“Lost” microchip.....cat

barbiedoll

Has anyone ever had a microchip get “lost” in their pet?

We bought a chip-activated cat flap and discovered that our younger cat doesn’t have a chip, despite me asking for, and paying for one to be inserted when she was neutered, almost 5 years ago.

I don’t care about the extra £20 that it has cost me to get a new one fitted but I’m quite disgruntled about the fact that I could have lost her at any time, without a chip, I may never have found her again.

The weird thing is that she has a chip registered to her on Petlog, all of my contact details are there. So I can only assume that the chip has either been lost in some way, or, that it wasn’t inserted properly, or at all, in the first place.

I’m going to complain to the vets anyway, I don’t have my receipt but I do have the original chip number. Has anyone heard of a chip being lost after insertion? The (new) vet seemed to think that I’d simply got it wrong but I know that I haven’t....the Petlog entry is surely proof of that!

Carrot007

Could have been in a fight of got caught on something and it was removed.

Also they can move, but the vet should have done a good sweep with the wand to check for such.

Surely you were there when it was inserted anyway. They shoud always check with the wand afterwards to see it works.

barbiedoll

I wasn’t there when it was inserted originally as she was being neutered at the same time. I dropped her off in the morning and collected her a few hours later.

She’s not a fighting cat but she did wander off for a couple of days and came back covered in some sticky black stuff, we think she may have been shut in a shed or similar. So I guess it could have been dislodged if she was struggling to get out from somewhere?

The vet did a thorough sweep with the wand before inserting the new chip....definitely nothing there.

Slinky

Anecdotally I've heard that it's possible for cats to lose their chips, but I don't know of anybody that it's ever happened to.

Trina90

Isn't very common but microchips can stop working sometimes, so this may be the case.

Soot2006

They can migrate if the animal is small when it's first inserted, or if the animal has gone through a change in body fat distribution one way or the other! Rarely they can stop working entirely ... Vet could do another through sweep. My dog's is near her sternum & they often end up in armpits.

barbiedoll

She was swept with the wand by both the vet assistant and the vet. This was over her whole body, including all four legs, tail and belly. Plus she went through our chip-activated cat flap several times, she definitely had no working chip! (Our other cat went through it once and her chip activated the door immediately.)

I wondered if it was maybe inserted by an assistant or trainee, who may have either not injected it fully by not pushing the plunger down far enough, or if the needle went through the skin in my cat’s neck, and then out the other side? I imagine it can be a tricky job on a small, wriggling kitten, as she was then.

But ultimately, I paid for a microchip, and she didn’t have one, or certainly didn’t after 5 years. I just wondered if this was something that anyone else has come across.....it seems not.

Jemima09

barbiedoll wrote: »

But ultimately, I paid for a microchip, and she didn!!!8217;t have one, or certainly didn!!!8217;t after 5 years. I just wondered if this was something that anyone else has come across.....it seems not.

I have! One of my cats had a chip one day and then seemingly didn't any more! We have a microchip catflap too and she just stopped being able to get through it one day!

They said it could have migrated, but it was unlikely as they did a full check on her.. so most likely cause was chip failure. They put a new chip in and she's been fine, only that new one seems to pick up when they scan her, although I do keep her details up to date on the old chip too, just in case it ever decides to activate again!

My old vet used to scan for the chip every year as part of the checkup/jabs appointment, so you could ask your vet to do that if they don't (thinking about it, my current vet doesn't).. still doesn't stop it from happening but you might find out about it sooner.

DaftyDuck

It's not uncommon for chips to simply stop working. It used to be much less common, as the older chips were larger, more rugged, and more expensive.

They can certainly wander throughout much of the body, and can become unreadable and undetectable by readers or catflaps.

The original vet almost certainly did insert one as he stated. He would then have read it to check the number (the printed strips can be wrong).

If you took the animal back to him in the first place, he could have checked it himself, and would probably have replaced it for free. Same(ish) rule would apply to any consumer grumble; seller should be given opportunity to repair/replace.

Original vet can probably easily prove chip was inserted ... Registration and, if necessary, x-ray to show it's in there somewhere.

It's common. I don't think you have a reasonable complaint, but the original vet would probably have replaced it for free.

SensibleSarah

Is your cat long-haired by any chance? It's much more common for them to stop working in long-haired cats apparently. I foster kittens for a local rescue and they are often microchipped before they come to me, but I've known a few occasions when the chip has worked when they check it right after implanting, but not a few weeks later

barbiedoll

Thanks to everyone who replied, the last few answers have been really helpful, glad it’s not just me then!

I did go to another branch of the same vet, surprisingly though, their computers don’t keep the same records. I’m not bothered about the cash, it’s more that she could have been lost and possibly never returned to me.

The chips are tiny, I thought they were around the size of a micro sim or something like that, so I was surprised to see that they’re now the size of “half a grain of rice” as the vet showed me. I can imagine that they can fail, so I will make sure that both cats are checked if the cat flap stops working.

No, she’s not long-haired, just a bog-standard, short haired, extremely naughty tabby!