How to Program a Microchip

Microchips offer a relatively inexpensive and reliable method of providing identification for your dog or cat. While a collar or tag can be removed if an animal is lost or stolen, microchips are permanently embedded in the skin of the animal and normally have no side effects. Roughly the size of a grain of rice, microchips are implanted just below the surface of the animal's skin through an injection administered by a veterinarian. Animal shelters and veterinarians use specialized scanners to read the data stored in the microchip and identify the animal.

Things You'll Need

  • Veterinarian
  • Microchip
  • Microchip paperwork
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Instructions

  1. Identify Your Pet With a Microchip

    • 1

      Contact a licensed veterinarian and make an appointment to have your animal microchipped. Decide which brand of microchip to use. There are two major microchip manufacturers: AVID (American Veterinarian Identification Devices) and Schering-Plough Home Again. Both chips work similarly, but are linked to different databases.

    • 2

      Use the paperwork provided by the veterinarian upon implantation of the microchip to contact the database of your chip manufacturer and register the microchip to your name. Each microchip is preprogrammed with a unique, unalterable identification number that is linked to the information registered with the microchip's manufacturer.

    • 3

      Update information with the microchip database as personal information changes. Report any change of address or phone number as soon as possible so you can be promptly contacted anytime the microchip is read.