Can You Register Your Pet's Microchip With A Different Company

No affair how conscientious we are with our pets, there'south no question that some are born escape artists. And even the most docile pets aren't immune to the occasional wander.

According to statistics, one in three pets will go missing at some bespeak in their lifetime. If y'all've e'er felt that trauma first-hand or the unproblematic thought of information technology fills you with dread, one thing is for certain: You know in that location'southward null you wouldn't practice to become a lost canis familiaris or cat nestled safely back in your arms...fast.

Here'south the good news: If your pet is microchipped, the key to a speedy and successful reunion is already in place. But in club to unlock its ability, there's 1 more than crucial step you need to take: register your pet's microchip. It's the single most important thing you can do to ensure your pet'south safe return. Luckily, it's too the easiest!

And research proves that this 1 simple step is absolutely worth the few minutes it takes to complete. According to a 2009 written report of 7,700 lost pets, 52% of microchipped dogs and 39% of microchipped cats were successfully reunited with their families.

Unfortunately, of the chipped pets who did not brand it dwelling house safely, the written report revealed unregistered microchips or those with outdated information were the principal reasons.

Elementary Microchip Registration

According to experts, an estimated 40% of microchipped pets are walking effectually with unregistered chips. That's similar splurging on shiny new tags for your canis familiaris or true cat, only leaving them blank...If someone finds your lost pet, how will they know how to contact y'all?

While microchip registry sounds like a no-brainer, fifty-fifty the well-nigh responsible pet parents sometimes get derailed by pretty common scenarios. Such as:

Many shelters automatically microchip animals in their care. But brand new pet parents might not realize they need to register the chip.
Some people confuse chip registration with needing to obtain a local license for their pet.
Even experienced pet parents sometimes forget to annals a scrap in the excitement of welcoming a new family member.
And what happens if you misplace your paperwork and tin't figure out how to update your registry or whether your pet was always chipped to brainstorm with?

No demand to worry...or to permit these unanswered questions continue you from reuniting with a lost pet i 2d longer than yous take to. In two piece of cake steps, here's how to ensure your pet's microchip is properly registered, once and for all.

Stride 1: Verify Your Pet's Microchip

If you're one of those organizationally-gifted people who tin summon their pet's microchip number at a moment's detect, huzzah! You tin proceed directly to Step 2.

The remainder of us may need a fleck of assistance. Luckily, you have enough of options:

Call your vet. Fifty-fifty if your files aren't the tidiest, if you've ever shared your pet's microchip registry number with your vet, the office should have it on record. This is the selection of first resort for many pet parents. It's convenient, fast, and free!

Contact your breeder, shelter or rescue. No matter where you got your pet, it's possible they came to you already microchipped. So don't hesitate to contact a breeder or shelter for your pet's microchip number...even if yous're afraid information technology volition brand you lot await like a bad pet parent. It's typically free, and information technology's much more common than you think.

Get your pet scanned. If you even so tin can't ostend your pet's microchip number, it's fourth dimension to bring them to a pro. Nearly veterinarians, animal shelters, and even animate being command offices can scan your pet to see if they accept a microchip — often gratis of accuse. Be sure to telephone call ahead to confirm cost and brand sure they utilise a universal scanner, which reads all frequencies so it's more likely to observe any bit, regardless of manufacturer.

Step ii: Annals Your Pet's Microchip

Once you've confirmed your microchip number, registering it is free and takes no more than a few minutes. You lot tin can practice it yourself on the 24PetWatch Pet Registry Portal or by calling one-866-597-2424 to work directly with a Pet Registry Specialist.

That's it! One time you lot're done, your pet's unique microchip ID will forever be linked to the information you entered in the registry. Congrats on taking the most important stride y'all can, to help ensure your pet makes it home to you safely.

Merely what does that really mean? Can you track your pet wherever they get like yous can with some food delivery services? At present that you lot've registered your pet's microchip, it's important to sympathise exactly what they can — and tin can't — do.

How Practice Microchip Registries Piece of work?

Your pet's microchip is a tiny slice of applied science — no larger than a grain of rice — that stores a unique ID number. Think of it like a barcode, Microchip Scanner except that information technology resides safely and deeply inside your pet's body just under the surface of their peel, and so it can never get lost.

There are many unlike microchip manufacturers, but it doesn't matter who made the scrap within your pet. Some microchips operate on different frequencies, but a universal scanner can read them all. Even then, the only thing a browse volition reveal is the microchip's unique ID number.

That'south why registering the chip is so important. When a lost pet is establish and scanned, a shelter tin quickly search that ID number in a database to notice out where that pet is registered, then alert the registry that the pet has been found. If the microchip is registered properly, that registry then alerts the pet parent on file to adjust the happy reunion!

What microchips don't do is rails your pet's location 24/7 so you can find them the minute they go missing. They also don't store any private information. And they're best used in addition to — non instead of — standard pet ID tags.

How To Get The Virtually Out Of Your Microchip Registry

Hopefully, by now, there's no dubiousness in your mind but how important it is to properly annals your pet's microchip. Just when a pet is missing, you want to make sure y'all accept the all-time possible take a chance of reuniting with them.

According to Dana Rayman, Manager of the 24PetWatch Call Center, hither's how to go fifty-fifty more out of your microchip registry and improve your odds of a successful reunion.

Costless Microchip Registry

"When you lot register your microchip with 24PetWatch, y'all get free access to the online portal and lost pet recovery services. That means when your pet goes missing, you can accept immediate action and get our Lost Pet Recovery Team on the case, instead of only worrying or hoping for the all-time," said Rayman.

Hither's how that works:

The minute you realize your pet is missing, yous can written report your lost pet at any time of the day or night.
The Lost Pet Recovery Team will then search for your pet's microchip ID in their nationwide database of found pets.

If they get a hit, they'll notify yous using the contact information you lot included in your registry. (Fifty-fifty more reason to make sure that info is always updated!)

Pet Protection Services Membership

However, finding a lost pet is seldom simple, and nigh pet parents want to exercise everything in their power to reunite with their lost pets as quickly as possible. That's why 24PetWatch offers enhanced Pet Protection Services as part of an Annual Membership ($29.95/year) or Lifetime Membership ($94.95).

"A Pet Protection Membership is the equivalent of 911 for pet parents," says Rayman. "Instead of cocky-service reporting and updates if at that place'southward a hit in the database, you go instant, live access to a Lost Pet Recovery Specialist who tin not only expedite your search, but also provide boosted back up and ideas to help you get your pet back faster."

Here'south how that works:

Experienced Recovery Experts are on call 24 hours a solar day, seven days a week, 365 days a yr, ready to speak with you straight the minute yous report your pet missing.
In improver to searching their database in real time, Recovery Experts also reach out to local facilities and shelters and then they can exist on the scout for your pet.
They provide tried-and-truthful suggestions, like placing your pet's bed outside your door to help them odor their style home, and even assistance you lot create a custom Lost Pet poster.
All-time of all, with DirectConnect, Recovery Experts have the power to instantly connect y'all directly with the facility or finder who has your pet the second they are found to adjust a safe, happy reunion.

"The best part of working directly with our members is that at that place'south no delay," said Rayman. "If we get a call at 4:00 AM saying someone found your pet, yous tin bet we're waking you up to give you lot the expert news."

"Membership likewise gives you unlimited updates to your registry information, and then it'south easy to keep it up to date. And yous can even add trusted friends and family as contacts. That's key if we can't attain y'all or if your number has changed; We'll call your secondary contacts until nosotros discover someone who tin can become your pet right away."

Lifetime Pet Protection Membership offers a range of boosted benefits, including a $25 PetCo coupon, sectional discounts, and yr-long access to a 24/vii Vet Hotline and 24PetMedAlert^®.

But the biggest do good of registering with 24PetWatch is the extensive network of shelters and facilities that work with the visitor every bit a long-standing leader in the field of lost pet recovery. Thanks to that partnership, over 90% of pets adopted from shelters are already chipped and registered to their pet parents through 24PetWatch, said Rayman.

"On average, nosotros're reuniting between 3,000-4,000 pets with their parents each month...nearly of them through DirectConnect. And at that place's nothing like hearing the relief in someone'due south vox when they know we're nigh to connect them to someone who has their pet, condom and sound."

Click for more than data on registering your microchip or Pet Protection Service Membership, or call a 24PetWatch representative at 1-866-597-2424.

Karen Vitale is a long-time writer, creator and animal lover whose piece of work has been featured everywhere from Disney Studios to The Smithsonian Institutions.