Microchipping

Microchipping

Each year thousands of pets go missing, and many never make it back home to their loved ones. Starkville Veterinary Hospital wants to help you keep track of your pets and make it easier to find them should you ever get separated. A major reason why pets get lost and are never returned to their owners is because collars and tags can unexpectedly fall off or become damaged or unreadable. Once you have your pet microchipped, you don’t have to worry about a mishap such as this, since microchipping is a method of providing permanent identification for your four-legged friend that is reliable, and can’t get lost, stolen, or damaged.

A microchip is a safe, simple form of identification that can significantly increase the chance that your lost pet will be returned to you. A microchip is about the size and shape of a grain of rice. It is implanted beneath your pet's skin between the shoulder blades in a process similar to a vaccination. The procedure takes only a few minutes and can be completed during any visit to Starkville Veterinary Hospital.

Each microchip has its own unique registration number that is linked to your pet’s vital information, including your name, address, and contact information, through a national database. You will be required to complete a registration form that will officially register your pet’s microchip in the national pet recovery database. We use the Home Again microchip system. Just remember to keep your contact information and address updated with the national database.

Veterinary hospitals, animal shelters, and animal control facilities across the country are equipped with scanners that can detect the microchip and read the identification number. When a stray pet is brought to one of these offices, it will be scanned for a microchip. Upon discovery of a microchip, a call to the pet recovery database will alert the microchip company that a lost pet has been identified. The pet owner can then be contacted and reunited with his or her pet. At Starkville Veterinary Hospital we scan all strays for a microchip in an attempt to reunite lost pets with their owners so that there can be a story with a happy ending.

Whether you live in Starkville, Columbus, or West Point, Mississippi, whether your pet is young or adult, an inside pet or outside pet, get your pet microchipped today and give yourself peace of mind knowing that your pet is permanently linked with you.