Comments | jen_drake: Microchips in the Cats?

jen_drake

Microchips in the Cats?

May 08, 2009 23:50

Taji is our grey two year-old cat. We got her from a farm in Wisconsin when she was about 7 or 8 weeks old. I don't think she's forgotten that she's a farm kitty. She loves being outside and even will walk on a leash ( Read more... )

cat

Comments 7

grdavison May 9 2009, 16:13:16 UTC

its just a shot that injects the ship no more painful than a regular shot.

paradoks May 9 2009, 17:25:52 UTC

http://yourcatcareguide.com/wordpress/?p=19

That was the first hit for me when I googled, "microchip cat cancer".

That said, I don't think the link between microchipping a pet and pets getting cancer has been solidly proven(well, as much as it's possible to prove anything), but that possible link scares me much more than any worries about putting a chip in being mean -- as grdavison said, it's really just a shot.

jen_drake May 9 2009, 17:53:15 UTC

I think mean includes potential cancer risk or any possible side effects. I'm just concerned about Taji running off and losing a tag and not being able to find her again.

I'm not sure there's a great answer to this.

dandrake May 10 2009, 02:25:30 UTC

Will she deal with a collar? One nice thing about having a collar with your address or phone number is that anyone can read it -- they don't need any kind of scanner.

One day when I was at Tae's old house, we let her roommate's dogs into the backyard. An hour or so later, the doorbell rings, and someone from down the street is holding one of the dogs, and asks, "is this your dog?"

The dog had gotten out and the neighbors caught her, read the collar, and walked over to return the dog. Very convenient.

dandrake May 10 2009, 02:27:27 UTC

Er, okay, I just actually read the part where you say a collar would annoy the cat. :)

I say go for the collar. You can take it off sometimes, try different collars, and so on. You can always stop using a collar; you can't really get the chip taken out.

(The comment has been removed)

jen_drake May 10 2009, 14:58:51 UTC

My vet is great and I do trust him. I'll ask the next time she was there.

Thanks for the insight.

maleesa May 15 2009, 13:36:06 UTC

We considered chipping the dogs, but they're not really a flight risk. On the rare times they leave, they go next door to visit. If I had any doubt that I'd not be able to find one of them, I'd chip in a heartbeat.

We lost Rusti once when she was 5 years old for 12 hours and it was a horrible feeling.

The shot is small and slips right in near the shoulder blades. Of course the collar should be kept on too, because it makes it easy for locals to help out.