Microchipping your pet is so very important! June is National Microchipping Month which makes it the perfect time to talk about why we are all chipped and why your pet should be as well. At our house we are all chipped, and our last cats were too.
This is Tom, one of Mom’s cats from Germany. He came over to the USA to live in 2008. In Germany he went in the yard but never went far. Tom didn’t have a chip, but his ears were tattooed. Tattoos are not a good idea as after many years, they are almost impossible to read. Here in the US, Tom went out in the yard but that was it. One evening he went out and we never saw him again. No one knew we even had an indoor/outdoor cat. Mom, Katie, and Emma walked all over creation looking for him for weeks. He was never found. Mom has always wondered if he had been chipped if he would have been found. Even indoor cats should be chipped, just in case they slip out sometime.
Next I have my scary story. The above photo was taken right before I was lost in Michigan on a dark night. It happened in September 2021. We were on a six day road trip to New York and back. Night number five we visited some of our navigator’s relatives. They had a nice fenced yard and Olivia and I were feeling restless.
Mom checked the fence and it was secure, so we were let off leash to play. It was dark and it was a place Mom had never been to before. After a while, Olivia kept pestering Mom. Mom didn’t see me, so she went looking for me. I was gone, vanished. Everyone said I couldn’t get out, but behind a pine tree there was a small spot I sneaked under and went off after a rabbit. Olivia was too big to fit. Me, Madison, was on the run.
Mom panicked and everyone sprang into action. Someone saw my eyes in the dark and told Mom where I was. Too late. I took off doing my hunting call across all the yards chasing a rabbit. Mom was not supposed to run because of her recent heart attack, but she ran, following my hunting call. Then it stopped. I lost the rabbit.
It was devastating for Mom who, in her head, was making plans to move to Michigan until I was found. She didn’t know a couple friends were driving around in their cars looking for me and some other neighbors were also looking on foot. We didn’t know the area – were there busy roads, bodies of water, no idea where we were in the dark. After about twenty minutes, someone said they had spotted me almost back at the house. I would not let anyone near me. Mom came and grabbed me. All was good, except I too was very frightened.
Yes, I was wearing a collar with my ID on it as we all do, and we all have a second tag with our microchip info on it. Why do we need the chip if we wear a tag? Because collars can come off, tags can fall off, but chips stay inside of us. Mom was very thankful I had a chip in case the worst happened and someone had to take me to the pound or vet.
We are all so lucky I came back and was found. Now Mom never lets any of us off leash anywhere but home or places she knows as well as home. Remember to always make sure your chip info is up to date. If you move or change phone numbers, update it. A chip may be the only way to identify where your pet belongs if they go missing.
My scary story had a happy ending but anything can happen and you always need to be ready for the unthinkable. Chip your pets, and keep the info current.
My GBGV Life is joining Brian’s Home Blog in the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
We are so happy this story had a happy ending, Olivia. I am not chipped yet. On my next visit to the vet’s office, I will be!
We are all chipped when we move in with Mom, our breeder does it. It is a very good “just in case” thing.
Yes!!!! A microchip is so important. I always have my cats microchipped when they are spayed or neutered as kittens. You hear stories of dogs and cats that have escaped during a storm or fireworks that have been found halfway across the country years later because someone thought to take them to a vet to have them scanned for a microchip. And you’re right. Collars can be broken or pulled off. Especially if the cat or dog has been gone for a month and has lost weight due to a lack of food. Thanks for posting this!! Such an important reminder as we approach July 4 and the week before, during, and after of fireworks.
Car crashes are also a place where dogs gets spooked and take off if they can get out of the car. It is very important.
Exactly!
VERY GOOD REASONS! Also, IF you do know someone who adopts a chipped dog from another person, it is very easy to contact the chip place and have the chip transferred to your new mom or dad’s name and address. Over the years, our mom has gotten some of us for our forever homes and the first thing she does is get the chip transferred over to her name. I’m so glad that you were found, Madison. Your sister in breeders, Olive.
It is good to make sure the info is up to date and to have a back up contact in case your primary contact can’t be reached.
Those microchips are so important and I’m so glad your Mom tracked you down and that others were on the hunt for you. Thanks for joining Angel Brian’s Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
It was really fun until I realized I didn’t really know where I was. Thank goodness Mom could come to me quickly and take me to our car. It was a scary time.
Wow what a scary story! I am so glad you got home and your mom got to you! You were both probably shaking.
I ran away from mom once (in our neighborhood — it was when Lilly got attacked — it was an awful day) when I was younger and I ran home too. Mom was so worried for those looooong minutes as she and the neighbors searched and called for me. A lady was driving along the road, stopped and said to mom: “are you looking for a black dog? he is at the door of that house two doors down!” Our house!! Mom ran so fast. I was so happy to see her!!!
I am chipped and my siblings were too. The breeder did it. Worth every penny.
Great post — scary — but important information.
It is so important as you never know what can happen in an instant and you could be lost forever without proper id. Glad you came back home after taking off. Bailie has gotten out the door twice and run away, but she came back after five or ten minutes. Mom was out looking for her right away, though. We always worry about cars because we don’t always pay attention to them.
Absolutely, microchips are essential for all companions!
So glad your adventure had a quick and happy ending.
It was exciting, fun, and then terrifying. Thankfully it all ended well, and now Mom is more protective of us all than ever when we travel.
That must have been very scary. My dogs always got chipped the first visit to the vet. So important.
Our breeder chips us before we go to our new home, so we are all set. It is very important because in the blink of an eye something can happen and we can be off on our own.
Great info about why having pets micro chipped ~ hugs,
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
It is so important if you ever need it to have it.
We moved from Texas to Tennessee last year. After getting utilities set up, the next task was changing the microchip info. I am so happy we have them! And I am happy that Madison came back!!!
Mom still gets goose bumps thinking about that night. She is so careful with us but in the dark, missed that one spot behind the pine tree. I would have come back eventually on my own, that is what the GBGV expert lady in England said but we didn’t want to test that theory.
Madison – that was just so scary – for you and your Mom and friends. I am so glad you ran back to the house. My dog is chipped (and my past dogs too).
A coworker has his dog chipped and now has a homing device on her collar, because she had run away and was found a few days later. Boy did I pray for her.
Mom contemplated putting tracking collars on all of us but she is always so careful and this was the first time such a thing has ever happened.
We are so very happy you got back to your Mom safe and sound. We have both been chipped since we were pups…and get the chips checked every year during our annual check ups. We also both now have air tag monitors on our collars.
xoxo,
Rosy & Sunny
Mom doesn’t like apple/mac stuff at all, so no air tags here. A friend of ours had air tags on her dogs. She said they worked well. They lived in WY and she would let the dogs run on the prairie. Sadly, she passed away, but she did love those tags.
You are so right, chipping pets is a smart move.
You never know what can happen, and it is an added layer of protection to get you back home.
Eeek…that must have been terrifying. So sorry you had to go through all that but glad it all turned out well. When I adopted Wilson in Januasry, the first thing I did was have him micro-chipped even though he’s basically an indoor dog. I wasn’t going to take any chances after driving 1500 miles to pick him up!
You never know what might happen and when you least expect it. Mom is always so careful with us and she was so mad at herself for missing that spot in the fence. Lesson learned, no off leash at places we don’t know.