Microchipping your pet

What is microchipping?
Microchipping is a quick and easy procedure whereby a small pea sized piece of plastic with a number inside, which a microchip scanner can detect, is inserted by a qualified individual under the skin of your pet. It is inserted via an injection and any pain is short lived as the procedure is very quick. It is injected under the skin between the shoulder blades in cats, dogs and rabbits and in other places as the chip company recommends for parrots, tortoises and other species.

The chip means that if your pet gets lost and is found by someone they can take it to a vet or animal rescue centre where it can be scanned and from the number picked up by the scanner you, the owner, can be traced. You submit your name and address and phone numbers to a central database when the chip is inserted. If you move you can have your details updated in the database for a small charge.

Microchipping has lead to many lost animals being re-united with their owners!
Some microchips can also detect your pet’s body temperature so with a reader your vet can check your pet’s temperature without having to use a thermometer. If you are concerned at all about the injection procedure it can be done while your pet is being neutered so that it is asleep under anaesthetic and feels nothing.

Microchipping is also essential to the pet passport scheme.
What is the Pet Passport Scheme? This is a UK scheme whereby a cat or dog can travel outside the UK to certain designated countries and come back into the UK without having to go into quarantine for 6 months.

Your pet needs to be microchipped, as this is the means of identifying it and then vaccinated against Rabies. A blood test is carried out later to make sure the vaccine has worked and then your pet will be allowed back into the UK, if it has worked from 6 months after the date of the blood test with a pet passport issued by a local veterinary inspector. Your pet will also need to be wormed just before coming back into the UK by a vet. More information can be obtained regarding this scheme on the defra government website or you can ask your vet.