When we like someone, we date them. Sometimes for a little while, sometimes for longer. My husband and I dated for seven years! Then, when you feel ready to tell the whole world that you love this person, you get engaged. That ring on my finger is not just a gift from the person I love; it’s a sign to the whole world that I’m not alone, that I’ve chosen to spend my life with someone.

How wonderful that an equally big gift exists for our furry family? The pet equivalent of a wedding ring is a microchip. It’s a sign to the whole world that, even if our pet is lost, they are not alone. They have a family waiting for them.

A microchip looks like a small grain of rice, and has two parts: a tiny chip that contains a unique number and that will transmit that number to a microchip reader when it is held close to it, and a protective casing made out of a substance used in human surgery. If you’ve ever had dental repair work or bone surgery, you’ve probably got some of this glass-like material in you, too!

The microchip your vet places in your pet contains only these components, which is why it is so small that it can fit through a needle! As technology improves, some wildlife is being implanted with a larger chip that can also track their location and their temperature to help keep them safe from poachers and disease, but this version is not yet widely used for pets. What your vet means when she recommends microchipping your pet, is just the version with the unique number.

Microchips are given through a single-use, sterile needle just a little bigger than a vaccination needle and usually just under the skin between the shoulder blades. It can be given without any anaesthetic, because it doesn’t hurt more than a normal injection. In fact, many vets will inject the microchip at the same time as the final puppy vaccination or when your pet is spayed or neutered. As soon as the microchip is inserted, it is active and will remain active throughout your pet’s life without needing to be replaced.

So now what? Well, every microchip in the world has a unique number. And that number is now your pet’s. You or your vet will link that number with your name, address and phone number, and that means that, for the rest of your pet’s life, anybody who scans their chip will not only know that they have a family, but that you are their family. That makes it really easy to contact you if they ever get lost. All vets and all animal shelters have these scanners.

All pets can be microchipped. My rabbits, my bird and my cat are all chipped. In South Africa, it is legally required to microchip all owned dogs, but we recommend it for all your pets.

Several companies in South Africa sell microchips, but at Labradoor Vet Services, we use BackHome microchips from Virbac. Here are the reasons we trust BackHome with the biggest gift you can give your pet:

1. Their microchips can be read all over the world, so even if your adventure takes you to a distant country, your pet will still be safe
2. The BackHome database is completely free to use and allows unlimited updates to your contact details in case you move or your phone gets stolen. You can even register pets who do not have BackHome chips on the BackHome site, so if you adopt a pet who already has a brand from a different company, you can still register all your pets in one place.
3. BackHome chips are already small, but for very small pets, they now also have a mini-microchip which is perfect for even teacup Yorkies and very small furries or reptiles.

So, if you love your pet, give them the gift of belonging. Speak to us today about getting them microchipped.