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Pet Microchipping

Pet Microchipping From Your Honolulu Veterinarian

Microchips are an important, cost-effective protective measure for keeping your pet safe. People sometimes choose to avoid pet microchipping because they think they will never use it. However, no one knows when their pet might decide to take an unattended trip in Honolulu or get lost outside the city. The ease and low cost of pet microchipping makes it a very worthwhile preventative measure.

Lost Dog

What is a Microchip and How Does it Work?

A microchip is a tiny glass cylinder with a computer chip inside it. The chip is implanted under the skin of your dog or cat and can be read using a scanner held up to their skin. The chip itself stores a number that you must register with the manufacturer. The manufacturer maintains a database of microchip numbers and the owner's information associated with each number.

Microchips do not have batteries and do not wear out, so they are good for the life of your pet. They are inert chips that are read by the radio waves emitted from the scanner as it passes over them. Less than 400 pets out of 4 million have had adverse reactions to the microchip. Implantation is done with a needle that is slightly larger than the ones used for normal injections, and most pets seem to find it painless.

Why Does My Pet Need a Microchip?

Microchips are used to reunite lost pets with their owners. Most animal shelters and veterinary clinics have chip readers, which can be used to check a lost pet for this type of identification. Although collars and tags are a great start, they can become lost or damaged. A microchip can never be lost.

Most lost pets got that way by accident. Indoor cats darting out doors or windows and dogs scaling fences or slipping their collar on a walk are real risks that no one sees coming. Any pet can get lost, even those at relatively low risk. It is much safer to assume that your pet could get lost than to assume that they will not.

The power of microchips to reunite owners with their lost pets should not be underestimated. In one study of lost pets, dogs were more than twice as likely to be returned to their owner if they were microchipped, and cats were returned to their owners an amazing nineteen times more often if they were chipped than if they were not. These statistics are why almost every veterinarian highly recommends microchipping your pet.

Come See Us at The Honolulu Pet Clinic for All Your Veterinary Needs

Whether you are interested in pet microchipping or need some other type of veterinary assistance, The Honolulu Pet Clinic can help. Call (808) 593-9336 to schedule a visit with a veterinarian. We highly recommend that you microchip new pets, and make sure to update your contact information regularly if you have pets that are already microchipped. If you aren't sure whether your pet is microchipped, bring him or her in and we can check for you!

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