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Microchips have got my head spinning!

1505 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  MollyDoggy, 
PoppyKenna
Okay. Deep breaths. :eyeroll:

Chisum was microchipped by his rescue before we got him. They gave me registration paperwork for AKC reunite so that is where his microchip is registered.

My cat Friday was microchipped last week. He has previously been a farm cat, but as I am moving around January and intend to take him with me, I wanted him chipped. I believe the vet used a Home Again microchip.

Sophie was microchipped this morning (depending on how Chisum handles "town" she may be coming with me as well and he may have to remain on the farm). I'm not sure what brand was used.

So, I liked the AKC reunite because it was easy to register and it has a flat, one-time fee. Home Again appears to charge yearly, which isn't ideal but would be fine if it were somehow "better".

But I have no idea what is truly "better", if that makes sense. I'm reading all kinds of things that say if my pet is lost they may be able to read the chip but may not be able to find the registry and so I could be SOL. Others are saying that if I don't register with Avid or HomeAgain I'm wasting my time.

Sophie has a collar with two phone numbers and the words "microchipped" attached so as long as she didn't theoretically lose her collar too she'd be okay...Friday doesn't wear a collar. He could, but I'd like for it to be a breakaway collar which would be far easier for him to lose.

I'm sure I'm coming across as paranoid but I'm very concerned with keeping my creatures safe, especially when it comes to the big, bad "town". :p

What are my options? Is there really one company that is better than another?
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L
An older article I found, but the explanations were good:

Pet microchip companies square off in a scientific 'scan-off' | petMD
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PoppyKenna
@Lucille - thanks for the article.

I think my biggest concern is what registry to go with. I don't have much choice on microchip brand, but it seems like most registries will register any microchip brand anyway....so it's a matter of database. Is there one database that shelters/vets typically go to when they scan a chip or do they try more than one?
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animalcraker
When we have a lost pet come in to our hospital we will automatically call the microchip company that we use, which is Homeagain, unless it's an Avid or AKC chip. AVID chip #s all start with the letters AVID and AKC chips all start with TR. In those cases we call AVID or AKC since the chip should presumably be registered with them. If the chip was not made by the company we end up calling they can look up who manufactured the chip and give us the number to call to hopefully find out the owners registration. If you have an AVID chip put in, but register it with another company then there is no way for anyone except the company you registered with to no how to look up your information. You should always at minimum register your info with the manufacturer of the microchip. The only reason to register with an additional company is if the 2nd company offered additional services beyond keeping my info. For example Homeagain has a recovery program and will help pay to get your pet returned home if there is a long distance to travel and they notify all the local vets & shelters about your lost pet. That's what the yearly fee I'd paying for, but if you choose not to pay the yearly program fee the chip will still work just like any other chip, they just don't help pay to get them back or send out flyers about your lost pet.
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PoppyKenna
animalcraker said:
When we have a lost pet come in to our hospital we will automatically call the microchip company that we use, which is Homeagain, unless it's an Avid or AKC chip. AVID chip #s all start with the letters AVID and AKC chips all start with TR. In those cases we call AVID or AKC since the chip should presumably be registered with them. If the chip was not made by the company we end up calling they can look up who manufactured the chip and give us the number to call to hopefully find out the owners registration. If you have an AVID chip put in, but register it with another company then there is no way for anyone except the company you registered with to no how to look up your information. You should always at minimum register your info with the manufacturer of the microchip. The only reason to register with an additional company is if the 2nd company offered additional services beyond keeping my info. For example Homeagain has a recovery program and will help pay to get your pet returned home if there is a long distance to travel and they notify all the local vets & shelters about your lost pet. That's what the yearly fee I'd paying for, but if you choose not to pay the yearly program fee the chip will still work just like any other chip, they just don't help pay to get them back or send out flyers about your lost pet.
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Thank you, that makes sense!

I should be good for the most part...Chisum was chipped with an AKC chip and is registered with AKC. Friday (my cat) was chipped with a Home Again chip and was apparently registered with them by my vet. So good news there!

Sophie was chipped by my parents vet and I have no idea what kind of chip they used but I will absolutely find out.

Thank you for your answer, I'm glad they can tell who made the chip and go to their database.
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M
My pup was microchipped and I also paid registration with a well known company which provided a collar tag with registration number and instruction to Google that number.

Google does not find the number and the company tells me that there is a problem with either their software...or "Google has changed something"

This is a disaster.......I cannot rely on this to re unite me with my pet. Suggestions? Thanks....I am frightened by this glitch in my pet's safety.
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animalcraker
If you have the microchip number you could try calling the microchip company yourself to check its registration. You could even try calling one of the other major chip companies like AVID or Homeagain to see if they can access any of the information on their end. Most vets and shelters will call a microchip company to get the info and talk to the agents instead of using the Internet or google to search for the chip number.

If you don't have the number, you should be able to bring your pet into your vet and have them scan it. They may even be kind enough to call the company for you and check the info registered to it.
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Aspen726
Aspen is chipped with Home Again. Thankfully, I haven't had to know if it's good or not ;) I do pay annually but I want to say it's about $20- not bad. I get emails from Home Again all the time saying there's a lost pet in my area. I don't know if every company does that but I love it. As soon as a pet is reported missing, they blast out an email to everyone in that area who is registered with them.
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PoppyKenna
Aspen726 said:
Aspen is chipped with Home Again. Thankfully, I haven't had to know if it's good or not ;) I do pay annually but I want to say it's about $20- not bad. I get emails from Home Again all the time saying there's a lost pet in my area. I don't know if every company does that but I love it. As soon as a pet is reported missing, they blast out an email to everyone in that area who is registered with them.
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As my three microchipped critters were all microchipped in different places, I've got three different registries!

Chisum is registered/chipped with AKC Reunite, Sophie with PetLink, and Friday the cat with Home Again.

Home Again is the only one where I have to pay yearly, but it does have all those extra features I do like (though both AKC and PetLink seem to have some similar). Frankly, I'm happiest that my cat is registered with Home Again, out of all of them...I think it's a lot easier to find a lost dog that has unique markings than it is to find a generic orange tabby cat. Particularly when there are SO many cats wandering around out there.
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M
Aspen726 said:
Aspen is chipped with Home Again. Thankfully, I haven't had to know if it's good or not ;) I do pay annually but I want to say it's about $20- not bad. I get emails from Home Again all the time saying there's a lost pet in my area. I don't know if every company does that but I love it. As soon as a pet is reported missing, they blast out an email to everyone in that area who is registered with them.
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I was literally going to write the same thing Aspen did. XD

So far, I've gotten a lot more emails about lost cats than dogs in my area.
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