# Are microchips dangerous?!



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

No chip problems other than Lily's migrating down along her humerus. Javelin got his on his first puppy vet visit.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Swizzle stick's had not migrated, no issues.


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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

No issues with any of our past or current dogs (7 total).


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## PhoebeAndMe (Dec 25, 2015)

No issues so far with the five cats or two dogs. I don't think our last dog was chipped.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Ours neither; I get them all chipped. I sometimes wonder if it's worth it because the likeliest scenario of them going missing is if they were stolen, and if someone bought an adult purebred would they scan it for a chip? Likely not. However....I chip them anyway  No problems so far!


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## peepers (Apr 13, 2012)

Never heard of this concern before. I would never hesitate to microchip a pet.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Thanks everyone, this is reassuring. I loath to think that I did something optional that could hurt Timi!


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Never a problem with my dogs being microchipped. I had a parrot microchipped once and he was fine also.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Tiny Poodles said:


> Recently my breeder mentioned that she does not like chips - she said she knew of a case where the chip migrated to the heart and killed the dog.


Of course... right thru the wall of the heart.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

That sounds like maybe the microchip wasn't implanted properly TP. That is the only time I hear of microchips causing problems, when they are implanted improperly. Certain brands place a substance on the chip to make the tissue bond to it real well during healing. The AVID chips my girls have don't have that and they have migrated. The Save This Life chip I have does and it doesn't go anywhere even if I try to manipulate it around. I can actually feel the tissue encapsulation around it its very thick and tough. If you are worried about that for future puppies I would recommend researching brands and see what ones you like that have that special coating on it.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

poodlecrazy#1 said:


> That sounds like maybe the microchip wasn't implanted properly TP. That is the only time I hear of microchips causing problems, when they are implanted improperly. Certain brands place a substance on the chip to make the tissue bond to it real well during healing. The AVID chips my girls have don't have that and they have migrated. The Save This Life chip I have does and it doesn't go anywhere even if I try to manipulate it around. I can actually feel the tissue encapsulation around it its very thick and tough. If you are worried about that for future puppies I would recommend researching brands and see what ones you like that have that special coating on it.



My girls have Home Again.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Never had any issues with any of my dogs or parrots with their chips.


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## Muggles (Mar 14, 2015)

Haven't heard of any problems either. It's mandatory in most of Australia for both dogs and cats.


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

Iris has Home Again....no problem and still in original location. 2 cats and another dog had Home Again and they were all in original location as well.

VQ


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

Misha has Home Again, I know it hasn't migrated because it is easily felt under her skin. Her vet placed it in a really weird place though, Just behind where her ear meets her head on the right side. He did it while she was under anesthesia so it wasn't like she was wiggling!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Thanks everyone. I guess it is just like virtually everything that we do for our dogs well being - there is always someone, somewhere that it went horribly wrong for. As I have told you before, my first poodle died on the table being spayed, but I don't go around saying that spaying is dangerous, don't do it, it will kill your dog. I have come to accept that unfortunately I once "got hit by lightning ", but that does not mean that I, nor any of my friends is likely to get hit any time that they go out in the rain. I guess that a couple of people in the world, including one of my breeder's clients have gotten hit with microchip lightning...


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

There was a lot of discussion about potential ill effects when it was proposed that microchipping be mandatory for dogs in the UK (it is, from April 2016). The number of cases of significant damage or sickness was extremely small; the tumour issue was more common in cats, but still tiny numbers; the biggest fear was that a thief would be able to feel the microchip and cut it out. Now the debate has shifted to making the chip proof of ownership, and making mandatory the scanning of all new veterinary patients (and all dogs and cats found deceased). As you say, there is an element of risk in everything we do - feeding, vaccinating, exercising, getting on and off a chair... For me, the obvious benefits of microchipping far outway the tiny risk, which is made even tinier by ensuring it is done by a qualified and experienced practitioner.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Tiny Poodles I think you hit the nail on the head in your last post. Everything we do for ourselves or our dogs/cats/birds, etc. has some level of risks and some level of benefits. The decision one should make should be based on a well researched analysis of how the risks and benefits weigh against one another. Hopefully for most things the benefits clearly outweigh the risks by orders of magnitude, making the decision easy.


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

All my dogs and cat are chipped. Echo's has migrated down to the front of her shoulder, but otherwise nobody else has had an issue. 

Darby is 14, has had a chip since a puppy and no issues. 

Try to not read the inter webs so much  I know when I have a problem, or one of my dogs, by the time I'm done googling, I'm convinced we're all dying! 

 I think Timi will be just fine.


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

The microchip in our old lab migrated, but the only problem it caused was locating it. There's a potential for harm from almost everything, you could drive yourself nuts worrying about it.


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

Here you go guys....


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Shamrockmommy said:


> All my dogs and cat are chipped. Echo's has migrated down to the front of her shoulder, but otherwise nobody else has had an issue.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Isn't that the truth? For every single thing that you do for you or your dog, you can google and find somebody to tell you that it is a death sentence! It is just when my breeder whom I respect so much said that about migration to the heart, I had to investigate... But THAT, I couldn't even find one incidence of!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Oh yes, the migration of Lily's chip is really only an issue for finding it if she ever gets lost. Otherwise it is no big deal!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

lily cd re said:


> Oh yes, the migration of Lily's chip is really only an issue for finding it if she ever gets lost. Otherwise it is no big deal!



Was she a puppy when it was done? I do kind of think that waiting until they are mostly grown might help to avoid migration.
Timi was a little over 7 months - I was just getting a little nervous over how the public would react to her - too many weird characters that seemed to covet her... But I would have rather waited until she was over a year.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Lily was about 6 months old when she had her chip placed. I don't know when it migrated since it was just my odd thought to have them scanned for when we were in for our annual checks in January 2015. There is a note in her records that it is misplaced, both with our vet and with RescueLink. Javelin was nine weeks old when he got his.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

In my experience, it is rare for a migrating chip to cause problems. That being said i know of one case in which the chip found its way into the spine of an injured dog. It was removed and the dog fully recovered.
Eric


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

ericwd9 said:


> In my experience, it is rare for a migrating chip to cause problems. That being said i know of one case in which the chip found its way into the spine of an injured dog. It was removed and the dog fully recovered.
> Eric



Yikes! I guess that a blunt impact/crushing type injury could do that - really amazing and wonderful that the dog recovered.


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## hkb (Oct 12, 2014)

In the Australian state of Victoria, it's illegal to advertise puppies for sale without their specific microchip numbers. That said, some breeders will post on their websites that they have letters from their vet that chipping prior to 8 weeks is not great for the puppies, and they will pay for the microchipping later - I'm not sure how legal that is....

The only issue I've had with Smudge is that his first microchip (received at 12 weeks when I bought him) failed. We were notified by the chip manufacturers that there were issues with the batch and to get it tested - sure enough, Smudge's chip wasn't working.

So he got a new one (less than a year after the first one). It gets checked a couple of times a year - once at his yearly checkup, the second when we go to the Million Paws Walk.

The only side effect of being chipped twice - Smudge does not trust vets, *at all* (it's a big needle for a small dog, and hurts :sad: )


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

I got new collar IDs recently (the kind that fit flat on the collar itself, so we no longer have dangling tags). In addition to the dog's name, city/state, and two phone numbers, I included the word "microchipped," so even if the chip migrates, a vet or shelter would know to keep looking for it. (I know. It's overkill.)


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

JudyD if you don't have the tag from the microchip registration then I don't think noting it on the collar plaque is overkill at all. Since Lily's chip has migrated I do have concern over whether people would be persistent enough to find it. The day my vet checked their chips and we figured out hers had moved, he initially thought there was something wrong with the scanner.


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