Emergencies
It is a legal requirement for all dogs to be microchipped, and the chip needs to be linked to the owner’s most current contact information to be compliant. All puppies must be vaccinated by 8 weeks of age before ownership is transferred from the breeder. You can be fined up to £500.00 if your dog is not microchipped. It is also worth noting, that if you are planning on taking your pet abroad, they must be microchipped and have a pet passport, animal health certificate or export health certificate.
It is possible to inject a tiny microchip (size of a grain of rice) into the scruff of your pet’s neck. This can be done at any age but we often recommend it is given at the second vaccination.
If your pet goes missing and is taken to a veterinary surgery, police station, or re-homing centre, staff will scan the pet and read the unique microchip code. This identifies your pet on a central database so that you can be contacted and your pet returned.
Microchipping is not only for dogs, but also for cats, ferrets, rabbits, snakes, parrot, tortoises and horses and comes highly recommended by all the team at Vet4Life.
You can also buy a cat flap or feeding bowl that responds to your cat’s microchip to stop unwanted visitors from entering your house.
Book a microchipping appointment online
Microchipping your pet at Vet4Life
At Vet4life, in keeping with doing the very best for your pets, we use the smallest possible microchips to ensure when implanted they are as comfortable as possible.
Sedation is not necessary for the implantation of the microchip as this procedure causes minimal discomfort and can be done in a routine consultation. And don’t worry if you can’t recall (or know) if your pet is microchipped – It is very easy to check for a microchip using a scanner. We can arrange for a member of the team at one of our Vet4Life branches to scan your pet and check for a working chip. Rest assured, we all always check that an animal hasn’t already got a microchip before implanting a new one.
At the time of implant, you will be asked to complete a registration form, from which your details are then submitted to a national database by a Vet4Life team member. Your details are kept on the database for your pet’s lifetime, and the fee for this is included in the cost of implantation.
It is important to update any changes to your contact details as soon as possible. At Vet4Life, all our microchips comply with the International Standard (ISO) and can, therefore, be recognised by scanners abroad when used in the pet passport scheme.
For more information, please speak to one of our friendly team members at one of our practices within the south of England by calling the branch most local to your home address.
Contact us to book your microchipping appointment for your pet
Teddington: 0208 977 3955
Shepperton: 01932 229 900
Surbiton: 0208 390 5270
