Even Indoor Cats Need Id

by Pam, the Expert | Wednesday Jan 25, 2012 | filed under Health

Photo provided by Friskies Explorer tammy2899.

Hi Explorers!

If your cat is an indoor cat you may think there isn’t a reason to have microchipping done or put a collar on her with an ID tag. Even if your cat isn’t a door-darter and you aren’t worried about her escaping out the front door when no one is looking, the unexpected can happen.

One thing I’ve noticed in all my years of working in the animal behavior field is that people seem to more likely to take notice a dog running loose in their yard and will often attempt to see if there is an ID in order to find out where the dog lives. With cats, however, many people are more likely to assume it’s just a stray or just another outdoor cat. 

Cat collars come in many styles, including “breakaway.” These collars will help prevent a cat from getting caught up on a branch. The problem with a breakaway collar though is that the ID stays with the collar on the branch and not with the cat. That’s where microchipping is an excellent alternative because the chip stays with kitty.

Your veterinarian can give your more information about the process of microchipping. It’s a simple procedure that is done in the veterinary clinic. The tiny chip is placed under the skin in a quick, painless procedure similar to when your cat gets a vaccination.

Veterinary clinics and animal shelters are equipped with hand-held scanners that can read the information on the microchip so when a cat comes in without any ID on a collar, she is checked for presence of a microchip. There have been countless wonderful stories of lost pets being reunited with their owners due to microchipping.

Consult your veterinarian for more information. 

Is your cat microchipped?