Is Your Pet Chipped

I may have posted this before, but I took a look and didn't find it, so....

I am going to relate to you a story that you may find informative. We have two adopted dogs, Callie (who was chipped when we got her years ago), and Bella, who was not chipped. Bella likes to wander a bit and we have been going up to a house away from our home, so I thought it would be a good idea to get her chipped. No biggie, took her to the Humane Society and got her chipped for $20. They gave me a website I could register her on, and I did.

I thought it would be a good idea to register Callie on the site with Bella so we would be able to keep the information updated together. I did not have the paperwork for Callie so I took her to my vet to get scanned. They scanned over and over and got no hit. They told me the chips can move and scanned down both her front paws and her stomach and back legs. Halfway through they told me any shelter would have given up by this time. They found no chip.

When I took her to the Humane Society to get her rechipped, they scanned and scanned and found no chip either (they found no paperwork on her either, and questioned whether she had been adopted from them, but that's another story). So, my friends, if you believe your pets have been chipped and you are relying on that fact to recover your animals should they be lost or stolen, my advice would be to have them scanned at checkups. Make sure the chip can still be read.

If I have posted this before, please forgive me.

Originally Posted by HipoGear

The shelter employee told us that the chips only work for about 5 years.

They lied to you
Microchips don't contain a battery and therefore have an indefinite lifetime. The special scanner required to read the microchip supplies the tiny amount of power it needs each time it is read.

There is no limit to the number of times that the microchip can be read. It should work for the entirety of your pet's life.

Note: Microchips can occasionally fail, meaning that they can no longer be read by our products. If you suspect that your pet’s microchip may have stopped working, take your pet to the vet where they will be able to check for the presence of your pet’s chip using a hand-held scanner.

https://www.sureflap.com/en-gb/suppo...sked-questions

Originally Posted by JohnC4X4

They lied to you
Microchips don't contain a battery and therefore have an indefinite lifetime. The special scanner required to read the microchip supplies the tiny amount of power it needs each time it is read.

There is no limit to the number of times that the microchip can be read. It should work for the entirety of your pet's life.

Note: Microchips can occasionally fail, meaning that they can no longer be read by our products. If you suspect that your pet’s microchip may have stopped working, take your pet to the vet where they will be able to check for the presence of your pet’s chip using a hand-held scanner.

https://www.sureflap.com/en-gb/suppo...sked-questions

I am just letting y'all know that the dog I was told was chipped was not able to be read. I am not arguing the physics of the encounter. I am just letting people here know that a dog I was told was chipped was unreadable and I was told the chips can fail. If you are counting o the chip to stand a chance of reuniting you with your pet, have them scanned when you get your yearly check up.

Every cat we've ever had ends up being scat on the ground from some hungry predator.

We now have two strays that wandered in and adopted us as their servants, the younger all black one will come into the house while the older one is very Ferrel and keeps his distance. If they're still here this time next year we'll give them names.

The all black friendly bites.

Just went outside to go to the shop, we now have 3 cats. The newest is a sweet little calico.

Maybe its time to get rid off all that waste restaurant cooking oil seems it draws in more than just a few bears.

Originally Posted by alloy2

Just went outside to go to the shop, we now have 3 cats. The newest is a sweet little calico.

Maybe its time to get rid off all that waste restaurant cooking oil seems it draws in more than just a few bears.

If I had anything that would draw in a few beers, I would keep.... Oh. Sorry. Bears...

Do you use the oil for fuel?

Originally Posted by t00nces2

If I had anything that would draw in a few beers, I would keep.... Oh. Sorry. Bears...

Do you use the oil for fuel?

Few years back just filtered the oil and ran it in my Pajero diesel after the engine warmed up,then I decided to make some bio which turned out to be more time consuming and more costly than buying fuel at the pump. If there was an economical way to recover the alcohol and re-use the wash water it would be a great project for cheap fuel.

We have a very long and steep gravel driveway I spread the oil onto the gravel, it sinks in to become almost like asphalt, water from the highway no longer washes out our driveway the gravel stays put. The downside is that it does attract the odd bear.

The bears paw away at the gravel, dig a small hole looking for the mother load but soon give up and move on, it berry season right now so the bears are feasting in the wild.

Regarding chipping your pets, it's not something I would do anymore than having a chip implanted in my own body. From my own experience you keep your pet well fed it will always find its way home. If your pet becomes road kill IMO better to spare the wife and children the grief of knowing the truth. Keep em believing in Santa.

Originally Posted by auminer

That might work fine out in the country, but us city slickers have to keep our dogs chipped.

As for finding out about the road kill aspect, I'd rather know that. There's far worse fates for a dog than that, unfortunately.

Yea those of us that live in the country sometimes come across as being insensitive and I apologize for my part in that.

I'm truly bothered by the amount of wild life road kill in the spring just after the animals come out from hibernation and are still not accustomed to being fully awake.

Buying a license for your dog where I live is totally voluntary. it's one of the few choices we have left.

I don't guess I will ever have to worry about this. I don't deal with vets anymore. In my experience they are liars and crooks, at least around here. I take care of my animals myself. After all they are pretty well designed to live on their own in the wild. Cats don't even need to be fed in the country. I get a good laugh at city folks and their strange ways.

Originally Posted by alloy2

Even us hicks keep a good supply of worm meds handy for our animals, even the strays get medicated. A healthy animal is a happy one.

One stray that had wandered in had tangled with a porcupine and was sporting a few quils, took him to the vet and the first thing they want to know will that be cash, debit or credit, name and address and the animals name.

Stuck for a name I simly called the cat Tommy, yea a Tom cat.

A month latter Tommy is receiving mail in our mail box telling him that he is due for his next check up. I simly ignored the first couple of Tommy;s personal mail then after the third made acall to the vet telling them that Tommy can be taken off the mailing list as he's no longer with the living.

Cat was fine, I just got tired of reading his mail to him, and he didn't seem to be all that interested in having further check ups or being vaccinated or having his nuts cut off...

That last sentence is priceless.

Here's the new family member,

Originally Posted by alloy2

Had a Siamese that was a scrapper, he would even take on the largest of dogs. When he was just a kitten named him Tanghi then as he grew older started calling him Dummy. He lived to a ripe old age of 16 years, my ex had custody of the cat but when he suffered from kidney failure I was asked to take the cat.

I kept him for another year and a half then finally had to out him down, anyhow I'm wandering from what I had originally intended to say, from scrapping some of his wounds would become infected. I had so much money tied up in Vets that i decided to take matters into my own hands.

When the cat had a Vet visit it was usually just a shot of penicillin, I walk into the local Vet and grabbed a bottle of penicillin from the cooler, everything went fine until I asked for a fine needle for the injection. Went back to a large animal section and grabbed the largest needle I could find - said this will do.

I not only got the fine tipped needles but instructions on how to restrain the cat, the injection is muscular and cats have claws.

If you have never given a cat a needle before it's not a fun thing to do. Anyhow the Vet told me to take an old pair of jeans then stuff the cat into the pant leg. Thats not all that easy to do either but me and a buddy managed to get he cat into the pant leg.

I'm just a country boy at heart.

Pat and I bought some piglets from the auction turns out 6 of them had all their hardware and will grown into large mean bores, I'm not going to get into all the details other than to say this was the first animal surgery that I have ever performed.

Instructions came from a book we purchased.

How to give a cat a pill ... and a dog, too
How to give a cat a pill:
Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.
Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.
Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.
Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil, and blow down drinking straw.
Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard, and close door onto neck, to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
Call fire department to retrieve the **** cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil-wrap.
Tie the little @!!@#@#$%'s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy-duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of steak filet. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.
Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and remove pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.
Arrange for SPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.
How to give a dog a pill:
Wrap it in cheese.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC372253/