One of the many things I wanted to accomplish while on my break from school was to update my cat's microchip information. I took Stinker and Creeper to the vet in PetSmart to have them both scanned to see what came up. What I discovered is they had no information at all on their chips, just a 9-15 character strand associated with their chips. Why I was surprised is because I assumed Stinker would have either had information from the Humane Society where we got him, or Matt's [my ex] information since he bought him for me. For Creeper, I assumed he would have had my information since it was all requested when I had him neutered. Neither place led us to believe their chips would essentially have nothing on them until we took further steps. [I even called Matt and he was under the same impression] As I was leaving PetSmart I picked up a brochure on lost pets which mentioned something like only 1 in 5 pets are actually ever returned home. It made me wonder if a small cause for that was because more pet owners think what I did--that their pets were chipped and thus had a link back to them.
So how do you get your pet's chip connected to information on how to reach you? Well, you have to register the chip with a company that will store you and your pets information in a database. The people at PetSmart recommended using Petlink, and it does seem like the leading company. It's $20 to register your pet and that lasts the life of your pet. There is also a free pet registry located at FreePetMicrochipRegistry. Of course I did both. ;) If you're not sure if your pet's microchip is already registered with a company you can go to the AAHA site and look yours up. Don't have your pets microchip code? I've got you covered on that front too. Use this Scanner Lookup to find a scanner near you. It's super quick, they didn't even have to take my cats out of their crate to do it. Easiest vet trip they've ever had!
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