SimplyCats

- Microchip, Identichip and ID Chip are all the same thing.
- They are an implant placed under the skin, usually on the back of the neck between the shoulder blades.
- Vets are generally very keen on Microchipping as collars can be wriggled out of and lost, and tattoos often fade with time.
- It is a one off procedure and one microchip should last a lifetime.
- It is not a legal requirement to have your pet Microchipped (except for applications for export to another country or for the pets passport scheme) but many owners choose to do so as it  provides a permanent and unique way of easily identifying their pet.
- The same microchip is used on all species, cats, dogs and horses, and it is recognised internationally.

The microchip itself is similar to those you would find in a computer! But as it doesn’t contain a power source of its own, it will never need the battery changed!

- It is a small plastic pellet, about the size and shape of a grain of rice.
- Inside the pellet is a tiny electronic circuit with a copper coil wound around it. The electronic circuit contains a unique 15 digit number (for example: 981000003429887).
We read the microchip using a handheld unit that looks like a television remote control. We sweep the reader over the animals back and the reader emits a small magnetic field which activates the chip, then the chip transmits its number as a radio signal.
- There is no energy source contained within the microchip. When the magnetic field from microchip reader passes over the chip it creates a very small electric current which provides just enough power to send a tiny radio signal with the microchip number back to the reader!
- The microchip arrives at the vet practice in a sterile pack already loaded inside the bore of a hypodermic needle, along with half a dozen stickers with the unique barcode number of the microchip.
- The needle is about five times as wide as the  needle we use for vaccination.

Although the needle is about five times the width of the needle we use for vaccination, it is nor more painful than a brand new small bore needle!

- Microchipping procedure is fairly straight forward and well practiced at the veterinary surgery. We do it daily on a regular basis and are usually quite happy to implant one whenever you are visiting. Microchips are implanted by the vet or RVN (registered veterinary nurse).
- How quick and easy the procedure is, often surprises owners! Essentially the microchip pellet is injected under the skin at the scruff of the neck, the same as many other injections such as vaccinations are given at the vets.

However there are a few rules of good practice we like to keep when Microchipping our patients.

- Firstly we are not too keen on Microchipping an animal on the same day it is vaccinated. The simple reason for this is that both injections are done in practically the same site. As part of the way a vaccine works, it causes a local reaction in the tissue to stimulate the animals immune system into making antibodies against the vaccine. If we put a foreign object into a site close to a vaccine site we are more likely to cause a painful exaggerated tissue reaction.
- It is a big needle so sometimes with young animals we prefer to wait until they are a bit older and bigger before we microchip them, purely from a body size issue.
- If your pet is in for an operation, we will often ask if you wish to have a microchip implanted when they are under an anaesthetic. As I said before, vets are very keen on Microchips and although it is a relatively painless procedure, as vets, if we can avoid any stings or pinches to our patients we are all for it!

Your pet has done the hard part, now what do you have to do?

- Details, details, details! Once we have implanted the chip a registration form is sent off to a national database of microchip numbers. The number on the chip implanted into your pet has no connection to you unless your contact details are registered!  Ideally we like to take a full name and address, at least two easily contactable phone number (home, work and mobile) and these days email addresses are also very useful!
- Once your details are taken and you are happy with them, they are posted off to a national database. Your local practice will keep a copy and add the unique chip number to their records and you take a copy home or your records.
- If you move home and need to change your contact details there is a telephone number you can call and a website that allows you to change your details (much like with Datatag on push bikes and motorcycles  or the V5 and driver’s license for your car).

What if  I get lost?

- So how does the system spring into action on the (hopefully) rare occasion our pet takes an uncharacteristic but intrepid thirst for adventure and exploration into the big wild world?
- Well, at the vets it is not unusual for lost souls, waifs and strays to come through our doors.
- When a lost and found pet is delivered to our door we first of all give them a check over for any sign of injury, then scan them for a microchip before getting them settled in a kennel with a bite to eat and drink. If there is a microchip present first we check our own computer records, as likely as not they are usually one of ours! If we have the owner on record we contact them directly and arrange a suitable home time. If we do not have records of the chip number at the practice then we phone the database directly to report a missing animal. The information you logged on the database is private and protected by the data protection act. Veterinary practices and registered local authority animal shelters are given a password that allows the database to give us your contact details so we can contact you directly. Private individuals that have scanned the animals number but have no password can report to the database that the animal is found but do not have access to your details, so the database then contacts you and relays the information between you and the person who has found your pet.
- It does not cost you to use the database if your pet is lost.
- If your pet is lost and arrives at the vets and has no means of identification we will try our best, through local knowledge, to find their home. Unfortunately as a working practice we do not have facilities to keep lost and founds for any length of time as we need the space for our poorly patients. So if no owner is found after 24hrs they will be sent to the local council authority animal shelter.

And finally…it’s not unusual…

- It is not unusual to get a little his or yelp when implanting a chip as it can on occasion sting a bit, but no more so than any other vaccination  or injection - and it is a one off procedure!
- It is not unusual to get a small spot of blood after implanting a microchip. There is a stab incision made in the skin by all needles when giving an injection. This happens to be a slightly bigger needle but is as likely to knick a small blood vessel in the skin as any other injection. Applying gentle pressure to the area and leave the resulting scab to heal for a few days - no problems!
- It is not unusual over time for the microchip to move about a bit under the animals skin. Everyone is uniquely different and in some cases there is more room under an animals skin for the chip to migrate before settling down (gravity has an effect on us all!). This is not harmful to the animal and you may notice when we are scanning for microchips we will take large sweeping circles with the chip reader all the way down the back and both flanks.