Microchipping your pet is vitally important and for dog owners (and soon, cat owners) it is a legal requirement. Microchipping allows pets and owners to be reunited if the pet is found after being lost or even stolen.
Microchipping is a permanent ID system, which involves a chip, no bigger than a grain of rice being implanted under the skin of your pet’s scruff. Each microchip has a unique number, which can be read by a portable scanner, which most vets, including Folly Gardens Veterinary Clinic, local authorities and rescue homes have access too; ensuring your contact details can be easily obtained from the central microchipping database. Once your pet has been scanned and identified by their microchip, a simple phone call can reunite you with your pet.
Microchipping can easily be done during a puppy or kitten’s health check and with the distraction of treats, many pets don’t even notice it happening! Legally, dogs must be microchipped by 8 weeks of age, and when the law around cats comes in later this year, they will need to be chipped by 20 weeks of age. It is also essential that your details stored on the database are kept up to date. You can be fined up to £500.00 if your dog is not microchipped. It is also worth noting, that if you are planning on taking your pet abroad, they must be microchipped and have a pet passport.
Microchipping is not only for dogs, but also for cats, ferrets, rabbits, snakes, parrot, tortoises and horses and comes highly recommended by all the team at Folly Gardens Veterinary Clinic.
Microchipping your pet at Folly Gardens Veterinary Clinic
Sedation is not necessary for the implantation of the microchip as this procedure causes minimal discomfort and can be done in a routine consultation. And don't worry if you can't recall (or know) if your pet is microchipped - It is very easy to check for a microchip using a scanner. We can arrange for a member of the team at one of our St Anne's Veterinary Group branches to scan your pet and check for a working chip. Rest assured, we all always check that an animal hasn’t already got a microchip before implanting a new one.
At the time of implant, you will be asked to complete a registration form, from which your details are then submitted to a national database by a Folly Gardens Veterinary Clinic team member. Your details are kept on the database for your pet’s lifetime, and the fee for this is included in the cost of implantation.
It is important to update any changes to your contact details as soon as possible. At Folly Gardens Veterinary Clinic, all our microchips comply with the International Standard (ISO) and can, therefore, be recognised by scanners abroad when used in the Pet Passport scheme.
For more information, please speak to one of our friendly team members at Folly Gardens Veterinary Clinic.
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