Did you know that 1 in 3 pets goes missing at some point in its lifetime? The best way to help your pet return home is to provide him or her with permanent identification: a microchip. A microchip can't get forgotten or lost like a tag on a collar. Smaller than a grain of rice, a microchip is inserted under the skin and provides your pet with a unique identification number. When a pet is found wandering, animal hospitals and shelters have scanners to read each pet's unique number and then access a database to find the owner's information.

Does your dog, cat, or bird have a microchip? If not, schedule an appointment (513 791-7912) to quickly place one under the skin, just like when your pet gets yearly vaccines. It is done during the office visit and there is no surgery required. The microchip is inert and completely painless for your pet. Your pet is never too old to need a microchip - just ask Dr. Krumanaker about the time her 12-year-old lab mix decided to chase a deer right over the fence and out into the wide world one evening. A microchip is the single best way that a lost pet can be linked back to his or her owner.

If your pet already has a microchip, make sure your contact information is up to date! All too often we find lost pets who have microchips that are still registered to a shelter or whose contact phone number is disconnected. Don't let that happen to your dog or cat. There are several different brands of microchip, and your pet needs to be registered in the correct database. To update your contact information with Home Again, click http://public.homeagain.com/. For AVID, click https://www.avidid.com/pettrac/enrollment.

Not sure which company? Look up your pet's microchip number at American Animal Hospital Association's website: http://www.petmicrochiplookup.org/ and then click on the link to the appropriate registry.

Privacy concerns? Microchip databases only include the contact information you choose to provide and are accessible only by registered shelter and veterinary personnel.

Not sure whether your pet has a microchip or not? Scanning your pet for a microchip is fast and free at our office - no appointment needed.

Still have questions? Further information about microchips, including what frequencies are needed for international travel, can be found at:

https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/FAQs/Pages/Microchipping-of-animals-FAQ.aspx

August 15 in National Check the Chip day. We at the Montgomery Animal Hospital will be happy to scan your pet so you can update your information and give your pet the best chance of coming home if he or she ever gets lost.

Montgomery Animal Hospital, 513 791-7912