Micro Chipping Question for Breeders

I am thinking of getting my dog micro chipped (cats later if I feel comfortable with it) but a question came to my mind about how the registration works for breeders. When you chip your kittens are they registered to you and if so do you pay an annual fee for each cat? I was reading the Home Again pamphlet I have and it says one time implantation fee (vet fee), one time activation fee, and the annual membership of $14.99. That would be quite costly to keep all your bred kittens/cats registered.

Over here it's a once off fee of getting the chip implanted, no ongoing costs. My boy was chipped in my name by the breeder (it's a law in that state, pets must be chipped), I imagine if there were ongoing costs that would become the responsibility of the new owners.

Originally Posted by kitytize

I am thinking of getting my dog micro chipped (cats later if I feel comfortable with it) but a question came to my mind about how the registration works for breeders. When you chip your kittens are they registered to you and if so do you pay an annual fee for each cat? I was reading the Home Again pamphlet I have and it says one time implantation fee (vet fee), one time activation fee, and the annual membership of $14.99. That would be quite costly to keep all your bred kittens/cats registered.

Click to expand...

When was this annual fee decided? Two of my animals have Home Again chips and I never paid an annual fee.

I register all the kittens in my name and when they move you just change the owner details in the national "cat owner registry". Here you only pay one fee, about $17, not an annual.

Originally Posted by Sol

I register all the kittens in my name and when they move you just change the owner details in the national "cat owner registry". Here you only pay one fee, about $17, not an annual.

Click to expand...

I microchipped for a short time, and was hearing too much about vaccination site sarcoma, but I couldn't find actual statistics of the cats affected to the number of cats that have been microchipped to make a decision. I would love to hear feedback good or bad about microchipping, along with amount of time in doing so, thus far. Also, have you heard of any problems?
TIA!!

Originally Posted by cococat

When was this annual fee decided? Two of my animals have Home Again chips and I never paid an annual fee.

Click to expand...

It must be new I just read a post on the CFA list where a breeder said she is appalled about the annual fee. I just don't see how they will be able to keep an annual fee. I have 6 animals now. I would not pay that. I have never had an animal get lost to fish out annual fees for something I might not ever use. Now I am not sure once again if I am going to microchip my animals.

I believe Avid does not have annual fees but I don't think that is a widely used chip in my area. I would need to find a vet who implants those.

Where did you read about the annual fee? Any links? I just had a kitty chipped with a Home Again chip, and did my last kitty earlier this year and the shelter definitely only talked about the registration fee, not an annual fee.

With this last kitty I had rescued, I got him microchipped, and just gave his new owner the paperowkr to get him registered. It's up to her what she wants to do with it, but at least if he does go missing, and they don't have her details, they can track the microchip back to the shelter, and then to me.

And all my kitties are microchipped, which is done as part of the adoption process, but even if it wasn't I would get them done anyway. The potential side effects of getting them chipped are incredibly low and not worth worrying about (to me) compared with the peace of mind knowing if they get lost and lose their collars, they will get returned to me.

You need to weigh up the possible risks, what the chances are of that happening, and the benefits. I've never known of a cat to get problems from the microchip, but I've known of plenty of indoor cats who've escaped and not been found who haven't been microchipped, and I've seen so many pets get reunited with their owners almost immediately at the shelter thanks to having a microchip. It's a no-brainer for me.

Originally Posted by sarahp

Where did you read about the annual fee? Any links?

Click to expand...

I read about it in the pamphlet I got from my vets office. I went to the website but I don't think I saw anything about fees at all. The pamphlet does say the New HomeAgain so maybe you pay the annual fee for the new features they offer. Here is their website

www.HomeAgain.com

Originally Posted by kitytize

I read about it in the pamphlet I got from my vets office. I went to the website but I don't think I saw anything about fees at all. The pamphlet does say the New HomeAgain so maybe you pay the annual fee for the new features they offer. Here is their website

www.HomeAgain.com

Click to expand...

I had a read of the website as well and couldn't find anything! I tried googling for "home again microchip fees" and got nothing useful.

Originally Posted by sarahp

Where did you read about the annual fee? Any links? I just had a kitty chipped with a Home Again chip, and did my last kitty earlier this year and the shelter definitely only talked about the registration fee, not an annual fee.

With this last kitty I had rescued, I got him microchipped, and just gave his new owner the paperowkr to get him registered. It's up to her what she wants to do with it, but at least if he does go missing, and they don't have her details, they can track the microchip back to the shelter, and then to me.

And all my kitties are microchipped, which is done as part of the adoption process, but even if it wasn't I would get them done anyway. The potential side effects of getting them chipped are incredibly low and not worth worrying about (to me) compared with the peace of mind knowing if they get lost and lose their collars, they will get returned to me.

You need to weigh up the possible risks, what the chances are of that happening, and the benefits. I've never known of a cat to get problems from the microchip, but I've known of plenty of indoor cats who've escaped and not been found who haven't been microchipped, and I've seen so many pets get reunited with their owners almost immediately at the shelter thanks to having a microchip. It's a no-brainer for me.

Click to expand...

I agree with you, that microchipping sounds like a great idea, and I have toyed with the idea, not only for my cats, that are not allowed outdoors, even with leash, I don't believe in cats outdoors, but that is another subject. My cats, will not run out the door if it was open, but that isn't my concern, so much for my cats, but I have thought about doing the kittens and place the chip in my name, so in that occasion, someone thinks of not returning a kitten to me, and places it in pound or rescue, I would be notified.
However, I am reading about many of the associated risks, and while these risks may be very low in comparison to the cat microchipped, I would like to know ratio's before doing so. I don't know how low or high the risks are, which is why I would like more research before I jump into something.

The microchip that was done to one cat, fell from where it should have stayed, and the vet couldn't locate it for a short time. Plus one needs to know the benefits to both brands, Avid and Home again, and how often the rescue organizations carry the scanners to scan the pets, or microchipping is useless in some shelters, as they may only carry one kind of scanner. I thought Avid was most widely used, and there is the European Avid, but it can't be read by US avid scanners, or vice versa.

I understand, it does seem in theory a "no brainer", but there is a concern, and with that concern, I would like to know more research ratio's of associated risks, not only in cats, but dogs as well.

Thank you for your input. It will help others.

i must admit i have never had a cat go missing on me. and iv never chiped my cats only because i dont know to much about it apart from what the vet has said. one of my cats are chiped that was because he was a stray and the shelter chiped him while neutering him , we wasnt sure if he would adjust to a life of indoors/outdoors but he has just fine. and so far nothing has gone wrong, but im not sure about the hole thing putting a foregin *SP* body in my cats. but that is just imo. sorry i know this is off topic.

About the annual fee:

Looks like they have two levels of service. Normal service is still no annual fee. My account says we have "Limited". That appears to mean that I can still pay my info, and if a vet/shelter finds Puppy, they'll get his data from HomeAgain.

The "deluxe" service is what you pay the fee for. if your pet gets lost, they send you fliers to place in the neighborhood, they call the shelters and vets offices, and generally help you out. IMO, not worth the money. I emailed HomeAgain to verify that they have created two service levels. I also asked that they please make that explicit on their site

Regarding whether it works:
I'm a fan. We found Puppy as a stray. He was hanging around for months. When we decided to keep him, we took him to the vet. First thing she did was check for a chip. Indeed, he had one, and his owners came to get him (they gave him back to us, but that's another story...)

We changed the info to be our name and address. They don't just let you change the registration though, the registered owners either have to approve or be MIA. (In our case, they didn't respond for 6 weeks, so HomeAgain registered Puppy to us.)

All the vets I've been to have a scanner, and the larger shelters have them. I don't think the little shelter I got Bunny from had one, but she takes her animals to her vet when she gets them, and they get scanned there. Avid and HomeAgain can be read by a universal scanner. The vets purchase the scanner; they need them in order to double check chips that they implant. Like I said, larger shelters will purchase them too, and small shelters will just use the one at their vet's office.

As far as service, they're about the same. HomeAgain lets you change registration info online, and they let you add extra info about the animal. AVID is a little more limited, and you have to mail it in. HomeAgain also has the annual fee IF you want deluxe service. Otherwise, they cost about the same. Most vets only implant one or the other, but their scanner reads both. I would have liked to get Bunny with HomeAgain so they are on the same one, but our vet here uses AVID. No biggie though.

I think that if you're a breeder, it would be great. Register them all in your name, and tell their new owners that you will NOT, under any circumstances, change the registration. They must leave their contact info with you, and they must call you when they need it updated. Your babies will never end up in a shelter without you knowing.

I don't know about microchips in the US, but in the UK you pay a one off fee to have your details and the chip barcode entered in the registry.

HOWEVER, they also offer more services for an additional annual fee - such as if your pet goes missing they will notify all shelters and vets within a certain distance of your home, that sort of thing. Here, the annual fee is for those optional extras.

Originally Posted by FamilytimeRags

I microchipped for a short time, and was hearing too much about vaccination site sarcoma, but I couldn't find actual statistics of the cats affected to the number of cats that have been microchipped to make a decision. I would love to hear feedback good or bad about microchipping, along with amount of time in doing so, thus far. Also, have you heard of any problems?
TIA!!

Click to expand...

The most common problem as I've understood is that the chip can move. The newer kinds don't move a lot, but my studs chip is no longer in the neck region it's by the ribs. Not a big problem though.

I've never heard of sarcomas associated with micro chipping and here in Sweden most breeders have to chip their cats in order to be able to register their offspring so most breeders I know do chip. None of the ones I know have had any problems with micro chips.

However I've heard about one case where the kitten made a sudden move during the chipping procedure, the needle penetrated the spine and the kitten died but that could have happende during a vaccination to.

I don't have any statistics though.

Originally Posted by bab-ush-niik

About the annual fee:

Looks like they have two levels of service. Normal service is still no annual fee. My account says we have "Limited". That appears to mean that I can still pay my info, and if a vet/shelter finds Puppy, they'll get his data from HomeAgain.

The "deluxe" service is what you pay the fee for. if your pet gets lost, they send you fliers to place in the neighborhood, they call the shelters and vets offices, and generally help you out. IMO, not worth the money. I emailed HomeAgain to verify that they have created two service levels. I also asked that they please make that explicit on their site

Click to expand...

Thank You! That is what I wanted to know!

The most common problem as I've understood is that the chip can move. The newer kinds don't move a lot, but my studs chip is no longer in the neck region it's by the ribs.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the vets seem to be aware of this though. When Puppy was checked, the vet ran the scanner across his back and down his sides. She went over several times to make sure that she got the same number each time.

However I've heard about one case where the kitten made a sudden move during the chipping procedure, the needle penetrated the spine and the kitten died but that could have happende during a vaccination to.

Click to expand...

It's a BIG needle. So that would be more likely. Plus, the cat squirms a lot because it's painful. Our vet has a technique to confuse the kitty and prevent problems. He pulls up the skin by the cats neck and shakes the skin around a few times. Then he injects into that area. Even then, Bunny squirmed and cried really loudly. She still wailed a couple times after it was over, and she huddled into my arms. He said she squirms more than most cats, but he got it in fine. The shaking did seem to confuse her long enough for him to make the injection. It also helped him hold her in place.

Originally Posted by bab-ush-niik

It's a BIG needle. So that would be more likely. Plus, the cat squirms a lot because it's painful. Our vet has a technique to confuse the kitty and prevent problems. He pulls up the skin by the cats neck and shakes the skin around a few times. Then he injects into that area. Even then, Bunny squirmed and cried really loudly. She still wailed a couple times after it was over, and she huddled into my arms. He said she squirms more than most cats, but he got it in fine. The shaking did seem to confuse her long enough for him to make the injection. It also helped him hold her in place.

Click to expand...

Sure, it's a big needle but in order for the needle to penetrate the spine the cat actuarally has to jump back against the needle and if the cat jumps... I believe a smaller needle will penetrate the spine just as well as a bigger needle. I still haven't had one cat jumping when being micro chipped. My kittens haven't reacted at all, one of the adults squirmed a little but it wasn't much.

Hi All Who Have Posted,

I have enjoyed reading the replies, this is really a topic I have stuggled with. As a breeder, I would really like to apply this procedure to every kitten prior to leaving me, when they are spayed and neutered at 12 weeks of age, I could have the vet do this while they are still sedated to risk the "jerking around" if it was to happen. A few cats we have sent Internationally have had to have the Euro microchip, but I frequent many different cat and dog forums.
I guess I really would like to know stats on site sarcoma's. It sounds as if the moving around is common, and I would assume if it is only beneath the skin, it shouldn't move to a place that would cause a problem. What about infection at the time of injection, has that ever been a problem, or an allergic reaction? I suppose the ratio would be about the same as the amount of cats/kittens who have reactions, and we still know that vaccinating is an important part of health. (See I am debating this in my own head as I write ) I think I will find out from one other person, and then speak more with my vet as well.

What chips again are most known? Avid, Home Again, what other brands are their? My contract on kittens say I get them back to place, and for 5 years I have been blessed, I have only had to rehome brothers, and it went really well. I know that each one of my cats are safe inside the home, but I also know that (1. Accidents can happen, and the cat go outside, without owners knowledge) and (2. What if with all my intrusive questions to the adoptive family, that I am wrong, and a year or so down the road, they have problems, don't contact me, and instead place my cat/kitten in a shelter, I would want to know this. It does seem like a "no brainer" when it comes to these thoughts.

I am someone who weighs things very cautious, so I will let everyone know what and when I decide. Please keep up the conversing, if others have good or bad experiences.

Originally Posted by bab-ush-niik

About the annual fee:

Looks like they have two levels of service. Normal service is still no annual fee. My account says we have "Limited". That appears to mean that I can still pay my info, and if a vet/shelter finds Puppy, they'll get his data from HomeAgain.

The "deluxe" service is what you pay the fee for. if your pet gets lost, they send you fliers to place in the neighborhood, they call the shelters and vets offices, and generally help you out. IMO, not worth the money. I emailed HomeAgain to verify that they have created two service levels. I also asked that they please make that explicit on their site


HomeAgain also has the annual fee IF you want deluxe service. Otherwise, they cost about the same. .

Click to expand...

Thank you bab-ush-niik

Originally Posted by FamilytimeRags

As a breeder, I would really like to apply this procedure to every kitten prior to leaving me, when they are spayed and neutered at 12 weeks of age, I could have the vet do this while they are still sedated to risk the "jerking around" if it was to happen. A few cats we have sent Internationally have had to have the Euro microchip, but I frequent many different cat and dog forums.
.

Click to expand...

I know of a breeder who chips co-owned cats in her name and for the ones she sells altered that outright own (no co-ownership) their cats/kittens she offers a microchip service on site at her home (it really is cost effective and isn't hard) and will chip the kittens/cats before they leave her home and let the new owners register them in their names before taking the cat/kitten. If she is shipping she will require the paperwork be filled out before they get their cat/kitten.