Why chip your pet

{A microchip is an implant that is inserted under the skin of your pet. The chips are usually very small and do not cause harm to the pet. They are very useful for identifying lost pets and strays, and settling pet owner disputes. | Microchips are a great way to identify your pet they are very small and harmless to animals. The tiny chips are inserted under your pets skin and can be used to identify your pet and settle any owner disputes. | Lost pets can be found and owner disputes solved by micro chipping your pet. A microchip is a small device inserted under your animal's skin at no pain to the animal.
Microchips can be very useful for animal shelters and pet shelters; if they can identify the owners contact details and contact you quickly then they have no need to house and feed the pet. This could also save an animal's life as some shelters will put down lost pets if they can no longer be homed.
If you want your pet microchipped but are unaware of the procedure then you should keep reading to get a clear idea of the process of chipping your pet.
The cost of micro chipping is minimal but you may want to discuss this when you arrive at the vets, you may also want to express any concerns to your vet about chipping.
Before a pet is chipped shelter or veterinarian does a pre-scan this will verify the pet does not already have a chip.
The chip is then inserted using a needle, inserting the tiny chip is painless and should not cause any unnecessary distress. Different chips are put in different places depending on the animal. Cats and dogs normally have chips inserted between the shoulder blades, where as chips in birds or smaller animals are put in the chest. The chips are not inserted too deep and can be felt by hand.
Make sure the pet does a test scan before you leave, this will ensure the chip is locatable and that it works and can be read correctly by different scanners.
Your contact information, a description and secondary contact will be entered into a data base to keep a record of who owns the pet. This will stop confusion and help locating a lost pet.
You will also be given a metal tag to place on your dogs collar, this contains the pets id number and sometimes a contact number.
If you pet ever goes missing you can report it to your vet and the database. Many found pets are scanned and the processs of your pet being returned will be quicker if you have reported that the pet is gone.

Whenever you take your pet to the vet following being chipped you should ask them to check its still working.