There is nothing quite as heartbreaking as losing a pet. However, with a quick and easy procedure known as pet microchipping, your pet’s chances of getting returned to your loving arms are dramatically increased. Here’s what our veterinarian at Mollet Pet Hospital and Urgent Care in Edmond, OK, wants you to know about pet microchipping.
What are Microchips and How Do They Work?
Our Edmond vet can place a tiny oblong microchip about the size of a grain of rice into the neck region of your pet right in the office. This procedure is virtually pain-free for pets, no anesthesia is required, and they will likely feel no more discomfort than they do during routine vaccinations. This procedure can be completed in seconds as well.
Microchips are only activated when a found pet is taken to a veterinarian or animal shelter and scanned with a detection device for a chip. Pets with these inexpensive chips will emit a signal that tells the rescue location information about the owner, so they can be contacted and recover their pet. The key here is that only the latest information given to the database you contract with will be available, so keeping that current at all times is essential.
The Vast Benefits of Pet Microchips
Our veterinarian recommends that all cats and dogs get microchipped due to the procedure’s affordability, low risks, and the fact that they have been proven to dramatically increase pet recovery rates. The American Veterinary Medical Association states that more than half of chipped dogs are recovered along with 40 percent of cats. Those statistics are much higher than the 20 percent or fewer recovery rates of pets who aren’t microchipped.
Another benefit of chipping your cat or dog is that you will have a backup plan should the animal’s tags fall off during one of their adventures. Collars tend to get hung up on things in the great outdoors, but a microchip remains permanently in place and should not require any maintenance or replacement for the lifetime of your pet. Just remember, any time you change your phone number or address, be sure to contact the microchip database to update your information right away.
Schedule a Microchipping Appointment in Edmond, OK
Call Mollet Pet Hospital and Urgent Care today at (405) 463-0600 for more information or to schedule an appointment with our veterinarian.