Last week Michael and his friend Dragan were riding home from work when they found a large yellow lab sauntering down the middle of Glisan St. Quick thinking they stopped and called him over, and being a friendly yellow lab he was happy to say hi. They called Sarah, Dragan's wife to come pick up the lab, named Framus to come give him a ride to the clinic. Michael called the number on the tag but there was no answer so he left a message.

Framus arrived at the clinic and was greeted with cookies and a cool bowl of water. He thought we were pretty cool. We pulled out our microchip scanner and got started on the phone calls. First we called the microchip company to give them the number and get Framus's family's information. The phone number from the tag was the primary contact so Katie left a message there and called the alternate contact number. It was Framus' aunt. She told us the story of her brother being new in town and living near where Framus was found. She was really nice and told us to call if we didn't hear from Framus' dad.

So, we took turns petting him and hanging out with Framus until the phone rang - it was Framus' dad! He got our address and came on down. Seems that someone left the gate open and Framus decided to take himself on an adventure. Framus was happy to see him and got a ride back home.

Microchipping is done by placing a small readable chip (the size of a grain of rice) under the skin. The chip is scanned and a number comes up on the reader. The person scanning calls the company that made the chip, gives the number and gets the information. The needle for microchipping is rather large so we prefer to microchip under anesthesia or sedation but many pets do well awake. We typically microchip pets when they are under anesthesia for their spay or neuter surgeries. We  did just microchip two cats heading to Amsterdam while they were awake. The brother cat did well but the sister had a difficult time. We had to use a Feliway covered towel to wrap her up in and microchip her quickly after a failed attempt. It was difficult for all involved but it was so fast.

The microchips we use are made by HomeAgain. They are a great microchip manufacturer that uses a patented technology so the microchips are less likely to migrate from where they are placed. They also have a wonderful program that gives a central place to call if your pet is lost. When you call, HomeAgain will blanket a 25 mile radius faxing the lost pet poster to all veterinary hospitals, shelters and pet stores in the area. The registration also includes $3000 in insurance that covers injuries while the pet is lost, calls to the ASPCA Poison Control, and a way to make lost pet posters to hang in the area. The program is free for the first year when your pet is microchipped at our practice and then is $14.95 a year. The fee for microchipping is $50.