your pet to the vet anyway? Your pet is supposed to go to the vet once a year for a wellness check. If you need a reason to get them to a vet, here's one.

Still need more info on microchipping? Check out some of the blogs listed below.