Friday, August 15, 2014

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:

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.

10 comments :

  1. We love the idea of multiple registries to be sure your chip is identities if read!

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  2. My comment disappeared :-( I always have our vet scan for the chips at each dogs annual wellness exam. I've read too many stories about the chips migrating and not being findable. I'd never thought about registering their chips with other registries - what a great idea!

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  3. We're headed to the vet today to get their chips checked!

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  4. FINALLY got linked up - been dealing with no AC for the past few days and today the repairman was out to replace the condenser. Thank you for sponsoring this - I was really in the dark about it - I would like to see when a vet notifies you it is time for yearly vaccines they automatically include a sentence or two about Check the Chip altho it really should be the owner's responsibility.
    Mom Kim

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  5. Great tips, we are heading over to check out those registries! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Welcome! Be sure to check the other blog posts too!

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  6. As always, I really appreciate your wonderful information and advice!

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  7. There's an *almost* universal chip registry in the UK - Petlog has 7.7 million registrations. It's good for peace of mind to know that my pups are registered on the default that everyone goes to first.

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    1. That's cool Sarah. Seems different companies have different ways of doing this.

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