Some Potential Negative Reactions From Microchipping Your Dog

Microchips are crucial in dog identification. If your canine companion gets lost, a microchip can help them find their way back to you.

It is totally safe to microchip a dog. In 4 million installed microchips, only 391 resulted in negative reactions from the dogs involved. Here are some potential negative reactions that your dog could have to the microchipping process:

1. Migration

Some microchips can wind up moving around from their original location. This isn’t dangerous but can make scanning difficult. Most modern chips have features that prevent this from happening.

2. Implantation Reaction

Sometimes, the site of implantation can lead to swelling, bleeding, hair fall, or infections.

3. Malfunction

Microchips are fallible and can malfunction, causing them to be impossible to scan.

4. Cancer

Though extremely rare and only reported twice in dogs, some worry that microchips can lead to tumor growth.

5. Paralysis

In extremely rare and tragic cases, paralysis in very small pets can occur from microchips, leading to death

Microchipped dogs have a twice as likely chance of being reunited with their families. But if you don’t want to get your dog microchipped, you can use some of these alternatives:

1. Tattoos

Tattoos are a little controversial for dogs, but plenty of racing dogs and larger livestock have them. Tattoos can never come off, after all.

2. GPS Device

GPS devices are useful so you can easily track your dog’s location with your phone, but these can become damaged.

3. ID Tag

An old-fashioned collar and ID tag is always a safe option, though they can get lost or fall off.

Feature Image Source: Pixabay