How do you feel about microchipping?

I am planning on getting Jias, my 6 month old kitten, chipped because he is constantly trying to get out. I have had him neutered and declawed already, but the wanderlust is strong in him. He does have a collar with tags on at all times in the case he should escape, but I feel microchipping would at least increase my chances if he should successfully escape one day. Now mind you. he would have to get past two doors to get out, but I know having a youngun in the house too can also increase the chance of freedom occurring in the future when I don't want. All in all how do you all feel about it? Have any of you done it? What do you think?

All of my dogs are microchipped. It's a quick and simple procedure, and isn't overly expensive, but you also have to make sure you register the chip number, or it won't do a lot of good. Though there are still some places that don't always scan, I think most do, and any chance I would have of getting one of my babies back home safely if they were to get lost is very important to me. They do have scanners now as well that will read any chip, whereas before there were a couple of different brands that were only read if they had the correct scanner......which I found really dumb. LOL.

All 3 of my dogs and all 3 of my cats are ALL microchipped. Having been working at a shelter for the last almost year I cannot stress how wonderful it is when we actually get a pet in that has a microchip! Even if you do not register it, it is registered to the location, be it a vet or a shelter, that installed the chip. They have a log of all chips issued by them and the information about the owner. If you choose not to get it registered directly to you, which I strongly suggest it only costs anywhere from $12 -$18 depending on the company providing the chip, then keep your information updated with the location that installed the chip. Contact your local shelter or humane society depending on the location they may be able to install the chip for alot cheaper than the vet would. the vet usually runs on average $50. One time I found an advertisement from our local shelter before I moved here and they were doing it for only $5!! Petco also does microchipping for around $20. It IS affordable!! Do a little looking around. For such a small amount of money you can have the peace of mind. All shelters are provided for free with scanners to check the animals, so there is no excuse as to why they should not have one. The needle used to install the chip is slightly larger than a regular shot and not one of my animals even flinched when they got them.

I think its a brilliant thing! My Recent Cat that i adopted was microchipped right at the shelter, if he ever got out, and lost, id at least have the hopes that hed be found and returned to me! i want to get my other boy microchipped as well, and might do so at his next rabies Vacc. its just a handy idea. just in case.

I think it's a great idea as far as dogs and cats go. The local animal shelter microchips all dogs/cats as soon as they are adopted now. They also chip pets who are collected by the county running loose. (i.e. your dog got out, county picked it up, county chips it, you pay chip fee when you pick up your dog).


My cat is an indoor cat, but she will occasionally bolt for the door. I end up chasing her and trying to get her back into the house, but I feel better knowing that if I didn't succeed in getting her back inside and she got picked up by the county, they would call me.

Well, I didn't vote in the poll because I haven't chipped any of my own animals, but I did work at a facility where we did, and I think it's a great idea. I used to work with Owl Monkeys (Aotus trivirgatus); the colony had about 300 monkeys and all of them were chipped. We used a brand called BMDS, and for the most part it worked great. We originally chipped them for ID pupposes, but the brand we used also registered body temp. We found out quickly that the temp was not always accurate, but it was fantastic for animal ID. We never had any problems with the animals having any adverse reaction to the implant, but we did have a few problems with the chips themselves. A few of them managed to migrate to a different area then originally implanted (this may be due to the species it was implanted in, though), and a few of them stopped working after about a year or so. However, these were minor problems and I am going back about 5 years, so these problems may be fixed by now. If you'd like my opinion, I'd say go for it. It's a quick and easy procedure that may end up saving your animal's life one day. In my opinion, you're better off safe then sorry.
....and I can't believe you used the term "wanderlust"! I haven't heard that word in years!!

-Ron Mertz

Well, one of my cats decided to go for a walk. He left around October 10 and have only seen and heard traces of him since. He kept his collar for a while, but maybe 1/2 mile through the woods into someone's yard they found his collar while raking leaves. We tried to trap him, but he never came back around. So hope is not totally lost and he is not wandering without ID at least. There is always the chance he will come around. I called all the shelters and vets and left his info with them. At least he is neutered and not causing problems in that department. But it is good to know that should he decide to come back to civilization and gets caught somewhere, that he will come home. I wish the guy luck and I bet he is having a field day hunting out there. See, you'll never know when your gonna need a microchip even if the animal is indoors.

My dogs are Micro chipped. Virtually all Vets, Rescue facilities, and Animal Control places have scanners to check for owners of lost dogs and could possibly find a stolen dog as well. It doesn't cost that much and is well worth it as far as I am concerned. I didn't realize that this was a 2 year old thread.

All my pets are chipped, even the bunnies! It is the safest, surest, easiest way to ensure that anyone who finds your pet can find you. I work at a cat rescue where EVERY SINGLE cat gets a chip. If any of them are ever found, abandoned, owner dies, can't keep, lost, etc. we get contacted and if the owners can't be found we make sure the cat is safe until they can be or, in some situations, so we can find them a new home.

There have been studies on rats and things that show microchipping causes cancer. Yes, maybe it does in a tiny rat, but not a single cat has had any serious problems because of microchipping, and it saves hundreds of cats and dogs and birds and rabbits every day that get lost! I have been so grateful for microchips when we find a dog or cat and can immediately contact the owner.

In my opinion, EVERY cat or dog should have to be michochipped. Animal cruelty abandonment, rehoming, adoption, etc. would have to be much more seriously considered and a lot of cruelty cases could actually end up with the abuser getting in trouble if the pets were linked back to him.

Anyway, I highly recommend it!

I think it's wonderful.

Especially for more exotic animal pets.