Friday, April 20, 2012

Microchip Reunions

4/20/2012

This past week we had two microchip reunions.  Of course these are ALWAYS happy events.

Every cat that enters our doors is scanned for a microchip.  Every cat that we adopt out has a microchip implanted.  And many feral cats that we relocate into barn situations have microchips.  And we aren't the only ones who microchip.  Every shelter in our County microchip their adoptees, not to mention the individual owners who have their animals protected with a chip.  Bottom line - there are a LOT of cats in our community with microchips - not enough yet, but a lot.

At spay/neuter clinic this week our transfer/sex team found one of the males brought in for altering was already altered and he was totally tame.  A quick scan of the microchip reader came up with that wonderful "beep" which meant a microchip was found.   We called the manufacturer, called the owner and although "Rambo" hadn't traveled far from home, he had been gone for five days and the owners son was beside himself with joy knowing his cat had been found.  It was a wonderful reunion.

The second story was a bit more unique.  One of our staff members, Taylor, took a phone call from a woman, Jane, who worked at a dentist office.  Through the window of their office they casually watched a truck pulling a trailor stop in their parking lot when an orange cat came flying out of the trailor escaping into the bushes.  All the gals in the office ran out into the parking lot to fetch and comfort the frightened cat.   An inquiry to the man driving the truck revealed that he had just been working at a job in the Forestville area and that he had no idea there had been a cat stowed away in his trailer.  Jane was calling us for advise.  She couldn't tell whether the cat was a boy, a girl, altered or unaltered - just that it was a sweetheart who was obviously lost.  Taylor offered Jane the opportunity to sign up for one of our spay/neuter clinics where kitty would be altered, if necessary, and certainly scanned for a microchip which is what she did.  Taylor also counseled that if she could get the cat to a shelter or a vets office in the meantime that they too would scan kitty for a chip and have it sexed.

As it turned out, Taylor received an e-mail from Jane which went something like this:

Taylor:  I wanted to let you know that I don't need the spay/neuter appointment we made for this week.  The vet at All Tails Wagging found a chip in "Trucker", our friendly stray, and he has been reunited with his owner in Guerneville.  We took him home and he was received with tears of joy.  Many thanks for your counsel and offer of help.

Hopefully Trucker...real name...Scruffy learned his lesson and will refrain from investigating moving vehicles and maybe this story will prompt someone to get their cat microchipped.  They work!

Meow for now,
Jennifer

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