My puppy was microchipped soon after we rescued her. She is now seven months old and I’ve noticed it has migrated from her down to her below her shoulder.
Might this present a medical problem?
And also, if she is ever lost and scanned, will a scanner pick her chip up as it has moved from her neck? Should I have her chipped again?
Charlotte White, by email
I have never heard of a case like this one! Obviously out of place microchips are not in their correct and required place, and vets may not realise to scan the area it is now as the initial reaction is the scan the neck. It may not be right to microchip her a second time as this could confuse all matters. Have a word with your vet.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this is quite a common problem and something I'm often asked about as a microchip implanter. Modern chips do have an anti-migratory coating however this isn't a complete guarantee and sometimes due to poor implant technique, the dog banging themselves in that area, or just bad luck, they do migrate. It isn't known to cause health problems but obviously keep a note of it just in case. A good implanter/scanner is trained to scan the area 2-3 times and in a 'cross' type motion, along the dog's back, down each shoulder blade and leg, and then down the chest. The microchip SHOULD sit in between the dog's front legs, close to the neck but certainly not IN the neck of the dog.
ReplyDeleteI would have a message engraved onto the dogs tag advising that s/he is chipped and that the chip has migrated.
Hope this helps.