Microchip my cat?

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akshatp

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 1999
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My little kitty is going in to be spayed next Wednesday. The vet said they can microchip her while she is in for surgery, but I have heard from some people that the chips can cause cancer.

I found some articles on google that say 10% of animals injected with a microchip develop a sarcoma, and other articles that say its all BS.

SO I ask the ATOT crowd. Should I get her microchipped or not.

The way I look at it is if I do get her microchipped, there is a slight chance she can develop a cancer from it. And if I dont get it, then there is ZERO percent chance of cancer related to the chip. (although she could still get cancer somewhere else)

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
 
A

akshatp

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 1999
8,349
0
76
Originally posted by: SuperSix
BS. Chip the cat. It's cheap and priceless if you lose her.
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Only if someone turns her in to a shelter. But i agree, chances of getting her back are WAY greater.
 
lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,956
11,286
126
Keep kitty in the house where she belongs, and she won't need chips.
 
R

RKS

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,824
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81
We have our dog chipped but since he is spoiled, there isn't much chance or reason for him to stray.
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
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www.slatebrookfarm.com
They do NOT cause cancer. You think that people with 1000's or 10's of 1000's of dollars invested in animals are going to be happy with a 10% cancer rate? They operate at radio frequencies, and the chips that are placed under the animal's skin are passive - they don't have their own power source. There are no carcinogenic materials in contact with the animal's flesh either. You can get some more info here:
http://usanimalid.com/microchip.htm
Hopefully I'll be purchasing my own scanner this year & we will begin chipping all our animals.
 
G

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Are you planning to let her out? If so i would, if not forget about it. I didnt even get my cats vacinated for rabies because they never go out. And when they do it is literally to sit on the walk with me while I trim the bushes. They never run off and if they were to get into a fight it would be right in front of me. They are kind of naive but cute. Dogs run by with their owners and they dont even notice.

btw I doubt it causes cancer. Most animals seem to die of cancer anyways.
 
F

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
6,666
3
81
Originally posted by: lxskllr
Keep kitty in the house where she belongs, and she won't need chips.
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This.

However, if you do have the microchip implanted, please overclock and post results.
 
I

ithec

Member
Feb 25, 2009
105
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i was always told to go ahead and get the vaccine anyway
you just never know what your feet may drag in.
 
lokiju

lokiju

Lifer
May 29, 2003
18,526
5
0
I just had my cats tattooed when they got spayed and neutered.

Vets know to look for it and no chip inside them.
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
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www.slatebrookfarm.com
Originally posted by: Genx87
Are you planning to let her out? If so i would, if not forget about it. I didnt even get my cats vacinated for rabies because they never go out. And when they do it is literally to sit on the walk with me while I trim the bushes. They never run off and if they were to get into a fight it would be right in front of me. They are kind of naive but cute. Dogs run by with their owners and they dont even notice.

btw I doubt it causes cancer. Most animals seem to die of cancer anyways.
Click to expand...

I would still vaccinate an indoor cat. The vaccine is incredibly cheap. Bats are one of the more common carriers of rabies & quite often, bats figure out how to get inside houses.
 
Gooberlx2

Gooberlx2

Lifer
May 4, 2001
15,381
6
91
Just get the chip. Cats have an uncanny ability to sneak outside when you're not paying attention.
 
Modelworks

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76
The chips are dormant unless power is applied to them from an outside source. They don't contain batteries or anything like that so they are perfectly safe. It is about like implanting a piece of glass or plastic.
 
T

torpid

Lifer
Sep 14, 2003
11,631
11
76
Originally posted by: DrPizza
They do NOT cause cancer. You think that people with 1000's or 10's of 1000's of dollars invested in animals are going to be happy with a 10% cancer rate? They operate at radio frequencies, and the chips that are placed under the animal's skin are passive - they don't have their own power source. There are no carcinogenic materials in contact with the animal's flesh either. You can get some more info here:
http://usanimalid.com/microchip.htm
Hopefully I'll be purchasing my own scanner this year & we will begin chipping all our animals.
Click to expand...

While I agree that they don't cause cancer, I'm not sure about the reasoning above. Rabies vaccines are known to have a higher incidence of cancer at the injection site that one might expect and would seem to disprove the reasoning above if you substitute rabies vaccine with microchip. Some newer vaccines don't seem to have this problem, but for a while there it was definitely the case, and that's why they inject in a leg now instead of the upper torso as they did in the past.
 
TwiceOver

TwiceOver

Lifer
Dec 20, 2002
13,544
44
91
Does the majority of shelters in your area have a reader for the chip? If not, kinda worthless.
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Originally posted by: torpid
Originally posted by: DrPizza
They do NOT cause cancer. You think that people with 1000's or 10's of 1000's of dollars invested in animals are going to be happy with a 10% cancer rate? They operate at radio frequencies, and the chips that are placed under the animal's skin are passive - they don't have their own power source. There are no carcinogenic materials in contact with the animal's flesh either. You can get some more info here:
http://usanimalid.com/microchip.htm
Hopefully I'll be purchasing my own scanner this year & we will begin chipping all our animals.
Click to expand...

While I agree that they don't cause cancer, I'm not sure about the reasoning above. Rabies vaccines are known to have a higher incidence of cancer at the injection site that one might expect and would seem to disprove the reasoning above if you substitute rabies vaccine with microchip. Some newer vaccines don't seem to have this problem, but for a while there it was definitely the case, and that's why they inject in a leg now instead of the upper torso as they did in the past.
Click to expand...

This, I didn't know. As we often have bats in the barn (and bats, for the most part, are quite beneficial), I've been considering vaccinating the herd against rabies, just to be on the safe side. I'll have to look into what the relative risks actually are. Plus, I have to look at whether it's legal or not to administer the rabies vaccination to my own animals. I know I can't have it shipped into NY, and the vaccination isn't recognized by the state if done by other than a veterinarian. But, most of my animals aren't required to be vaccinated. It would just be for peace of mind.
 
T

torpid

Lifer
Sep 14, 2003
11,631
11
76
Originally posted by: TwiceOver
Does the majority of shelters in your area have a reader for the chip? If not, kinda worthless.
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This is a trickier question than you might think, too, OP as there are multiple standards for the chip. You need to find out what standards the chip works with and then find out whether local shelters can read chips of that standard. I think by now most shelters can read all of the three major types, but I'm not 100% sure about this.
 
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