11-21-2007, 03:37 AM
There has been some speculation that the chips are leading to cancerous tumors, but I can't find anything that says this is a conclusively proven health risk. This is an article about it, though.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...97_pf.html
Louie is chipped, and it was a requirement of the animal rescue organization, and they paid for it. For Louie, it was really traumatic, because it wasn't done in conjunction with another procedure and he was painfully aware of what was happening. It terrorized him, and he was already scared enough. (It was NOT our regular vet, either.) We were threatened with an "Iggygate" situation if we didn't get him chipped and have it registered to them, too.
I do know there are different chips and those different chips require different scanners. There is a risk of someone using a scanner that doesn't pick up the signal of the chip, although Louie also has a tag on his collar saying he has an Avid chip. If his collar is still with him should he ever get lost, the chip would be helpful. If not, well...
I'd probably have it done again, but only if it could be done when the dog was under anesthesia. The cancerous tumor risk sounds kind of scary, but many of us have small cancerous tumors that are easily excised, and that's what these seem to be. One of our previous dogs had to have a number of them removed throughout his 13 year life, and he didn't actually die of cancer.
I know that our vet does keep all of the records for the chips he puts in, and if he's contacted about an animal that is lost, he sees to it the dog (or cat) is brought to his clinic for boarding until the owner can be contacted. I do like that aspect of it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...97_pf.html
Louie is chipped, and it was a requirement of the animal rescue organization, and they paid for it. For Louie, it was really traumatic, because it wasn't done in conjunction with another procedure and he was painfully aware of what was happening. It terrorized him, and he was already scared enough. (It was NOT our regular vet, either.) We were threatened with an "Iggygate" situation if we didn't get him chipped and have it registered to them, too.
I do know there are different chips and those different chips require different scanners. There is a risk of someone using a scanner that doesn't pick up the signal of the chip, although Louie also has a tag on his collar saying he has an Avid chip. If his collar is still with him should he ever get lost, the chip would be helpful. If not, well...
I'd probably have it done again, but only if it could be done when the dog was under anesthesia. The cancerous tumor risk sounds kind of scary, but many of us have small cancerous tumors that are easily excised, and that's what these seem to be. One of our previous dogs had to have a number of them removed throughout his 13 year life, and he didn't actually die of cancer.
I know that our vet does keep all of the records for the chips he puts in, and if he's contacted about an animal that is lost, he sees to it the dog (or cat) is brought to his clinic for boarding until the owner can be contacted. I do like that aspect of it.