Microchip Brand

What is a good brand of microchip? I'm planning on chipping both my cat and dog sometime this week and I've noticed that different vets carry different brands.

Does it really matter? I thought I read somewhere that some companies aren't as good as others, but what do I know.

Thanks

I personally go with Home Again which seems to provide the best service in case your pet gets lost. You probably want the chip inserted when your animal is under anesthesia (during spaying or neutering) to avoid pain.

Home again and Avid are the 2 most popular chips. The problem is no scanner can read all chips anymore. It will often pick up that there is a chip but a home again scanner can't read the number on an avid chip. Alot of vets seem to prefer home again which can only be given by a vet while Avid both gives discounts to and can be inserted by shelter workers and breeders so avid is often more popular in shelters. Best is to call your local shelters and see what scanners they have since that's where your animal is most likely to end up if lost. Some companies will send out a scanner for free to one of your local shelters or vet if you request it.

Also many companies have been charging monthly fees for extras like sending out alerts that your pet is lost. You still get listed in the database for the enrollment fee but beyond that have to pay monthly for any other services. This info is often not readily given at vet offices or even on the company sites so it may be best to call them and ask exactly what services are covered by the basic enrollment fee and what services they might have for extra fees.

Delilah has an Avid chip (inserted by the shelter) and Blue has a HomeAgain chip (inserted by my vet). The rest of my kitties will be getting HomeAgain chips in the next few months. HomeAgain does offer additional services like the email alerts with an annual fee, but the basic registration fee will connect your info to the chip for the pet's lifetime. (I do not pay the annual fee with HomeAgain, and I did get Blue back from a shelter via her microchip once when she wandered off.) I'm not sure what additional services Avid offers.

I like the HomeAgain service better because you can manage your pet's "profile" on their website. You can update your info, add your pet's photo, etc. You can also register your pet's microchip yourself via their website as soon as it's inserted, versus having the info mailed off and waiting for a confirmation letter.

The last time I looked, Avid did not offer any online capabilities. I think it took over a month to get confirmation of Delilah's Avid registration, and I had problems with information errors (gross misspellings, but at least the phone numbers were right).

Just my two cents!

Originally Posted by Sham

Alot of vets seem to prefer home again which can only be given by a vet while Avid both gives discounts to and can be inserted by shelter workers and breeders so avid is often more popular in shelters.

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The last two shelters I worked for both used Home Again and inserted it themselves. I personally prefer Home Again as the online records are easier to keep and I feel they have a better system for keeping track of everything. However, either Home Again or Avid would be a good option and are very well known and widely accepted.

I recommend contacting your local shelters to see if they offer this service. It's a quick and easy thing to have done and you can not only get it done much cheaper through a shelter, but the money goes to great cause. Depending on where they order their microchips from it usually costs the shelter less than $10 for the chips themselves. My shelter charges $25 which is quite a difference from the $50 charged by my vet. You can also check with your local animal control (or animal care & control) as they will often offer microchipping services as well. My counties animal control is very good about that.