Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Teresa Pawcats on May 01, 2008, 16:14:05 PM
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Had a cat microchipped 3months ago and rehomed him, new owner tried to transfer ownership to herself and was refused because the number of his microchip that my vet implanted in front of me is already in use by a cat elsewhere who just happens to be missing.I scanned cat when I rescued him and vet scanned him,no chip found. We have scanned every inch of his body and only microchip is the one implanted by my vet and registered to me;and as the other registered person has this number first they get first claim to the cat and would you believe cheeky so and so`s want said cat, over my dead body. I dont believe this is happening.
Its a good idea to have microchips scanned regularly to check they work and also check details are correct.
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that's incredible - is for the same company, I have three with petlog and one with identichip - hopefully the two cats look nothing alike T
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T that is atrocious that the cheeky wotsits can claim the cat! How horrible can someone be to do that! >:(
Dawn is right the cat's can't be identical so I would dare them to give you an accurate description of their cat!
I'm going to check with Caroline. Can't imagine someone telling me Lexy belongs to them. I'm with Petlog.
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Very strange.
Having been on the chipping course , there is no way this should have happened as presumably, the number of the chip was checked against the paperwork pre-impant and also after to ensure the chip was in place. The barcode stickers from the packet the chip is in are stuck to the paperwork. The vet should have kept a copy of the form for the practise as the implanter.
three possiblilties spring to mind - 1) has a type appeared on the number , get the cat scanned again incase someone has written a wrong number down along the way. 2) the cat these people now have is not the cat they were given or 3) the original chip was missed and the implanted one either does not work or fell out soon after it was implanted.
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My animals are microchipped but I'm not a fan of them since I had a less than positive experience.
I got Molly chipped when I had her at 8 weeks. Fast forward to when she was a year old .... I took her to the vet to get her booster shots done, then they scanned her to make sure her chip was ok. They couldn't actually find it, so the vet tried with another scanner. They tried I think 3 or 4 different scanners including a hand held one. 3 people tried to find the chip and couldn't. They recommended I take her to a different practice and try it there. I did, had different scanners and different people and they still couldn't find the chip. They were scanning the whole of her incase it had migrated.
The assumption was the chip had fallen out not longer after it was put in which is apparently possible. After doing some research of my own it could also be that the chip failed.
I can't help to think what would have happened if she had gone missing during that year .. they would have be looking for an animal that was chipped. I just don't trust them any more and would never put 100% faith in them.
I was quite mad when I found out - they re-chipped her free of charge. Now I have a problem that Molly is petrified of the scanners :(
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My lot get scanned every vet trip :evillaugh: drives the vets nuts.
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Do the descriptions of the two cats tally Teresa? Is there a chance that this cat is the original 'missing' cat? If not I can't understand why the other people would want to claim him. Having said that if one of the boys went missing and then I was told that a cat with the matching microchip number had been found I'd prsume that it was of course my cat and want to claim him.
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That is just amazing Teresa, very strange situation and agree with others that the owners of the missing cat should give a description, age and pictures of the missing cat.
No two numbers should be the same and I reckon there is an error on the chip companies database, cos all data there is only as good as the person who entered it.
The owners of missing cat should have the barcode and everything for their cat and then your ex rescue cat and the missing cats details can be compared from the paperwork.
I have all of mine scanned at their MOT and all chips were present and correct last summer.
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That is a scary story T, it will be interesting to hear the outcome of it.
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This is scary especially as both my vet and other party have paperwork to same chip and cat involved is same colour. There is no mistake on chip number on my cat who for legal purposes was returned to me yesterday trouble it it slips my mind where I put him.
Seriously when you chip a cat and rehome him you dont expect someone to claim him on the chip you put in months previous. It is now being suggested that I pay for xrays to see if he has 2 chips inside on the basis that the chip he now has was broken when we rescued him and scanned him and also broken when our vet scanned him, it is suggested that my vet put broken chip into him and when he scanned cat the broken original chip somehow came to life at that second when vet scanned to check new implant working.
This has to be data base error or duplication of microchip numbers either way it has serious implications.
Just for record I have a fight on with CP from outside my area over this.
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they would be the same colour wouldn't they - the whole chip coming to life thing doesn't take into account that you both have paperwork though does it?
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Wouldnt you vet have scanned said chip to check it was working before inserting it?
This has to be data base error or duplication of microchip numbers either way it has serious implications.
Thats much more likely, broken chips comming back to life at the appropriate moment is ridiculous :Crazy:
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Chips coming back to life... they aren't that sophisticated, sorry T, I think you're being spun a story. The other people are probably distressed and living in hope that this is their cat and if that is the case I do feel for them.
But on the other hand, I don't think the story of the chip miraculously working again and accusations from those representing them is helping the situation. Each cat has a unique feature, and their people will know its them if they are able to describe the feature, like a specific stripe, (like Lexy has two white fangs on her chin.. that's unique in her fur pattern) or pattern to their fur. Colours of pads, are they bi coloured, pink or black, kinks in tails etc. They should be able to describe something.
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The other people are probably distressed and living in hope that this is their cat and if that is the case I do feel for them.
Good point, they probably think someone is trying to steal their cat.
Have both parties got paperwork with identical barcodes on? Its the the chip company who need the grilling not paws inn :hug:
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The other people are probably distressed and living in hope that this is their cat and if that is the case I do feel for them.
Good point, they probably think someone is trying to steal their cat.
Have both parties got paperwork with identical barcodes on? Its the the chip company who need the grilling not paws inn :hug:
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A little update the owners is Cats Protection the story we have is cat escaped pen jumped in van and came to Weaverham, chip must have died and come back to life; if someone was grieving for a lost cat I would be the first person to offer help not make matters worse by stealing a cat, I have far too many strays as it is to consider stealing.
The lady who adopted my boy sent change of ownership details in which was accepted,however this microchip firm wrote offering some enhanced service for £14.95 for 8 years which seemed a good idea so she sent off cheque as a result this blew up, so microchip people registered him to her she has written confirmation but on enhancement he belongs to someone else. In effect if this boy goes missing he will end up in a pathetic CP branch that lacks any sense of security or idea of care, so I doubt that this branch could even identify their missing cat and then they have the cheek to demand custody of him,as I said before over my dead body.
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If the paperwork indeed has the same number then this is a scandal and there should be an enquiry! The chip company should pick up the tabs for any Xrays.
According to the paperwork, when where both cats chipped and by whom? was it the same vet? When did the cat go missing and where? does this co-incide with the appearance of the cat? The only other thing that springs to mind is that there are 6 labels on each chip and if they were chipped at the same time/place then there is a small possibility of human error and the labels were used on two registration forms - and this is stretching it.
I have been told before that sometimes chips don't always scan first time, that they need to somehow 'energize' . I always triple check for chips now just in case.
I did have a case in Coventry when I was he petsearch contact here - think I even put in on purrs. A lady lost a cat and one was found, it was chipped but the vn read the chip number wrong . The lasdy who lost the cat was adamant it was hers - looks, temperament and even some of the odd behaviour.
Eventually, when the chip was read correctly, it turned out to ba another missing cat a couple of miles away and when peaceful negotiation broke down the cat was 'stolen' by the owners it was registered to. Not quite the same as there was no error in the chip (we can only assume >:() but it does show that owners do not necessarily know their cats as well as they think.
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So you have 2 identical microchip nos registered to 2 different owners. Is it actually possible for different microchip cos to produce chips with the same number?! (if it is, it shouldn't be). The only thing I can think of (long shot) is that the data registering co (Petlog or whoever) wrote down one digit wrong; it sounds like they should introduce not just number recording but a brief physical description of the cat or dog. This is really weird and I hope you can get to the bottom of it.
When do they claim they had the chip inserted - surely the vet who did it must have records (think that's the law?) that you can cross check against your vet records?
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diff cos have diff numbering systems. its about producing the original paperwork with the bar code and comparing them. it they are then identical there should be an enquiry.
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There is no mistake on chip number on my cat who for legal purposes was returned to me yesterday trouble it it slips my mind where I put him.
I hope the little one did not manage to escape when you tried to place the cat in a pen.
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the easiest way to establish if it is the cat of the claimants is to get them to tell you when their cat went missing and where, If the cat went missing after you found this cat, then clearly it is not theirs. If it went missing before you found this cat, then it would seem reasonable to at least hear them out. If mine went missing, and was microchipped and a similar cat was found who had the same microchip number showing up on scan I am afraid I would be very definitely demanding to see the cat to establish if it was mine.
However, I also recall that Sharon said that the seal point siamese she found recently is described on its chip as a blue point, so it is possible there is a data-entry error happening here. The best idea is to have the conversation adult to adult and see if the reasoning above applies. I presume, T, that you keep records of when cats arrive with you, so this should be a fairly straight-forward conversation if the cat went missing after yours arrived at your place.
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Talking of chips .. We had a report a few days ago about a cat missing very distinctive, all white with black tail..Neutered and chipped. Sadly he was found by the local vets dead accident RTA. I only found this out from a brief conversation with one of the nurses as she mentioned this cat that was huge and weighed over 10kg in weight. It was taken to a vets, scanned and found to have a chip but the chip was registered to a vet practice in Bridge that is no longer their now.. It didnt have a registered owners address. Cat was kept for a few days. I put two and two together and we had to call the lady up to today to see if this cat was indeed hers. She said the chip was registered in her name and there is no way the cat could be hers but it was chipped at vets in Bridge. We got her to ring the vets up and sadly it was the same cat. But they didnt match it because the chip was registered to a vets and not a person (she also has another cat registered incorrectly as well).. The really infurating bit about this is that we routinely send out emails to local vets and did so about this one, if they had read our email they would of found the owner.. She didnt use this vets but anotehr one but you though that someone would of checked in the 7yrs she had him that he was registered wrongly..
Personally i think vets are a complete waste of time with lost and found. We had a case last year of pedigree cat that was missing the owner put the poster up in the local vets and even though i took the cat to the vets to be checked over as it was reported to us as being a stray, and the poster was on the wall (missing cat, phone and tel number of) they didnt put two and two together, despite the fact that the owner had her registed with them on their clients list. The cat was a Bengal and not chipped..(so not exactly a black moggie that they see every day) It was pure luck that on my out i saw the poster!
Our CP branch uses Identichip chips and i hate the company, only the other day they registered a cat in another Cp branch name instead of ours (i.e registered who had brought the chip).. I only looked on the off chance as this puss had gone missing and we wanted to make sure the details were there if he turned out. The other branch was in Middlesex.. The times i ring Identichip up to correct their errors makes me scream. Many local vets dont use these chips due to the problems so i dont know why CP does. I am not the only one from a branch that has issues with Identichip reliability.
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Fingers crossed this can be resolved for this little one T.
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We stopped using identichips a long time ago,the cat in question had an identichip instead of the usual Back Home one because of vet error.
We are still waiting for further news which is infuriating, everything has to go via our vet and identichip so something that could be sorted in minutes face to face will likely drag on for days.
Sharon what a good job you were on the ball otherwise this lady may never have had closure on her poor boy.
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Yes indeed Teresa but the poor women was devasted, but she assured us the chip details were right, but they were not. The vet she had him chipped ast has obv registered them in the practice name and nothing else.. She has another cat we have told her to check for. This Bridge vet no longer exists so no way to backtrack
This is so sad as the incident happened on Sunday and if the chip was up to date she would of known on Sunday, besides the vet wil only keep for 7 days and it being a BHoliday she is lucky the body was still there..
The vet hasnt helped if they bothered to read emails the description was so clear that they would of put two and two together. However, i have yet to recieve a reply from a vet to tell us about any matches, so heavens help how many more go out like this. The other thing is that if the cat was alive but suffered serious injuries they would of probably put him across to the RSPCA who would of no doubt PTS.. (It does happen!)!!
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After microchipping every rescue for years I now find myself wondering if the money could have been spent more wisely, I pay £15 for each microchip. I must admit to being quite taken aback by the poor reaction of my vet to this, he remembers the cat well, he remembers inserting chip and scanning before and afterwards, but he isn`t exactly rushing to help me sort things out. The only good thing is that the cat is safe and happy and blissfully unaware of all the trouble.
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After microchipping every rescue for years I now find myself wondering if the money could have been spent more wisely
Please don’t let this put you off chipping, as you no it is a very rare occurrence.
What you thought of having chip training yourself? Then you would be able to buy the chips direct from the company and it may be a little cheaper.
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yes T £35 for a charity and the chips are about £4 each so you can make quite a mark up (though you do have to buy scanner if you don't have one).
Its the owners responsibility to chase up the chip details and if they don't get paperwork back to follow this up. I know companies are sometimes rubbish at what they do but whatever happened to personal responsibility? >:(
As far as vets goes and how good they are on lost and founds in my experience it again depends on who is on at the time. It can be quite time consuming and thats why a petsearch helpline is so good as thats all they deal with and after 5 years of it , that can be hectic just doing that let alone working in a vet practise..... I've heard exactly the same criticism about the rspca, cp so it depends on the individual (also i must add some petsearch helplines as well :()
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I can't recall which chip company my local CP uses, but when I adopted my last two I got the paperwork from them and I had to pay the company about a fiver I think for each change of name and address. The company sent me the info but hadn't bothered to change the names of the cats to the ones I use not that that is really important in the scheme of things but it was an error.
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For reasons best known to myself I prefer my vet to microchip. I have had my own scanner for many years.
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I sincerely hope that you get this sorted, have read this from start to finish and it sounds so confusing to my little brain :stupid:
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I am sick to the back teeth of this saga, The cats new owner has been breaking her heart to me over the phone, Identichip just about stink with their lack of response to our vets calls.
My vet has told me this morning that legally we have to hand cat back, vet thinks that he had a microchip put in by CP and it didnt work until my vet inserted one which has gone behind CP one and sparked life into it; this is one big mess and terrible heartache for new owner who is still coming top terms with loss of old cat earlier this year.
Worst still CP no longer own this cat but they will not say who is mystery owner that wants him back, he is not even reported missing.
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Sorry you're having to deal with this mess T.
I would think that the vets would have to prove their theory about the chip first witht he help of the chip company before anything can be done.
I'd hope that the previous owners if they are so wanting their cat back that they would get involved and at least talk to the new owner to sort things out.
:hug:
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T thats terrible :hug:
Funny enough having micro chip issues with Nina, The lady who runs the rescue that we got her from 2 years ago unexpectedly knocked on our door last week and asked could she check Nina's chip because they have found some of their other cats had not been chipped even the vets they use said they had been (!)
Low and behold she isn't chipped, My own fault but at her check ups i just said that she was chipped as her vets records say that she was? Never had any other reason to check (thank god). She checked Kiki too as she had on her books we came back and got another cat 18months ago (Kiki is from a different rescue after a bad experience with this one 18 months ago) :Crazy: Hers is fine.
I am going to take her to our vets myself and get her done asap.
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I have just had a long chat with Identichip who swear this is the first ever faulty microchip they have heard of,if I wasnt crying so much I would laugh them into court.
The cat in question Marmaduke is being returned to me by a broken hearted family yes they have children who are going to be devastated.
I have been informed that I must legally hand him over to his rightful owner who writes a lovely letter saying how much she loves him, trouble is she didnt bother with flea or worm treatment or the fact he had a sore eye and mouth.
when I took Marmaduke in I scanned him 3 times No Chip found; my vet Scanned him, no chip found; I did everything right for this lad who looks a thousand times better now and all rehoming him has done is to bring heartache. I just dont believe this is happening.
Modified to say he went missing during earthquake which was 27th Feb 08, the same night he was brought to me heaving fleas and sore mouth and eye
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,12527.20.html
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So sorry it's turned out like this. If you have to hand Marmaduke back, nothing to say you can't add some T & Cs about looking after him better?
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Oh, what a heartbreak.
It would be such a shame if Marmaduke just got lost now, wouldnt it?
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That's so sad for the new owner :(
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Marmaduke has been returned to his original owner. Both his new owner and myself are heartbroken but after a lot of discussion were left with no other option. Marmaduke enjoys the great outdoors and would have been condemned to an indoor life or one on a harness, we could not have taken him to vets if he became ill as both our vets had been notified we were in possession of him. Identichip even told me it had been suggested I had arranged for him to disappear- how strange
Marmadukes original owner has signed to say she has taken him back in good condition, I gave her a sheet describing the appalling condition he was in when he arrived here and he arrived here the day he went missing. This owner is yet another nasty freewheeler who has had her cat vaccinated, wormed,flea treated and made well at our expense;when asked why she did not report him missing her reply was I told the chip company its their job to look. Did she offer one penny towards his care, of course not. She has him back and the poor family I homed him to are breaking their hearts.
Before anyone criticises me for handing him back I did so at the request of his new owner who had cared for him for the last 2 months and was in a position to judge better than anyone.
I may take this to the newspapers not sure yet, I am too angry and upset.
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Now I understand why you are feeling so bad today Teresa :hug: :hug:
What a terrible situation and nobody is going to criticize you for giving Marmaduke back cos you were put in a position of having no choice.
Its so sad for the new owners and Marmaduke cos I am sure he would have been better with the new family. I hope that they will come and have another cat from you but its going to be tough for them all for the next few weeks .
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Before anyone criticises me for handing him back
Sadly you had no choice. I suppose this is one that is the downside of chipping. Although to be honest I think this must be very rare and fist minus I have ever heard about chipping and we have been chipping for a few years now. I hope it does not put people off chipping as chips certainly helps reunite thousands of cats with their owners each year.
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i am so sorry this has ended up this way T, will you be able to do a follow up on him in his 'original' home.
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Did you not try the 'because of the condition he was in when he came here (the same day he went missing) I must inform the RSPCA of this .....' route?
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i am so sorry this has ended up this way T, will you be able to do a follow up on him in his 'original' home.
Desley that will serve no purpose other than cause me distress when I find him flea riddled.I have to concentrate my efforts on the ones I can help and my very tight budget means that yet another owned cat has deprived a needy stray .
Did you not try the 'because of the condition he was in when he came here (the same day he went missing) I must inform the RSPCA of this .....' route?
Angie believe me this freewheeler has been given the works in no uncertain terms.
Ela if I hadnt bothered chipping this lad he would be blissfully happy in the wonderful home I found for him.
I am under a little stress at present and need time to cool off and think my future actions through.
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This owner is yet another nasty freewheeler who has had her cat vaccinated, wormed,flea treated and made well at our expense;when asked why she did not report him missing her reply was I told the chip company its their job to look. Did she offer one penny towards his care, of course not. She has him back and the poor family I homed him to are breaking their hearts.
Before anyone criticises me for handing him back I did so at the request of his new owner who had cared for him for the last 2 months and was in a position to judge better than anyone.
I may take this to the newspapers not sure yet, I am too angry and upset.
If you do so decide, let's talk about it first...
:hug:
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Ye Gods how awful for you and poor Marmaduke. I am horrified by this story, I will be asking the vet to scan for my chip when I next visit and calling the chipping company to check they have the correct details!!! I never knew such dreadful thinsg could happen, how distressing for everyone involved :(
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Sorry it turned out that way T :hug:
Were both sets of paperwork the same?
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Just caught up with this. I'm so sorry T that this has turned out this way.
:hug:
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Sorry it turned out that way T :hug:
Were both sets of paperwork the same?
Paperwork was identical. I re scanned Marmaduke and when Miss Freewheeler claimed him I demanded to see her Identichip paper and sure enough it was a match; if this owner had been nicer we could have worked together and done something about this mess,all she was interested in was would I pay for an xray to sort out how many chips were inside Marmaduke.
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The nerve of the woman :censored: :censored: :censored:
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Thats appalling and what an incredible fluke that a rare (we hope) duplicate number should end up with a matching cat :Crazy:
Bet you her chip was never working and it was your chip beeping :sigh:
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I hope you and your vet have reported this to the chip company
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That's terrible. Poor Marmaduke. I think going to the papers would be a good idea. It might spark owners to check their cat's chips.