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Collar tags : Need we say more, cats are notorious for slipping their collars, tags can fall off or miscreants can remove them! Collar tags should not be relied upon as the only method of identification but are an excellent supporting ID method while issues described below with microchipping get resolved.
Tattoos : During the neuter or other operations, many veterinary clinics and shelters offer to tattoo the groin or ear of pets while they are anesthetized so that a permanent, inexpensive identification mark exists. Tattoing is of moderate recovery efficiency, and a well placed clear tattoo and up-to-date contact records at the clinic, in combination with good regional cooperation can lead to pet-family reunions.
But, tattoos sometimes do not take fully, and can fade so that they are difficult to read. As well, the records tying the pet tattoo number to an address and phone number for the owner are difficult to keep up-to-date as people move around. Some veterinary clinics do not have computerized records. This can reduce efficiency of record keeping and the records defining current address / contact number may become outdated. Until the microchipping issues are addressed further,, tattoos still provide an excellent secondary identification measure.
Microchips: Microchips are little cylinders about the size of a grain of rice that are implanted by injection into the tissues over the shoulders area. The central computerized database of the company administering the chip is easy to keep updated. These last for the life of the pet. The chips cannot be lost like a tag and do not fade like a tattoo. It is estimated that about 2 million pets are microchipped, but this is still only a small portion of the total dog and cat population in the USA , and the proportion of microchipped pets is much lower than in other areas of the world such as Europe .
In rare instances, the chips migrate around in the tissues out of their usual position, and if the reader is not widely scanned over the cat’s body, the chip information may not be picked up, resulting in a false assumption that the pet is not microchipped.
Another drawback that is currently the subject of the court’s time in the US is the presence of more than one chip technology in the marketplace which unfortunately means that not all readers can read all chips. This means that a microchipped pet can be missed if the scanner used is only set up to read another type of microchip. Many shelters keep more than one scanner on hand to help counteract this unfortunate error, but this approach is not foolproof by any means.
Hopefully this will be resolved soon, and adoption of a universal reader technology occurs so all microchipped pets can be reunited with their human families. Ideally, in the long-term only one type of chip should be adopted so that scanners do not have to read multiple formats! The Iams pet food company of Dayton Ohio has proposed to donate 30,000 universal reading scanners if stakeholders can agree, and this would be an excellent first step. Scanners that can read all chips have been adopted by welfare organizations in Canada and Europe already.
Because there are different microchip manufacturers, presently more than one database of microchipped pets exists in the US , which means that the entire population of microchipped pets is not stored in one central database. These databases should also be merged in the future.
A coalition in Washington, the Coalition for Reuniting Pets and Families is spearheading a valuable universal scanner initiative in the US .
About the Technology
The ISO microchips (Crystal, Allflex, AVID, AEG, Trovan) operate at a different frequency (134.2 kHz) than the original FECCAVA Avid and the HomeAgain microchips (125 kHz).
The ISO (International Standards Organization) is a Switzerland-based global organization that oversees international standardization of all industrial processes. According to a report by Dr. Walt Ingwersen, co-chair of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association Microchip Committee, the ISO produced a standardized technology definition in 1996 which defines ISO microchip content structure and standard communication protocol between chip and reader. Currently, Europe and Asia have adopted the ISO standard chip systems and are now using just one chip and reader protocol, with excellent pet recovery results. Canada has an interim strategy in place to use universal readers. The US remains caught up in undertakings which have slowed adoption of universal reader-chip technology.
Note that the ISO chips are intended to become global, and that the technology allows for some pretty amazing enhancements to the chip. Not just a record for lost pet ID anymore, these chips can also store medical records and can be set to act as a sensor of body functions such as temperature and sugar levels! Most of the scanners in the US (especially those at shelters) that can just read one frequency can be upgraded to read ISO frequencies by a simple software upgrade.
ISO manufacturers and distributors have been advised to implement trace-back capability which means that if the owner identifiers are not in the database for whatever reason, a geographic trace that allows definition of the physical location where the implantation occurred can be done. This backup is meant to improve chances of pet recovery.
Note that the onus is on the pet owner to keep the contact information database with the chip provider up-to-date. The process is made straightforward to encourage updating.
All cats should receive a microchip implant because even though there are problems, work continues to ensure compatibility of readers and chips!
Disclaimer: This website is not intended to replace professional consultation, diagnosis, or treatment by a licensed veterinarian. If you require any veterinary related advice, contact your veterinarian promptly. Information at Cathealth.com is exclusively of a general reference nature. Do not disregard veterinary advice or delay treatment as a result of accessing information at this site.
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