Imagine you come home one day from work or school and aren’t greeted by the usual woof or meow of your beloved pet. You look in all their usual haunts and still cant find them – perhaps they are lost!
Having a small device called a microchip inserted by your vet can help to prevent the heartache of this situation. All vets, dog wardens, pounds and rescue centres will scan all dogs and cats found for this special chip, and use the unique microchip number to contact you and reunite you with your pet as quickly as possible.
What is a microchip?
A microchip is a small device which can be inserted by your vet and sits just under the skin of your dog or cat’s neck. It is a tiny device – about the size or a grain of rice, and each one has a unique number which can be read by a special scanner.
How is it implanted?
Your vet can implant the microchip under this skin using a special needle. This can be done at any time, but we recommended that it is done as early in life as possible, as puppies and kittens can wander too!
The procedure should be quick and relatively painless, and can either be done during a visit to your vet, or whilst your pet is being speyed or neutered. If you choose to have your pet microchipped at the same time as your pet is spayed or neutered with us, we insert the chip whilst they are asleep under anaesthetic so that your pet is unaware and insertion is totally pain-free.
How will I be contacted if my pet gets lost?
When your vet microchips your pet, you will be asked to give basic contact details (a name, address and contact number) so that your details can be registered along with your pet’s unique microchip number on a central database. When your pet is scanned, the number can be used to retrieve your contact details from that database so that you can be quickly reunited with your cat or dog.
How do I check that the contact details registered to my pet’s microchip are correct?
Enter your pet’s microchip number on the europetnet.com website to check your contact details are correct. If you do not know your pet’s number, simply ask a member of our staff as we keep all microchip numbers on file for our clients.
Is my pets microchip like a GPS tracker?
No, your pet’s chip cannot transmit any signal about its location. The chip can only be read when scanned with a special microchip scanner.
