AVID chips - not implanted by vet

Hey Everyone!

I have a few quick questions - so, I have four cats and two have HomeAgain, one has ResQ (i think) and my kitten (newest baby) does not have a chip yet at all (I was waiting to find out the best chip to put in her)! Due to the fact that I'm a vet student, I get a few perks - like free microchips from Avid. However, I will likely be implanting them myself.

My First question is: are Avid chips readable in the UK by UK vets/acceptable for PETS? (I'd heard it was, but I wasn't sure...)

Second: Is it a big deal if they are double chipped?

Third: Do I need to get a (fully) qualified vet to implant them? As long as I have the paperwork/know the date the chips were put in...can I just get my reg vet to scan them before they give the rabies vac?

Phew! Thanks for your help in advance :-)

Just for fun! Here are some crazycatlady pics of my kitten Odette (I adopted her while on my shelter medicine rotation, she had a broken humerus! but it has healed beautifully!!) taken a few months ago:

1) not sure
2) No. But you may want to chip them in different places (not 2 chips in the same area) as you note the number of the chip and the location of the chip on the forms. Just don't want any confusion thinking they have the wrong animal when really its the wrong chip in the right animal if that makes sense. You can always call defra for their opinion.
3) I don't think this is an issue. You have to have a proper vet do the vax, bloodtest, etc. But who chips the dog is not required to be a certain person. Again you can call defra if you are worried or want to double check. Many dogs are purchased that already have chips and you can't always know who chipped them. You can have them revaxed but why re-chip them? I'd be surprised if this is an issue.

You can email/call/fax defra and they have always been very nice on the phone and have fully answered any questions I have.

In response to the question about the Avid chips:  I believe that Avid makes a chip that is readily readable by vets in the UK (maybe it is called the EuroChip?), but I believe that the standard chip that Avid has available in the US is a 125 kHz chip.  That's the usual standard in the US, whereas in UK/Europe the standard is 134.2 (ISO standard).  My understanding is that UK ports of entry for PETS have scanners that can read all kinds of chips (including 125 kHz), but that vets, shelters etc, will not be able to read the 125 chips.  So, either way, you're probably fine for PETS, but having a 134.2 chip would be more useful once you were over here permanently. I know that's kind of a long answer--I hope it makes sense!

Your new kitten is very, very cute!

Awww your new kitty is absolutely adorable   

We have Avid chips in our cats an we didn't have any problems when our cats came to the UK in March 2005.

Awwwe... your photos are causing major kitten pangs. My siamese just turned two on Valentine's Day. They grow up so fast!!

Thanks so much for your replies!! I'm going to work on figuring out what kHz the Avid chips they are providing us with are...but it sounds like good news either way.

also, Across - OMG your kitty is beautiful! something I noticed, Odette had a cream colored body up until about a month/two months ago (like in the pictures)! Now she has a grayish/brownish body like your baby.

Hooray!!!!

The AVID rep can get me the "euro" chips! So it looks like it will work out :-) and I'll just re-chip my three other babies. It's worth it so that they can be read in the UK.

Just a note:  if one of your cats already has a ResQ chip, that one is supposed to be 134.2 (the only 134.2 chip that is readily available in the US, as far as I can tell), so you needn't worry about rechipping.

Awwwe... your photos are causing major kitten pangs. My siamese just turned two on Valentine's Day. They grow up so fast!!

Across if I didn't know that was your cat I would have thought that was my Siamese when he was younger our Siamese is 10 years old so he has a darker coat now. thats our Siamese in the avatar he is a big boy in that pic but he has lost some weight since that pic was taken.      your cat is absolutely marvelous & has beautiful crystal blue eyes like our Siamese has.     

Thanks guys! Yes, she's my little blue-eyed baby.

Reinadeluz: Yes, Charlotte's coat went through several shades. She's has a very dark face now, but at certain ages it was very light grey. We really thought she would be a Lavender point in the beginning. She was even a bit crossed eyed when she was a kitten, but she's mostly sorted them out by now.

shugga: Yes, I've always loved your avatar. I've got a huge soft spot for Siamese cats. You can't help falling for those huge blue eyes.

Just a note:  if one of your cats already has a ResQ chip, that one is supposed to be 134.2 (the only 134.2 chip that is readily available in the US, as far as I can tell), so you needn't worry about rechipping.

Thanks Mungo!

Sigh! I looked into it, and all three of my other babies actually do have HomeAgain. So re-chipping it is :-S. Thanks though!

Wait.. I am confused.. I have read other posts here that said that the airport was able to read HomeAgain chips with no trouble at all.  It is only the vets that sometimes have trouble.  Is this not true?

Wait.. I am confused.. I have read other posts here that said that the airport was able to read HomeAgain chips with no trouble at all.  It is only the vets that sometimes have trouble.  Is this not true?

No, you're not confused - I want my babies to have chips that will be able to be read in the UK *and* be acceptable for PETS! It looks like Avid's "euro" chips are 134.2kHz and so will be able to be read by UK vets in case they get lost. Their HomeAgain chips might be acceptable for getting them into the UK, but I still need them to be able to be scanned in the UK in case they get lost.

I had HomeAgain in my dog and didn't have any trouble in Sweden or the Uk when travelling with my dog. Not sure if the chips have changed or not...

I had HomeAgain in my dog and didn't have any trouble in Sweden or the Uk when travelling with my dog. Not sure if the chips have changed or not...

One of my issues is that I want the chips my kitties have to be readable in the UK if they get lost. So the current HomeAgain ones they have don't fit the bill for that, so I wanted to find a chip that was 134.2kHz (the common "euro" frequency).