Microchip Warning: Are You Registered?
Imagine this scenario. As a responsible cat owner, you’ve taken care to tag, bell and chip your cat. One day, your cat goes missing. She’s picked up and taken to a shelter and scanned for a microchip. They find the chip and the chip number, but when they search the database for your contact info, it’s a big blank.
Some people don’t know that a microchip must be registered with a database. They either assume that once it’s implanted, you’re done, or they completely forget about taking that important last step.
When your pet is microchipped, you’ll be handed some paperwork and asked to go online to register your pet. Once online, you submit your pet’s info and your contact info. If your pet is lost and her chip is scanned, it is this information that enable those who found your pet to contact you.
I’m sure a few of you are now wondering if you remembered to register the chip, or aren’t sure with which of the six U.S. databases your pet is registered.
Go to ChecktheChip.com and enter your pet’s microchip number. It will tell you the database you need to contact.
If you have lost your pet’s microchip paperwork:
- Have your shelter or vet test-scan the microchip. This will give you the microchip number.
- Then, enter the number at the microchip search service ChecktheChip.com
- The site will tell you with which database the pet is registered. Go to the microchip website and review your pet’s info. If it’s not there, register your microchip number.
- Print the results and keep them in your cat’s vet file! You’ll need them if your cat is lost. Also, if your cat turns up at a local shelter, sometimes they want to see that you have the microchip paperwork.
And, don’t forget to update the info every time you move or change telephone numbers. Even if your cat has been missing for years, she can still be found and returned to you if your information is current.
For more information, visit the “Message to Pet Owners” page on ChecktheChip.com.
Thanks to reader Olivia for sharing this info!
If you lose a pet, check out “The Cat’s Meow’s Guide to Pet Recovery.” It contains at least a few strategies that you might not have considered!
Don’t forget! You can leave a comment on this post for an entry in The Cat’s Meow’s giveaway of a custom oil painting of your cat by Linden Alley.
Great tip!
Here’s what bothers me about this microchipping deal. I have two cats chipped through 24 Pet Watch. With that chip I don’t have to pay yearly to keep up with the registration. However, with my newest kitten the vet (the shelter’s vet who did his neuter, not my usual vet) who chipped him used one from Home Again and I have to pay Home Again a 10 dollar activation fee AND a fifteen dollar annual membership ON TOP of the 35 bucks I already paid for the chip! I did not know this when I had this chip put in and I’m fairly ticked off about it. No check that. I am REALLY ticked off because what am I going to do now? Have it removed and put in a chip with a better company? Now, I can and I have registered that chip FOR FREE through 24 Pet Watch but using the link provided here it would tell the finder to go to Home Again to get my contact information…which they don’t have because I don’t want to pay the ongoing 15 dollar fee every year. I suppose it’s a small price to pay to get Spencer back…but nobody told me about that up front. They don’t put that in their ads. And I have a real problem with that. Pet owners need to know up front what they’re getting into with these different microchipping companies…I wish I’d known to ask MORE questions before they injected that danged Home Again chip into Spencer cuz I would NOT have done it.
Very good article. It is important to have the chip registered, and to keep the information current if you move.
Krap, Kris, I didn’t know about the yearly fee…. I’ve never paid a yearly fee to Home Again, so we might be screwed! I’ll look into it.
And with this being the 4th anniversary of the Katrina disaster, it brings up the importance of not only keeping your chip info up to date, but also having ID on your cat (or ready to put on your cat in a moment’s notice) and ID on your carrying cases (vet name, owner’s name, address, cell phone number, cat’s name).
Can’t agree enough with Calvin. One major problem after Katrina was that pets were sent to shelters all over the US. When their owners tried to find them later identifying them by appearance alone was very difficult. That problem could have been eliminated by having the pets chipped.
Thanks for the useful info. I am the only one that has a color ready to go so tomorrow mom is going to make one up for LuLu too.
When Fui and Suey were chipped, our vet got us to fill out the forms at the desk, and faxed them off themselves. I tend to think that is a better way to do it, rather than relying on individual customers to sort it out.
Mr. Echo’s Mommy, you could get a second chip implanted in Spencer without having the first chip removed. When I registered Fui and Suey with the council, there was a facility to have three microchip numbers registered against your cat’s name. At the shelter I volunteered at, kitties would sometimes have two or more chips register when scanned. Some owners deliberately did it incase one of the chips failed, other kitties had a chip when owner surrendered, and the new owners had a new chip implanted by their own vet. When more than one chip showed up, both numbers were followed up by staff.
I’m surprised there isn’t one central database for all cats..
Microchip, I feel should be a law, so many of our precious pets are lost and never found but could be if chipped !!!
Good tip indeed. That’s a scary scenario.
To Mr. Echo’s mommy – You do not have to pay the annual fee. HomeAgain still provides the information you gave when you had the chip implanted. The fee is just for “full” membership which includes help with recovery efforts should you report your pet lost, and access to their 24/7 emergency hotline. Even without the membership fee, when your pet is scanned, the number is read and will be associated with your info in their records. To update your info (for example, change of address or phone number) without enrolling online, speak to your vet or one that implants HomeAgain microchips and they should be able to help you.
To Mr. Echo’s mom again: You can register the HomeAgain chip # at 24PetWatch, free of charge, as well. No need for a second chip. My pets are registered art both sites with HomeAgain chips.
i agree with the ID tags and everything, but what if your cat won’t wear a collar or harness? none of our three cats will wear either, so we can’t have ID on them. also, can anyone tell me the average cost of microchipping? our three are indoor-outdoor (all vaccines are up-to-date, they also have their claws) because they cause a rucus when they’re inside all the time. we tried to put collars on our cats at young ages, but they freaked out every time. and can anyone tell me about getting my cats’ ears tattoo’d? because i know local shelters can’t afford the microchip reader. but i would love to know if anyone can tell me. i forget every time we go to the vet.
I went through this a few years ago. I finally got everything taken care of and Home Again now has all Ashley’s information and mine too. I initially didn’t understand I had to register the chip.
I agree that there needs to be more up front info on the costs. Marina and Tosca both have Home Again chips.
One good thing I found with Home Again, as part of the yearly fee, you have access to a vet who can give you emergency information if your cat/dog gets sick. I’ve had to use it a few times. I give the vet the info on the cat and they tell me either what to do or tell me to take my cat to the emergency vet. One time when Tosca (or maybe it was Marina) was sick, the vet stayed on the phone with me for about 30 minutes while I took the cat’s vitals and tried to figure out if she was doing better or worse. A couple of days later they always call to check on your pet.
Unfortunately, I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of this service. But I’m glad I’ve had it rather than just rushing my cat to the vet when a little advice can take care of the situation.
Rosie and Cheeto’s Lady:
I’m going to go thru the files and see what Rosie and Cheeto’s numbers are. I totally forgot to change the contact info when I moved to Chicago. What a great reminder! Thank you!
A tame but tagless cat kept hanging around my parents’ house, so they took him to the vet to check for a microchip. Sure enough, the cat had one, and it was registered. However, the registration was not up-to-date and the vet’s attempts to contact the owner failed, so after 3 weeks had passed my parents were allowed to have the registration changed to their names. His name was also officially changed from whatever it had been to Darius Meow, a pun on a French composer. If you get your microchip registered, make sure you keep the information up-to-date. Otherwise someone can change the registration to another owner, after a brief waiting period….
Uh-oh, our chips aren’t registered! Meowm is working on fixing this!
this is a big problem.
Good information – even from the posters.