Microchip Warning

mosi

I was in the vet getting kennel cough vaccines today. It was a different practice to our usual one, as it is much nearer so we have been using it lately for routine stuff. The vet decided to scan the dogs for their records, and nothing happened when she scanned our newest girl who was chipped a few months ago when she was being spayed. The vet used two different scanners, while the other dogs' chips came up almost straight away.
We went back to the vet who implanted her, and still nothing.They couldn't say exactly why. Possible options were that she somehow wasn't chipped that time, the chip fell out very shortly after implantation or the chip was faulty. They implanted a new chip and called Fido to transfer the details, so hopefully that's sorted. I got a call from Fido then, to confirm that a new certificate would be sent out and advising me to keep the old cert, as the other chip may be present but working intermittently. They said that should she ever be picked up by a dog warden, they would demand the matching certificate for whatever chip is picked up.
Just thought I'd let people know to remind them to check their chips to be sure everything is as it should be.

muddypaws

Did they check her all over? Sometimes chips move, we've had one turn up in a dog's armpit, and the vet only scanned there because I knew there was definitely a chip in her somewhere

mosi

muddypaws wrote: »

Did they check her all over? Sometimes chips move, we've had one turn up in a dog's armpit, and the vet only scanned there because I knew there was definitely a chip in her somewhere

They were very thorough, the first vet went all over her twice with two different scanners. We saw a nurse in the other practice, and he also went over her thoroughly. Both took their time. Now, nobody stretched out her legs while around the armpit region, would this make a difference?

Both of them mentioned chip migration, and two of the other dogs' chips have migrated but were very easily found. If there is a chip hidden there somewhere, I guess there is still a problem as in three scans failed to find it. In a straying situation, where a dog is picked up, that could be catastrophic. It's not likely to happen in this case as I'm very careful with the dogs, while this girl is great off lead. However, as we know, accidents can happen to anyone. I can't even remember if she was scanned in front of us when we picked her up from the spay. We went through all the paperwork and we got the official cert sent to us after, as per the legislation.

I've realised tonight though, that I never got the microchip stickers, as her "original" chip number was written by me onto her vaccination card. I never even thought about it at the time, given that I went through the whole registration process while in the vets and was concerned about how she was after the spay. It's very possible there was some mix up and she was never actually chipped, but whatever the issue, reckon it's no harm now to get chips checked from time to time.

muddypaws

It is really worrying, as you say, the whole point of the chip is in case your dog gets lost, you can be reunited, but a dog warden isn't going to spend too long scanning, looking for a chip, if it doesn't show up after a scan of the shoulder area, they will probably give up.

My vet always checks the dog's chip at our annual health check and lepto vaccination. I do moan about my vet sometimes, but I realise I am lucky to have a practice that is actually very good and so thorough on things.

tk123

Dammit I never got Lucy's checked when she was over for her annual checkup! I'll get Bailey's check when he's in at the end of the month. Our friend's dog's chip migrated and he now has 2 chips - the one that migrated from the rescue and another one in his neck to be safe!

Stigura

I got the most unbelievable Dog, from a very well known and respected rescue kennels, one time. She'd completely won my heart, even before I got her home.

About four days later, having let her settle in and got her measure, off to the vet's, to get my pride and joy chipped.

I'll never forget it. The vet and their assistant were in the room, with me and Orange Dog, the love of my life.

Everyone was relaxed, happy, smiley. The vet' gave Orange Dog a perfunctory going over with the chip scanner. Then went all tight lipped and tense.

" This Dog's already chipped ..... "

Suddenly, it was like:

I mean, seriously, ye could have cut the air with a knife, till I gave them the rescues number. They rang them and everything was cleared up. But, I'll tell ye now: I wasn't leaving that place without my Orange Dog. And they weren't about to let me!

muddypaws

Stigura wrote: »

I got the most unbelievable Dog, from a very well known and respected rescue kennels, one time. She'd completely won my heart, even before I got her home.

About four days later, having let her settle in and got her measure, off to the vet's, to get my pride and joy chipped.

I'll never forget it. The vet and their assistant were in the room, with me and Orange Dog, the love of my life.

Everyone was relaxed, happy, smiley. The vet' gave Orange Dog a perfunctory going over with the chip scanner. Then went all tight lipped and tense.

" This Dog's already chipped ..... "

Suddenly, it was like:


I mean, seriously, ye could have cut the air with a knife, till I gave them the rescues number. They rang them and everything was cleared up. But, I'll tell ye now: I wasn't leaving that place without my Orange Dog. And they weren't about to let me!

All respected rescue kennels have been microchipping their dogs for years, so they should have given you the details of the chip and how to change it into your name when you signed the adoption form. Some rescues kept the dog in their name, so that they would be contacted should something happen to the dog, that can't be done anymore, with the new legislation.

Stigura

Yep. They kept them in their name. This was fifteen years ago

Latatian

Stigura- kind of lovely that they did that.

It's amazing how many times I have heard people be like "Well I found this lovely dog so I'm keeping it." Sometimes it gets justified with "The dog's scared/dirty/loose/has no tag so the old owner obviously didn't love it and I don't need to call the number on the tag (if there is one) or try and find them." I have a deaf, elderly bitch who relies on the people she knows for security. I can tell you that if she got lost she would be pretty damn scared.

Sometimes the person is literally just like "Well it's a kind of dog I like, isn't it lucky that I found this one!"

Stigura

Latatian wrote: »

Stigura- kind of lovely that they did that.

Twas, in truth Tell ye what though? I can absolutely remember the tension in the air to this day! " This Dog's already chipped ..... " That was It! :eek: