#94. Identification for Your Cat or Dog

Whether you have a dog or a cat it is a good idea for them to have some type of ID so they can be sure to get them back to you if they get out & get lost. There are many types of ID’s you can use for your pet & I will cover a number of them in this post.

I am a firm believer in micro-chipping pets especially for those that are not mixed breeds, because many purebreds look alike & hard to prove the pet is yours. I read a story when I was in rescue of a man with a Pomeranian that got lost & someone claimed it was theirs & he said it was his. He was able to prove it was his by the microchip & he was reunited at last with his dog.

Now you might be wondering, what is a microchip? It is a small chip that is implanted into your pet, in between the shoulder blades. A digital scanner is used to read the data on the chip which is downloaded into a database. Most shelters now has a universal scanner so no matter the brand of chip they can get the owners info. You must register your pet with your information with the company who made the chip your pet was implanted with. If you move please remember to change that information so it is current. There are several companies out there & more all the time as this is a very common thing. Where I live all shelters & rescues are required to microchip all dogs & cats. I also have a parrot who has a microchip. I recommend if your pet is going to be spayed/neutered or have a dental & will be under anesthetic that is a good time to microchip them. Most dogs don’t react when chipped, but I had a foster dog who was a big baby & he whined quite a bit. The person in charge at the last rescue I was with, micro-chipped pets fairly often was so good at it I never saw much of any reaction from the animals. Vets, low cost animal clinics, animal controls can implant a microchip into your pet & give you the information on how to register your pet.

There now is smart technology out there if your pet is lost. There are smart tags that can be scanned & there are tracking collars/tags that you can track your pet yourself. These require an app on your phone & in most cases a subscription to use this app.

There are stainless steel engraved tags & there are silent tags like the ones above & below. Some people, me being one of them don’t care to hear tags jiggle all over the place.

The silent tags that attach to your pet’s collar like the one above is my favorite. My dogs play rough & a hanging tag is more likely to get damaged or hooked on something. Hunter has one & I am ordering one for Echo because he got a new collar for Christmas & this one don’t have information engraved on it like the previous one did. His previous collar was similar to the ones shown below.

There are different choices for different preferences & needs. It is safer for them to have a way to be identified if found & better by a neighbor than to have to go to animal control & be picked up there. It can be a scary place for many pets.

There are collars like the one above & below that can be personalized with information for your pet.

My dogs ID collars or tag usually only include my cell phone number. If you have a home phone you can add that as well, but if your pet is lost, most likely you are out looking & have your cell phone with you. I feel if someone has my pet they don’t really need to know its name, just whom to call to get him or her home to. If you’re comfortable you can add your address to it as well. Animals without any ID may be considered strays & end up being taken by someone & never returned to the original owner. They also could end up at Animal Control & if not claimed or adopted in time they could be euthanized. I am blessed my dogs are not runners, but anything can happen & they could bolt out of fear. I would be devastated if my dog(s) was ever lost. I want to do all I can to help them get home quickly.

About 5 years back my sister had several cats & one was my nieces & they always told company to be sure to close the doors, so the cats don’t get outside. Sadly my nieces college friend didn’t listen & my nieces cat got out, it had never been outside loose & was scared. It was cold outside, so the cat was seeking a warm place & unknown to anyone the cat got out & crawled under the car engine of her friend’s car & was driven away with them. My niece & sister did all they could to find the cat, but they had no clue it had been driven away. It has a happy ending, but took 3+ months for it to come. My nieces friend & her mom went to lunch at a golf course about 30 mins away & the cat was in the engine till the car stayed still for a while, then it jumped out & ran. A lady who lived along the golf course saw this beautiful cat on the golf course & could tell it was a pet. It took her months to convince my niece’s cat to trust her & allow her to pick her up. She took her to the Vet & they scanned her & she had a microchip so they called my sister who was so shocked & happy. They jumped in the car & drove the 30 mins to pick up their cat that they thought had been lost forever. They figured out what happened after talking to the lady who took care of her & ultimately saved her.

Thank you for reading my blog post & I hope you will check out the other 93 posts if you haven’t already. I try & keep them informative & interesting. If you have a topic you would like me to write about you can email me directly at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com My goal is to reach as many pet owners/caregivers as possible & share my many years of experience. I would appreciate it if you would consider subscribing to my free blog & you will get an email alert when I publish a new post. You can also help me spread the word my sharing it on your social media sites, email it to friends. Visiting often & commenting also helps my blog to be seen by more people. Please click the “like” tab at the bottom of posts you like. Pets are family to many of us & I know most people want the best for their pets & my goal is to educate pet owners about things they may not know about. You can find a table of contents of all my other published posts on the main page under the 3 lines (Show tab). You can also find out more about my pet experience there as well. Thank you for visiting & I hope you will return soon. Debbie