please, please microchip your pet

World, meet Sparky:

Karen and I found this furry little friend on our doorstep last Friday night, huddled against our for warmth in a nearly sleeting rain outside. And we’re not about to let a kitten just freeze to death, so we took it in. We took this little furball to the Vet first thing last saturday morning – no collar, but she didn’t act feral. We were hoping for a microchip and to get her returned to her owner. No luck – Vet’s said she was 6-8 months old, and she was a very social, friendly critter. We posted on Craigslist that we found her, and put up flyers around the two blocks.

Last night, I finally called a no-kill shelter that specialized in Siamese & mixes to take her – I just couldn’t see to adopting her myself, although Karen made a damn good run at it. And then today, finally, we found the owner. We had decided to at least take her to the vet and get a feluke test done, and general health before turning her over to a shelter. Karen was showing her off and asking if anyone knew of her owner, and finally we hit the jackpot and found out that she actually lived only two blocks away from our house. And that she’d been “missing” for 3 days before we found her tucked into our front porch.

I’m very glad to have Sparky (as we learned her name) back home, but I’m also really wishing that her owner had given her a microchip – we could have had her back last Saturday and not spent the week busting around and worrying about finding her a good home.

So please, if you have a pet, get a microchip for him or her. The vets all do it quick and cheap, and if your pet is ever lost, it’s the absolutely best way to make sure they’ll get home to you safely.