Microchips give lost cats the best chance at being reunited with their families. In Victoria, by law, all cats must be microchipped before being sold, given away or adopted. Not only is it the law, microchipping is a vital part of cat care, alongside desexing and vaccination.
Cats that get lost and cannot find their way home often get taken to vets and shelters. Every year, these shelters are forced to put down too many cats that cannot find a home. Cats that have been microchipped stand the best chance of being returned to their families should they be separated. Vets and shelters are able to scan their microchips and reunite these cats with their families.
Yes. Even indoor cats need to be microchipped. Less familiar with their neighbourhood, indoor cats are more likely to get lost if they escape from your home. A microchip will help authorities reconnect you with your lost cat.
Microchips are small and will not impact at all on your cat’s day-to-day activities. In fact, chances are your cat already has been microchipped. You can check by feeling the scruffy part of their neck for a small bump, about the size of a grain of rice. If you can’t feel it then we can easily scan your cat with a special microchip reader to find the microchip and its encoded number.
Small, inert and unnoticeable, a microchip lasts the lifetime of your pet. Most commonly, the only side effect is a very slight stinging sensation as we insert the chip.
Your cat’s microchip contains a 15-digit code unique to them. It gives off no signal, does not require batteries and causes no harm. When your lost cat arrives at a shelter or a veterinary clinic, we will use a special scanner to read the chip’s code through your cat’s skin. This code corresponds to your pet’s profile, stored on one of Australia’s pet microchip databases.
If you have your cat microchipped at Frankston’s Karingal Veterinary Hospital we will register your cat with Central Animal Records. Central Animal Records is a database accessible only by pet owners, vets and animal shelters. Your information is kept private and is only used to reconnect you with your missing pet. The vet or shelter with your cat will access your profile on this database and use it to contact you.
Every unaccompanied cat that arrives at a shelter or vet is scanned for a microchip. Once scanned, the vet or shelter will search for your profile on their pet microchip database. As long as your details are up to date, they will then be able to contact you about your missing cat.
Once your cat has been microchipped, the vet will give you a certificate with your pet’s microchip number and the database on which they are registered. If you have moved or your details have changed since microchipping your cat, be sure to update your information on the database listed on this certificate. Alternatively, you can update your details using your pet’s microchip number and the Pet Address website. If you have lost your microchip certificate, ask your vet at your cat’s next annual check-up for the relevant information.
If you have lost your cat, you can contact Central Animal Records, or whichever database your cat is registered with, to let them know.
Visit our Lost & Found Pets page for more resources and advice.