Microchips- to register or not?

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

emmaj_davy — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 21:55:21 GMT

I think you nailed it Sal!

My current practice does not register them, we give the clients a slip of paper explaining how to register on line along with the the paperwork, should they choose the postal route, my boss shares a similar view; that we have enough to do without having to do this, and our computer system has the ability to auto register the microchips! As you stated there are so many implications that could arise because the details on our system are not correct, because clients failed to update them.

Ultimately it is owner responsibility and I feel much better now!

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

Sal the 1st — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 21:26:24 GMT

[quote user="enigmaticat-uk"]

Personally I think it should be the owner's responsibility to do it as ultimately it's their pet and their data to control. It really shouldn't be that difficult for them especially as it's possible to do it online now. The more you spoon-feed people, the more they expect you to do everything for them........ that said, some people are useless and if it's the only way that the pet will get registered then I guess we have to continue to use our time doing this kind of tedious admin when we really have better things to be doing.

Also as a side thought - if we are registering them and if we make a mistake in the phone number that goes unnoticed then are we putting ourselves in a position of liability?

[/quote]

exactly - and especially this bit

[quote user="enigmaticat-uk"]

Also as a side thought - if we are registering them and if we make a mistake in the phone number that goes unnoticed then are we putting ourselves in a position of liability?

[/quote]

hands up who has had a client come back to you and say x y or z was wrong and you need to change it - typically mobile phone numbers that bear no credible resemblance to the one they gave you when the chip was registered just a week previous (and we have our own sheet we ask owners to fill in and all those details are the ones that get entered on the computer). Not all chip companies are interested in keeping records of who has purchased their chips - I have posted on this previously and recording a chip on line where the owner does not have a mobile phone and does not have a computer let alone an email -and yes these people still exist in rural Lincolnshire where mobile signals and broadband are on par with the 3rd world- is how shall we say challenging when you are using something like Petlog. Try it you will see what I mean.

[quote user="enigmaticat-uk"]

The more you spoon-feed people, the more they expect you to do everything for them.......

[/quote]

I worked for a national charity for many years - yes there were genuine cases a lot of the time but then you had a sizeable number of the population with the CBA attitude. Dog needing weekly baths for demodex - dont like the smell of aludex - doesnt ever get better because the aludex never leaves the bottle so head vet says ok we will get it in and do weekly baths, before we know it every demodex case was admitted for weekly baths. Exclusion diets- no problem we will admit your animal for 17 weeks because we can't trust you feed only what we suggest which we have provided for you foc(no I am not exaggerating). Charity work 10% rewarding 90% bloody frustrating and I very quickly learnt the more responsibility you take on for the welfare of somebody elses animal the less they have 'invested' in it and the less likely they are to give a damn what happens to it - unless there is a chance they can screw some compensation out of you if things don't go exactly as they want. Cynical - yes maybe I am.

We cannot keep taking on more and more responsibilities for things which quite frankly are none of our business.Somewhere somebody has to put a halt to this.

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

PolkaDotty — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 16:59:36 GMT

In the last few practices I have worked, we have opted for electronic registration which has always been completed in practice. From a practice point of view it is cheaper to order microchips with online registration vs postal registration. I have found that there is a lot less error when entering details compared to clients completing plus I have known a few clients not register the microchip at all, which seems pointless. We will often email the completed microchip details link for the client to ensure details are correct and I believe they have a 14 day period to alter any free charge.

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

enigmaticat-uk — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 16:40:59 GMT

Also as a side thought - if we are registering them and if we make a mistake in the phone number that goes unnoticed then are we putting ourselves in a position of liability?

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

emmaj_davy — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 16:11:36 GMT

The original post is available here, but you will need to join the group, which is vet nurse chatter:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/226913934147906view=permalink&id=654236481415647

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

Simon Clark — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 14:36:06 GMT

No I don't mind if you would like to copy it there. I'd also be interested to see the original post as well, if it's publicly available.

In most cases we feel that if a vet practice makes the most of the options available for electronic registration then it shouldn't take too long to register the microchips and therefore it becomes more of an automatic process that they become registered.

It's also important for vet practices to check with the microchip supplier/database they use to find out what registration options are available as there might be better options which would make the task easier - especially if still using paper forms.

I think it's also worth noting that, as a database, we are likely to get more accurate information regarding the registration details when it's being completed by a vet practice rather than a pet owner.

Also for generic queries, irrespective of microchip supplier/database, if anyone wants to contact us via phone / website with more questions then I or one of the team will be happy to chat to them.

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

emmaj_davy — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 13:17:10 GMT

Simon Clark, do you mind if I copy your message to where I saw the original conversation?

I think this is very interesting and certainly I feel that it should be the implanters responsibility (in the first instance) to make the initial registration otherwise every average Joe would be allowed to implant them.

Perhaps we do need clarity from theach governing bodies?

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

Simon Clark — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 12:58:45 GMT

We supply the AVID MicroChips and manage the PETtrac Database and we see mixed approaches to whether practices / implanters register the microchips.

Often we find that it comes down to the options available for the registration - for example nowadays most microchip databases allow registration electronically which makes the process easier. Some databases will allow registration directly from the practice management system for client records, allowing the microchip to be registered in literally just a few clicks - this at least helps reduce the time to register them. Where someone is still using paper forms this is often when it's left to the pet owner to register them.

As a database we would prefer to receive the registration from the microchip implanter, whether it's the vet, rescue centre or trained individual, simply because there is a greater chance of it being registered. But we understand that each organisation or imlpanter is different in their approach.

As microchips are traceable back to the organisation that purchase them, most implanters prefer to register them so that they don't turn up un-registered and trace back to them in the future by which time the client might have moved on.

It's our understanding that there's no legal requirement for them to be registered by the implanter, but in the case of dogs now, there is a requirement for them to be registered to the keeper on a compliant database - ultimately it is the keeper's responsibility to ensure they have current contact details registered on the database.

I hope this might be useful from the point of view of a chip supplier / database.

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

molladog — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 10:02:55 GMT

I work for a rehoming charity and we register every one when the animal is booked out so we know it has been done. We do get a fair percentage of stray cats who when we scan them have a chip but has never been registered. This is very frustrating as we then can never reunite the pet back to the owner which must be heartbreaking for people if they are searching for their lost pet. I would always prefer not to put the onus on the owner as they are very likely to forget to register it and yes I agree that they should take responsibility for these and other things but as we all know, this often just doesn't happen sadly.

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

emmaj_davy — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 09:45:01 GMT

That's a very good point. My practice don't do it and having read some of the comments on the original post there is a lot of mixed feelings about it.

RE: Microchips- to register or not?

Sal the 1st — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 09:28:56 GMT

what about the independent implanters ie pet shops/ individuals that dont register them either. Doesn't the pet owner have to take some responsibility somewhere along the line for ensuring their details are on a data base and that they correct? We can't do absolutely everything for everybody.