You did the responsible thing. Your cat is microchipped.
Great.
Now, quick question: what phone number is attached to it?
If your immediate response was ...good question, you're probably not the only one.
A microchip can be an important tool for helping reunite a lost cat with their person. But the chip itself doesn't know where you live, who you are, or that you've changed your phone number since it was implanted.
That's where the information connected to it matters.
What a microchip actually does
Despite what we occasionally wish when a cat disappears into some impossible hiding spot in the house, a microchip isn't GPS.
It doesn't track your cat's location.
Instead, the tiny chip carries a unique identification number. When a lost cat is brought to a shelter, veterinary clinic, or another organization with a compatible scanner, that number can be read and used to identify the registry associated with the chip.
From there, the goal is simple: reach you.
Which gets considerably harder if “you” still lives at your old address with a phone number you haven't had in four years.
The part that's easy to forget
We update our shipping address.
We change the address saved in our food delivery apps.
We make absolutely certain the pet store knows where to send the treats.
Somehow, the tiny chip inside the animal we would absolutely lose our minds over if they went missing can be easier to forget.
So when you move, change phone numbers, or adopt a cat who is already microchipped, add one more thing to the list: check the chip.
Make sure it's registered and that the contact information associated with it is current.
Not sure where the chip is registered?
That's exactly what the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool is for.
Enter your cat's microchip number and the tool can help identify the participating registry associated with it. From there, you'll need to contact the appropriate registry to verify or update your information. The AAHA tool itself doesn't display owner information or make those updates.
Don't know the microchip number? Ask your veterinarian or local shelter to scan your cat so you can retrieve it.
One tiny check. A much bigger purpose.
Microchipping is only part of reunification.
Keeping the information associated with that chip current helps give the people who find your cat a way to find you, too.
It takes a few minutes to check.
And hopefully, you'll never need it.
But if the day ever comes when your cat slips through a door, pushes out a screen, or manages some other escape you previously thought was physically impossible, you'll be glad you did.
A chip is only as good as the way home attached to it.
