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Microchipping

A quick microchip gives your pet a permanent ID and increases their chance of being reunited if lost.

Microchipping: A Simple Step That Can Bring Your Pet Home
Collars and tags are helpful, but they can fall off or become unreadable. Microchipping offers permanent, secure identification that can help reunite you with your pet if they’re ever lost.

This quick, one-time procedure gives your pet a voice when they need it most—and dramatically increases the chance of a safe return home.

What Is a Microchip?

A microchip is a tiny device—about the size of a grain of rice—that’s inserted just under the skin, usually between the shoulder blades. It contains a unique ID number that links to your contact information in a secure pet registry.

Important note: A microchip is not a GPS tracker. It doesn’t show your pet’s location in real time, but it allows shelters and veterinary clinics to scan and identify them if found.

How It Works

  1. A veterinarian injects the microchip under the skin with a quick, nearly painless injection

  2. The chip stays in place for life and requires no maintenance or battery

  3. When scanned, the chip shows a unique number tied to your contact details

  4. You register the chip with your contact info (we’ll guide you through it)

  5. If your pet ever ends up at a shelter or vet’s office, they’ll be scanned and matched to you

Why It Matters

  • 1 in 3 pets will go missing during their lifetime

  • Only about 20% of dogs and 2% of cats without microchips are reunited with their families

  • With microchips, return-to-owner rates increase significantly—up to 38% for cats and over 50% for dogs

Microchipping provides peace of mind that if the unexpected happens, your pet has a reliable way home.

When to Microchip

Microchipping can be done at almost any age, and we often recommend it during spay/neuter surgery to combine it with an existing procedure. But it can be done at any routine visit in just a few minutes.

We’ll also check your pet’s chip during exams to make sure it’s still in place and working properly.

Your pet depends on you to keep them safe—and microchipping is one of the simplest ways to do just that. It’s affordable, fast, and could make all the difference in a moment that matters.

📍Want to check your pet’s registration? Contact us, we’re happy to help.

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FAQs

Answers to Common Questions

Harbor View Veterinary Hospital keeps track of your pet's weight just like your doctor's office keeps track of your height and weight each time you visit. Having an accurate and current measurement of your pet's weight will help us ensure that we prescribe the right dose of preventives, medications, and any needed anesthetics. It can also help us notice any early clues to health concerns. In addition, a regular weigh-in can help you track and manage your pet's weight.

Call us. Just like doctors, veterinarians sometimes need to try more than one treatment/medication to find the correct solution to cure or manage a pet's condition. Please let us know if something we recommended or prescribed isn't helping. We want to work with you to find the right answers for your pet.

Veterinarians can't diagnose over the phone. Besides being unethical and illegal, diagnosing by phone doesn't allow veterinarians to physically examine a pet. A physical exam is necessary so your veterinarian can provide an accurate diagnosis and proper treatment. Treating a pet for the wrong disease or condition will cost more in the end and could be harmful or even deadly to your pet.

Spaying and neutering can have major benefits for your pet, including lowering or preventing the risk of several diseases and types of cancer. Your veterinarian will be happy to discuss these benefits. In addition, spaying and neutering helps control the pet population by reducing the number of unwanted pets. Spaying and neutering are surgical procedures that require your pet to be put under anesthesia. The cost of these procedures takes into account the anesthesia, your veterinary team's time and expertise, monitoring, drapes, suture material, and hospitalization. Spaying or neutering your pet is much less expensive than feeding and caring for litters of unwanted puppies or kittens or dealing with potential pregnancy complications.

Your veterinarian will determine which vaccinations are appropriate for your dog or cat, based on individual factors, such as lifestyle and health status. Veterinarians commonly recommend that dogs be vaccinated against rabies, distemper, Lyme, and Leptospirosis parvovirus and that cats be vaccinated against rabies and panleukopenia (feline distemper). Additional vaccines, such as feline leukemia virus (FeLV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and Bordetella (kennel cough), Lyme, and Leptospirosis are recommended based on your cat or dog's risk. Many of these diseases can be fatal to your pet. Preventing them is far easier and less expensive than treatment. If you would like more information on vaccines, ask your veterinarian.

For the safety and protection of all clients, patients, and veterinary team members, we require all pets to be on a leash or in a carrier when they arrive at our hospital. They must continue to be restrained while they are in the reception area and while traveling to and from the exam rooms. Your veterinarian or veterinary technician will let you know when it's OK to let your pet off leash or out of his or her carrier. There is often a lot going on at our hospital. Combine that with unfamiliar surroundings and new animals, and any pet-even one that is well trained-might become uneasy or overly excited. We want you and your pet to have as pleasant an experience as possible every time you visit our hospital, so we ask all our clients to respect our policy.