I booked Dinah and Monty in today to be neutered and microchipped, and posted on Facebook afterwards. A couple of my American/Canadian friends commented saying they had got their cats tattooed instead of microchipped, and one friend said she wouldn't microchip hers.

Now I'm wondering two things...

a) Is cat tattooing an American thing?!! Never heard of it!
b) Should I be worried about microchipping?

Ours will be indoor cats but obviously there is always that risk of them escaping. I hope it never happens but if it does, I want them to have the best possible chance of being returned to us.

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Bonnie and the gang xxx

I've heard of tattooing in the UK before but in breeding animals (not cats but rabbits etc) not regular pets, as a positive form of identification/easy sexing etc and in horses they freeze mark them (like a cold brand) and also sometimes tattoo in the inside of the lip, not sure if this is still done but was something I heard about years ago when learning to ride.

The only issues I've ever come across with micro-chipping is that the chip can migrate to somewhere else in the body away from where it was inserted, only heard of this happening in dogs though. Perhaps someone else can shed some extra light on cat microchipping.

I've had no issues with microchipping, its not something I would be worried about if done by a professional

The tattooing can be done to indicate if a cat is spayed also as scars can fade into nothingness.

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Yes ive heard of horse lip tattooing, the only other animal ive heard of tattoos with is greyhouds and their ears, but horrible thing happen to get rid of the tattoos

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One day i'll learn where the spellcheck is on my phone, so sorry for any mistakes

Yeh that's one of the reasons I don't think tattoos really work on animals, brutal or desperate people can "remove" them in unpleasant ways

Micro chips can migrate on any animal best thing to do is get your vet to scan your pet when you go in for boosters or a routine visit just to check that it is still near the neck, I think Tattoo's would be easy to change as you could make 0 look like 8 etc like they do on horse brands plus sedation of some sort would have to be administered to tattoo whereas a micro chip is just a needle a biggish one but just one and can be done whilst the animal is wide awake.

It can happen in cats too, my Mr M has been microchipped twice because the first one completely disappeared. The vet used two different types/brands of scanner, and I even took him to another vet to try even more scanners, but despite each time scanning every inch of him, it couldn't be found! I was a bit annoyed because I'd already done the expensive and convoluted rabies titre test for him so he can travel internationally, and had to repeat all that with the new microchip, as all that is linked to the microchip number.

However the vet said it was very uncommon (but not unheard of) for this to happen, and it's not an issue for an animal to be chipped twice anyway, once you're sure the first one's really disappeared.

Every time I'm at the vet, I just ask them to quickly scan my cats, just to make sure the chips are all still there. That way, I've got peace of mind that should anything happen, we can be reunited.

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I'm Canadian. And yes, tattooing of pedigree cats and dogs is the norm there. I was actually quite surprised to find out that it isn't done here in the UK.

Now, I'm not sure of the situation in the US, but in Canada (especially in more rural locations) it's still uncommon for rescue places to have access to a microchip scanner. There are a few different types of microchips and, as far as I know, different types of scanners needed. So..if your animal ends up at a shelter, they won't necessarily be able to get the info off the chip. Also, the last time I had a chipped Canadian cat, I had to pay yearly to keep the information up-to-date (and available) in the microchip company's database.

I think (hope!) this is rapidly changing now and I think microchips are a much better option than tattooing. The tattoos fade and can become quite unreadable after a few years. Also: to 'remove' a tattoo on a cat, you'd have to cut off an ear! And I'm not sure how you'd change the numbers...they are quite small.

The disappearing microchip happened to my cat too. We had it fitted just after we got him from the CPL aged 2.
A couple years later when we moved and registered him with a new vet, he scanned the chip to check it and found nothing. He said they can sometimes come back out of the entry wound after insertion. Very annoying when it cost £50. I hadn't heard of it happening before.
I never bothered getting it redone as Mr Kane doesn't like being outside for long and never strays far from the house.

This did make me laugh


I can just imagine Molly, with 'love and hate' tattooed on her little paws

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