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Microchips

post #1 of 17
12/2/10 at 10:26pm
Thread Starter 
So all three of my furbabies are microchipped. I've always paid the $15 annual fee... but money is tight now and that $45 would be helpful.... what happens if I don't pay the annual fee, does anyone know?
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post #2 of 17
12/2/10 at 10:46pm
Wow, I didn't know there were annual fees for microchips. I don't have an annual fee for Genever's microchip, she's got an AVID chip. The cost of getting it was included in her adoption fee from the SPCA, and they injected her right before we took her home. When we moved in August, I had to pay $6 for the company to change my address information. Other than that, no other fees... Who are you paying the fees to?
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post #3 of 17
12/2/10 at 11:01pm
Thread Starter 
home again....
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post #4 of 17
12/2/10 at 11:18pm
That is weird about annual fees, I've never heard anything like it. Both my cats have registered microchips and they're free.
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post #5 of 17
12/2/10 at 11:42pm
Oh... I just was looking up Home Again, looking at the FAQs, and it seems like that is a service you pay for to get all sorts of extra 'benefits' whether or not you get a microchip from them. So, if I wanted to, I could enroll my cat in Home Again even though her chip is an AVID brand chip. So I would think, if you cancelled your Home Again membership, it wouldn't affect the chips, you just wouldn't be able to call the 24/7 hotline and all that other stuff. If your cats got lost and ended up at a shelter or vet, they would still scan your cats, and as long as your contact info is up to date, they should find you! The Home Again program just gives you more access to.. I don't know, stuff you probably don't really need, in my opinion. But that's just what I got from quickly looking at the site. If it were me, I would save that $45 and use it for something else.
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post #6 of 17
12/3/10 at 6:35am
Thread Starter 
I think I'm going to, thanks!
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post #7 of 17
12/3/10 at 7:37am
I would call to double check.
My dog has a chip that traces back to the shelter...I am not worried about him leaving as hes at my side like glue...and if he ever did I am sure the shelter would try to get him back to me ASAP cause hes nuts
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post #8 of 17
12/3/10 at 7:10pm
I'm sure there's been threads on this before, and the answer was as DarkMavis posted.

Quote:
Originally Posted by catsallaround View Post
I would call to double check.
My dog has a chip that traces back to the shelter...I am not worried about him leaving as hes at my side like glue...and if he ever did I am sure the shelter would try to get him back to me ASAP cause hes nuts
Can you put your own info on, and leave the shelter as second contact? Just in case they don't contact you for some reason. The chips I use have a first and alternative contact, I put kitten owners as first and myself as second.
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post #9 of 17
12/6/10 at 6:08pm
Luna has Home Again, we didn't activate hers. Midnight has 24 Hour Pet Watch. We registered Luna under that 1. I think that 1 is free, we haven't gotten anything saying it wasn't. They accepted Home Again.
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post #10 of 17
12/6/10 at 7:05pm
I just went through this last week! I had to pay to activate Tumbles' microchip. You get 24 hr. poison control (you call them, they connect you to a vet), newsletter, travel assistance up to $500 if your pet is found more than 50 miles (I think) from your residence to bring pet home, some kind of "blast" to their network of shelters, vets, and rescue groups if your pet is lost.

I don't pay for my girls every year, but they're still on file and my contact info is up to date for them.
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post #11 of 17
12/6/10 at 7:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stephanietx View Post
travel assistance up to $500 if your pet is found more than 50 miles (I think) from your residence to bring pet home,
Geez, do they cover the lawsuit as well? I'm assuming if a cat is more than 50 miles away, someone stole it.
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post #12 of 17
12/6/10 at 7:32pm
No, it could've been lost while traveling or visiting relatives.
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post #13 of 17
12/16/10 at 9:50am
May I hijack the thread?

We've been thinking about getting Mollipop microchipped. Is it worth it? For peace of mind? We never did it with any of our other cats.
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post #14 of 17
12/16/10 at 3:15pm
Check with your local shelter. They can tell you if they scan cats when they come in.

Every animal that comes into our shelter is scanned, and every one that leaves out the front door is microchipped. We have called owners letting them know we had their animal (usually dogs) before they even knew they were missing (especially July 5). We called a cat owner a couple of weeks ago to let him know we had his cat. He had been looking for her, but didn't think of checking the shelter. He was extremely glad to come in and get her.
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post #15 of 17
12/16/10 at 5:18pm
In my area, almost all shelter pets are chipped...the vets, police departments and larger shelters can scan for all the major manufacturers.

A lot of times, vets and/or shelters will run 'specials' on chipping. I think it's worth it - especially since my boy refuses to wear his collar. They're both strictly inside cats, but you never know when an accident can happen.
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post #16 of 17
1/3/11 at 2:09pm
I think the microchips are definitely worth it. I have, years ago, gotten a call from a shelter to pick up my lost cat after they scanned her microchip. My cats are indoor only, but you never know when they might accidentally slip away by accident. I also do not trust a collar as a method of identification for my cats - I can't tell you how many collars my cats have lost over the years. I don't bother with them anymore.
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post #17 of 17
1/3/11 at 3:39pm
As far as I understand, the annual fee is like above stated, for "extras" but once your cat is chipped it's there forever, you've just got to make sure you update your info if you move/change your number/etc.
That said, if you have a rehome you would need to pay extra to get the transfer in your name and such. I've had a couple rehomes and I always pay that so they don't go contacting the old owner if they are lost.
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