Willow, the cat, disappeared in Colorado and later was found in New York City.    Willow’s identify was discovered  when she was turned into an animal shelter and they detected a microchip that led them back to Willow’s true owner in Colorado.  This has spurred quite an interest in pet owners to get microchips for their pets.

   Here are some facts about microchips:

      —a microchip is a transponder a bit bigger than a grain of rice that is implanted under your pets skin

       —when a microchip scanner is run over your pets body, it sends out a radio signal to the chip than then returns a unique ID number back to the scanner.  This ID number can then be used to track down the pet’s owner just as a license plate number can lead you to the owner of a car

        —microchips are not GPS devices and cannot track your pet.  Microchip scanners have a maximum range of 6-8 inches.

         —microchips can easily be implanted during a office visit—it’s just like getting a shot from a larger than usual needle.

           —there are several types of microchips available.  At Palmer Animal Hospital, we use the ResQ Chip from Bayer because it is ISO (international standard) compliant, includes lifetime registration, and Dr. Palmer feels the injector is one of the most user/pet friendly on the market

           For more information about microchips, feel free to give us a call.

           Here is a link to Willow’s story:  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44555429/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/