Microchips - Avid, Homeagain, 24PetWatch...opinions please.

[dogs4life]

OK, I searched the forum for microchip information. I see some like HomeAgain, Avid and 24PetWatch.

I need to get Hank chipped and was wondering if anyone prefers one over the other and why.

I have Avid in my cat and used Avid on a dog I lost. I loved their compassionate staff when I called to report my dog missing, they also told me great tips for finding my dog. I was impressed with them but hate their address update policies. You have to send in your address with $$ by mail to change your address...too slow and cumbersome for me, that's why I have not taken the time to update my cat's address.

Montana has HomeAgain only because that's what the vet has and it was convenient. I've never had to call yet so not sure of their customer service.

Any info would be appreciated.

[D.Schäferhund]

hi
I am with home again, and they seem ok.
you can update adress info anytime.
when I reported my alex missing they were nice, though the alerts to shelters and Vets you have to upgrade the package ($$).

Thing is, all them micro chips are good and well, (all my dogs have chips)

wish, Vets would check for chips regardles, or the chips should be GPS trackable...something...
here with so much dogtheft going on and "dissapearing"dogs... the chip itself didn't proove very helpfull...
and i am not sure if Vets and shelters check each new dog if chiped or missing....


Edit: As i was sitting here tiping i saw a young hound "duke"as i got to know...wondering in my yeard...He was chiped, so i called home again, while they have you on the phone, they call the owner and try to arrange for pick up.unfortunatly the owner wasn't there so she just could leave a message. but she will pass on my phonenumber as soon as the owner calls, they asked if i could hold the dog until the owner can pick him up.
the Rabies tag was up to date and that Vets office is about 30 miles from me...
hope the owner is looking for him....

[dogs4life]

Thanks for your info...

So the dog you found had a collar with his HomeAgain tag and rabies tag. We actually don't have a collar on Hank so an external tag is not an option for me, he just too little IMO (He weighs in at a whopping 5 lbs and 5.5lbs when a little chubby)

I see all microchips as equal too, they are just PIT tags (Passive Integrated Transponder tags) and are only as useful as the service provider (24hr call center with courteous, proactive staff), scanner support and easy address updates. That's why I need your opinions on your experiences with them as I only have experience with Avid. Just Shopping around.

FYI- there are GPS internal tags you can implant in animals but they are very bulky and the process is very invasive. The GPS internal tags are used extensively in Tuna and Shark migration studies. There are also GPS collars which are used for wildlife management...very pricey though. I've heard of leopards, lynx and other large cats being studied using GPS collar data. GPS collars are not that popular since it's really expensive, usually people opt for the cheaper option, the radio collar using radio telemetry. Just some info to wet you appetite or spur an interest

[SpringerLover]

I have homeagain on both dogs and 2 cats. *shurg* It's worked fine for 6 years now I think. I never really searched around, our local shelter has a fundraising day where they chip for $25 so we supported them.

Address change is super easy, customer service was nice when I complained about AKC and the tag issue. Got it fixed right away.

I'll continue to use HomeAgain unless I find something better.

[dogs4life]

Originally Posted by SpringerLover

I have homeagain on both dogs and 2 cats. *shurg* It's worked fine for 6 years now I think. I never really searched around, our local shelter has a fundraising day where they chip for $25 so we supported them.

Address change is super easy, customer service was nice when I complained about AKC and the tag issue. Got it fixed right away.

I'll continue to use HomeAgain unless I find something better.

Thanks, I was hoping more people could give good reviews of HomeAgain...I was beginning to regret getting Montana that chip Great to know address change was easy....that's super important to me.

[ewarp]

I hate the fact that my dogs have AVID chips. As someone who moved around a lot for a while (college student), it was a major pain in the butt to have to pay to update the information all the time. I ultimately changed the information to the animal shelter I work for- everyone there knows my dogs and the shelter isn't moving or changing anything anytime soon.

We chip all the animals at the shelter with 24PetWatch microchips. I like them a lot- customer service is great, it's really easy to update your info (you can do it online!), and it's an easy company to work with.

[dogs4life]

Originally Posted by ewarp

I hate the fact that my dogs have AVID chips. As someone who moved around a lot for a while (college student), it was a major pain in the butt to have to pay to update the information all the time. I ultimately changed the information to the animal shelter I work for- everyone there knows my dogs and the shelter isn't moving or changing anything anytime soon.

We chip all the animals at the shelter with 24PetWatch microchips. I like them a lot- customer service is great, it's really easy to update your info (you can do it online!), and it's an easy company to work with.

Thanks for your advice. I hated the Avid address thing too. My cat has the address from 4 moves ago. Moving is stressful enough, you'd think updating your address for your pet as a "safety/id" tool should be free and user friendly. Oh well, they will have to change or lose customers....

SO you registered your chip # with your shelter??? Can anyone do that?

I was just relying on the Avid and HomeAgain database. Is that unrealistic of me? Should I take my animals #'s to our local shelter or register them somewhere else? I will not double chip....I know lots of people do that not knowingly confusing the whole issue further. Double chipped cats are pretty common at the cat shelter I volunteer for.

[calgal]

I have home again with both girls, but I do have a question about this now. A couple of years ago I was told at the shelter that there are a few companies putting out the chip, but the shelters and Vets. have their own machines to scan and they can't scan "all" the different types of chips because they are not universal. Has that changed? What if a dog that was chipped with home again got lost and taken to a Vet. or shelter that scans only Avid chips. The home again chip would not even register on the machine, so would they think the dog wasn't chipped. I'm confused now about this. Anyone know for sure if things have changed?

[dogs4life]

Originally Posted by calgal

I have home again with both girls, but I do have a question about this now. A couple of years ago I was told at the shelter that there are a few companies putting out the chip, but the shelters and Vets. have their own machines to scan and they can't scan "all" the different types of chips because they are not universal. Has that changed? What if a dog that was chipped with home again got lost and taken to a Vet. or shelter that scans only Avid chips. The home again chip would not even register on the machine, so would they think the dog wasn't chipped. I'm confused now about this. Anyone know for sure if things have changed?

Good point.

It's my understanding that all scanners will detect the chip but the codes (message) the chip sends to the scanner may not be 100% "readable" but the "pet id #" should be 100% readable. Although that is what I've heard and don't have cold-hard facts.

Ewarp, do you know?

ETA

I did a little digging. So it looks like all the U.S. scanners should read radiowave frequency of 125 kHz. In the 1990's chipping companies tried to out compete each other by using different frequencies, not sure when this stopped though.

HomeAgian WorldScan(R) claims to detect 125 kHz and 128 kHz AND will also detect the location of other tags utilizing other frequencies so they can extract the tag and figure it out.

24PetWatch claims that their tags are readable by Home Again, Crystal Tag and AVID readers.


Avid Microchip I.D. FAQ
HomeAgain FAQ
Trovan Microchips FAQ
24PetWatch Microchip Info