just called my vet about microchipping ...$$$$$$$

ladycat

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 13, 2007
Messages
754
Purraise
2
Location
RI
110 for each cat (5 of them) and 3 need to have shots done on top of that!!! ouch! I need to at least get ceasar microchipped though, he is the escape artist!!!!!I don't know what I would do if I lost him. Bentley..well he gets curious and once in a while makes an attempt for the door then doesn't reconize his surroundings and runs back in so not to worried about him
 

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
22,317
Purraise
20
Location
USA
Wow! Honey you need to find a new vet! Your vet is price gouging! At our shelter (And other local shelters) it is only $15 for us to microchip and then you go online and pay a one time registration fee of $17.50 and they're covered for life.....so let's see..a total of $32.50 at many shelters.

At most vet's offices (they don't get the same discount from the chip companies as many shelter's get so they need to charge a little more in most cases) it is between $20-35 to chip and you should still go online and pay the $17.50 registration fee.

So for your vet to ask $110 for EACH - oh my goodness! That is extremly over priced! I'd go to another vet for the chips or to a shelter. IF your furbabies are former shelter baibes- i'm sure the shelter would chip them for your. It takes a whole 5 seconds. They can get chipped anywhere- so definitely go somewhere more affordable
 

kitytize

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
2,155
Purraise
2
Check your local Humane Society. Here the Humane Society will chip for $20. My vet charges $35.
 

trixie23

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
2,173
Purraise
2
Location
Right Behind You
I just checked my state's humane society and they are offering a rabies and microchipping clinic next week and the following... It costs $5 if you qualify based on income. I would suggest calling around to check your options
Best of luck, it does add up.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

ladycat

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 13, 2007
Messages
754
Purraise
2
Location
RI
wow, I'm glad I posted!!!!
I will defenitly call around and ask now. that's outrageous! thank you so much folks! Again, I am so glad this site is here!!!!
 

fostermomm

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
1,032
Purraise
1
Location
Hicksville
Our rescue does it for $20 for the general public. I could never imagine paying that much for a microchip!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

ladycat

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 13, 2007
Messages
754
Purraise
2
Location
RI
ack, I just called another place, and it was the same price...poop!!!!!looks like lots of phone calls will be done
 

natalie_ca

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
21,136
Purraise
223
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Both of my cats have ear tattoos, not micro chips and they were done free when they were each spayed.

If I ever get another cat I will still opt to go with an ear tattoo because unlike a microchip, you can see the tattoo if you look inside the ear. So anyone who finds my cats will see right away without having to go to a shelter or vet's office (which many people wouldn't bother to do) and know that they have a home, and hopefully just pick up the phone and call the humane society for the particulars.

I know for me it would never occur to me if I found a "stray" to take it to the vet or humane society to have a microchip checked. Chances are I would post flyers and if no one claimed her/him, I would just keep the kitty. Now if I saw an ear tattoo I would know that the kitty had a home and was just lost and not a "stray".
 

natalie_ca

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
21,136
Purraise
223
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Originally Posted by ladycat

ack, I just called another place, and it was the same price...poop!!!!!looks like lots of phone calls will be done
Does your city have a spay and neuter clinic that your humane society deals with? They usually charge much less than a vet for such services as spaying and tattooing (microchipping)
 

fostermomm

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
1,032
Purraise
1
Location
Hicksville
I personally get every stray I find checked for a micro chip. Four out of the Five dogs I found were micro chipped and about half the cats were. I tell everyone to check for micro chips.

As for ear tattooing only one vet even does it around here and they arent a good vet. Plus I would never notice a tattoo in a cats ear.
 

alleygirl

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
We have a low-cost spay/neuter clinic here that does it for $25 and they also do vaccines for cheaper. I would definitely check with the Humane society and other places. No way I would pay that much for it.
 

cairo

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 25, 2005
Messages
387
Purraise
1
Location
Falls Church, VA
Vet costs are high priced in my area, but even with that, my chipping only costed about $35 per pet, plus the online registration fee of $17.50.
 

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
22,317
Purraise
20
Location
USA
Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Both of my cats have ear tattoos, not micro chips and they were done free when they were each spayed.

If I ever get another cat I will still opt to go with an ear tattoo because unlike a microchip, you can see the tattoo if you look inside the ear. So anyone who finds my cats will see right away without having to go to a shelter or vet's office (which many people wouldn't bother to do) and know that they have a home, and hopefully just pick up the phone and call the humane society for the particulars.

I know for me it would never occur to me if I found a "stray" to take it to the vet or humane society to have a microchip checked. Chances are I would post flyers and if no one claimed her/him, I would just keep the kitty. Now if I saw an ear tattoo I would know that the kitty had a home and was just lost and not a "stray".
Ear tattoo's are ok, but they are definitely not the best method out there for identification purposes. However, microchipping is. The reason for that is if the animals gets loose, oh say in a natural disaster (think about hurricane katrina) the benifit to the microchip -is that if the animal winds up in another state/etc due to rescues/etc- it can be relocated with the owner hopefully because the micrichip registry is a national thing. So as long as the owner follows up after the animal is chipped and registeres them- they should be covered for life. Any shelter or vets office they wind up in SHOULD check them for a chip. (i say should because sometimes you'll find a lousey one that doesn't. i do know that all of the shelters in our area, including mine, and vets offices check all new animals for chips.) The problem with the tattoo is that it is limited to the vet's office that did it- so if in a natural disaster, the vet's office were to be destroyed- we have no way of finding the owner from a tattoo only if they are displaced as well. With the chip- there is a chance because no matter if your vet's office, shelter, or you home gets destroyed...the animal could still have it's chip traced anywhere in the country and be relocated. Another good thing about the chip- if you do wind up being displaced...you can access a computer anywhere and update your pet's inforamtion/ new address where to find you!
There is no such luck with the tattoo. Also another problem with the ear tattoo's is the color of the ink.

Most places only use one color. This makes it very hard to trace where the animal was origionally inked because there isn't a color code for each shelter/vets office. At all of our local shelters and many vets offices- for the spay/neuter tattoos -each has a different color so it's easier to trace. My shelter uses a teal green, another uses blue, another purple...and so on. That way if an animal comes in with the tattoo- we know which shelter/vets office they originated from and then we can see if they have a file on the animal. With ear tattoos there is no such luck as most places use only black ink. (we have had several come into the shelter since i've been there with ear tattoos- we had to call every vet's office/shelter in the area! That's hundredes to weed through in a huge city like Memphis. It can be exceptionally hard/impossible to find). We had one come in this week for instance with an ear tattoo. The dog was older and the tattoo had faded considerably to the point we could not read the infomation well. (one of the officer's fortunately recognized the dog from a previous call he had taken at that home- and was able to contact the owner from his memory - they didn't want her back
) The thing was though- the tattoo was no help at all.

The best visible form of id is a proper fitting collar and id tag. The other most reliable source would be the microchip for the above reasons.
 

ddcats

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
848
Purraise
2
Location
Where whiskers abound.
Originally Posted by cococat

That price is outrageous. Also, I believe many vets no longer recommend yearly shots every single year, that is probably even more true for inside only kitties.
http://cats.kenanderson.net/html/vaccinations.html
http://www.consumerreports.org/Pets/
http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Daily...earlyShots.htm
So glad you posted these links, cococat, I printed the info that states how long a vaccination lasts, some last up to 6 years! And the vets really are making BIG $$$$ on those of us who don't know any better, now I know better--I just got in the postcards that my cats are due for their yearly shots.

Going to do a little more research to see exactly what I should and should not have my cats vaccinated against.
 

brittany

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
146
Purraise
1
Location
Spokane, Washington
The vet I took Tsar to, that was just a regular vet, charged 30 dollars. I thought that was too much!! A lot of low cost shelters have events around here, where a vet comes and does it for like $15, I'm assuming the trade in is that the vet's name is posted all over the place LOL.

Are you sure it wasn't 110 total for all 5? Maybe a miscommunication? If I were you I'd be really concerned about what I paid for previous services too!!
 
Top