Microchips and the responsible cat owner

Why microchip?

Microchipping is a legal requirement to obtain a pet passport.

A microchip can help to demonstrate ownership in cases of dispute: read Bill's story for a real-life example of this.

It is also part of responsible ownership. Imagine that your pet is injured on the road while out of your sight and taken to a vet for treatment. Who will pay for this treatment if the vet is unable to discover the animal's owner? Who will re-home it if its owner cannot be found? Fortunately many animal charities may be able to help in an emergency; but it cannot be right to rely on such charities for such a purpose.

Most importantly, microchipping is also vital for peace of mind. Petlog has a whole series of real-life reunification stories – most recently a cat reunited via his microchip after six years!

BUT proportionately far fewer cats than dogs are microchipped: a recent estimate put it at 30% for dogs and only 18% for cats.

We think that chipping is even more important for cats than for dogs. Why? Cats often refuse to wear collars, and some types of collar are dangerous for cats. Besides, unlike a chip, collars can come off or be removed. Cats wander and they have been known to get into strange cars or vans, ending up miles away. And people often think nothing of taking in `stray' cats, something they would probably never do with dogs. Without that microchip, the chances of getting your beloved cat back are seriously reduced.

STOP PRESS:

Action on Missing Cats, in association with Petlog, Our Cats newspaper, and Your Cat magazine, is campaigning to make Petlog's National Microchipping Month, June 2008, the most successful ever for cats. Read all about it in the June issue of Your Cat!

However, microchips are only one – albeit crucial – piece in the jigsaw. The others are the reason for our campaigns.