Dog Community

Microchip registration

Posted : 5/29/2013 8:40:48 PM

For those of you whose pets are microchipped, where have you registered the chip? A long time ago, when Brown and Grey were chipped, I registered with Avid and Home Again because those were the brands of chips. That was at least 10 years ago. I've had several pets chipped since then, but again, they've only been registered through the chip's manufacturer. Last week, I microchipped Junior, and the vet gave me the info to register with Free Pet Chip Registry. I'm assuming this is just one big database. The site said I could register any pet regardless of the brand of chip they had so I added everyone. Does anyone know if this is a popular registry? Are there others that are used more widely? I just want to know that my contact info can be retrieved should one of my crew gets lost.

Freedom

Posted : 5/30/2013 8:40:11 AM

I'd not heard of that site.

Ultimately, whether the chip reunites you with your dog is going to depend on the chip scanner owned and used by the vet office or shelter where the lost dog lands. As I understand it, there are no universal readers. A Home Again scanner will find any chip, but will only "read" a Home Again chip. So at least the person knows the dog HAS a chip, no matter the brand. Likewise an Avid scanner will let the user know that it found a chip, but it can only read the Avid chips.

Whether a vet office or shelter staff / volunteer knows about the free registry site is going to key. If they don't know about it, the fact that your dog is registered on there is not going to matter.

So to me, it only makes sense to use a chip from a large well known company IN YOUR AREA, and to register with that company. Avid and Home Again are the 2 big ones around here. I am on a bichon forum and in other parts of the country, owners have posted another brand name (sorry, I don't remember it) which is most popular in their local. So they get that one at the vet office, and register with that brand.

I sometimes see local rescues, pet expos, and such, offering discounted chipping. When I investigate, it is a small start up company, not well known, which is why they are offering the discount - to get lots of their chips out there. But again, if my dog has that chip and is lost, someone finds the dog and takes it to their vet, the vets around here only have scanners for Avid and Home Again. So they will know the dog is chipped, but they can't read the chip and have no way to find out which brand it is, so that is not going to help get my dog back to me.

Just my thoughts on the topic.

marlania

Posted : 5/30/2013 10:49:39 AM

I have no idea which brand is used by my vet anymore. A long time ago, they had Avid (Brown and Deuce the cat had/have Avid). Then they had Home Again (Grey, Tar, and Charlie and Mike the cats have this). I have no idea what Chip and Junior have. Spudge has Life Chip. Although any of them running off and ending up at a shelter is unlikely, since I live in a rural area far from the parish shelter, I'd hope the shelter and local vets have scanners that can at least detect a chip and that they'd try to find a scanner can read the chip if their scanner didn't.

Freedom

Posted : 5/30/2013 2:42:13 PM

Yes, my vet started with Avid too, Sugar and Lacey had that. Then he switched to Home Again, so Marlin, Willy and Riley have that. Tasha, my mill rescue and the only one likely to take off in major panic - some how, I've never had her chipped! Gah!

micksmom

Posted : 5/31/2013 8:19:57 AM

marlania
I have no idea which brand is used by my vet anymore. A long time ago, they had Avid (Brown and Deuce the cat had/have Avid). Then they had Home Again (Grey, Tar, and Charlie and Mike the cats have this). I have no idea what Chip and Junior have...

Call and ask. My vet, too, started out with Avid. I see posters for Home Again in the waiting room now, but I think they still have Avid as well. (I can't remember if I saw the Home Again poster before or after Caleb was chipped).

griffinej5

Posted : 5/31/2013 5:03:47 PM

Luke's chip is resQ, and Callie's is Home Again. Apparently, the only scanner for his brand chip within 15 miles of here is at a Banfield about 30 minutes away. I've never heard of that website, but now I am half tempted to go get Luke another chip with a more popular brand. There are tons of local places that do Home Again chips, and that is usually what the cheap places do (that's how I had Callie's done). I'm thinking next time they have a clinic, I'm going to get him one.

grab01

Posted : 6/4/2013 6:56:40 PM

Freedom

. As I understand it, there are no universal readers.

there are universal readers. The clinic I work at has one. We switched to a universal when we still used Avid chips, still use it when we switched to Home Again (we didn't buy the Home Again scanner since the one we have works well for all chips. It's read Avid, Home Again, and Pet Link.