National Pet ID week
Tiger Lilly Chastain
April 18 to 23, 2016 is National Pet ID week. We have been celebrating by offering microchips at $25 off their normal cost!! The cost of all Homeagain microchips implanted here at AMC always includes the cost of life long registration. Cost for a microchip this week only(Through Saturday, 4/23) is only $38!!!
National Pet ID week is a good time to ensure that you are taking the precautions to give your pet the best chance of being returned to you should they become lost. We meet many pet owners who are resistant to having their pet microchipped and tell us that their pet is always indoors and/or always with them and they therefore will not be lost. Unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters and medical emergencies for people in the home mean that even those pets are at risk and ALL pets should be identified!!
Collars with pet identification are a great idea to immediately help your pet find his way home, but are accessible to anyone who finds your pet. Collars can be broken or removed and tags can become difficult to read over time. Microchips cannot be easily misread, and the permanent identification number is tamperproof. The information about the pet and owner is usually readily retrievable.
Also, owners of pets with a microchip implant should update their contact information at minimum yearly or anytime address or phone number information changes.
According to the ASPCA:
- 1 in 3 pets will bcome lost in their lifetime
- Less than 2% of cats and only 15-20% of dogs will be returned to their owner
- 80% of pet owners believe that identifying their pet is crucially important, but only 33% of pet owners say their pet is always wearing a tag/collar
- Pets that are microchipped are more than TWICE as likely to be returned to their families
Call us if your pet is not microchipped and you want to take advantage of our National Pet ID week deal: April 18-23, 2016.
Read below out team member, Elizabeth’s story to see how a microchipped helped her kitty find her way home!!
Tiger Lilly’s Story
By: Elizabeth Chastain, LVT
In July of 2005 I adopted my first kitten while attending Trident Technical College’s Veterinary Technology program. She was a kitten brought to the program by one of the local shelters. In August of 2005 she was spayed and microchipped at Animal Medical Clinic of Goose Creek.
On January 16, 2015, Tiger lily didn’t come home for dinner and did not appear at breakfast time either. We made many calls and trips to the shelter, looked for her all over the neighborhood, posted her information through online lost pet groups on Facebook. Weeks went by and with no sign of Tiger Lily and weeks turned into months and we feared that the worst had occurred and Tiger Lily was not coming home.
On July 8, 2015, I received a call telling me that Tiger Lily was at AMC. A client of ours had been feeding her for several weeks and wanted to get her checked out by a veterinarian. Anytime a new pet visits the hospital or presents to us as a found pet they are scanned for a microchip. If there is a microchip present, the company is contacted so that we can get in touch with the pets owner to let them know they have been found.
After almost 6 month we brought our kitty home thanks to her microchip!! I cannot stress enough how important microchips are for your pets. It’s also very important to make sure that anytime you change your contact info or address that you must update that information with the microchip company to make sure you can be reached if your pet is found!
