Micro-chips and tumors...

[Lucky Me]

The info trickles out ever now and then...... it is a hard choice, the cancer/microchip issue!
http://www.antichips.com/press-releases ... -pets.html
Again it is almost time to get my puppies shots and do the micro-chip thing..... I hate to do something that would affect the health of one of my puppies, but then there is the issue of them possibly getting lost, and with the laws in Calif. possibly being changed to animals being put to sleep after only 3 days....well you know!
What are you other breeders doing? Still micro-chipping? "sigh"

[CindynEarl]

My pup from an Oregon breeder was neutered and microchipped at 9 weeks.

[Lucky Me]

Responsible breeders micro-chip....and I am a responsible breeder.
This info just scares me...but I also want my babies to have a fighting chance if they get separated from their owners!

[Diane at DVL]

The name of the website is "antichips.com"...of course everything they write is going to be negative. I'm not saying that they don't cause cancer, but the site is only citing 2 dogs of the thousands and thousands that are micrchipped each year. I had a puppy family asking about this, so I did a little looking into with my last litter and decided that (for me) the potential benefits of having the puppy microchipped far outweigh the potential risks.

[Jac]

I agree with you guys...I have to weigh the benefits vs the risks and I microchip.

Since I moved here, however, I can't find a vet to microchip puppies! They say that the chip migrates so they won't insert them until they are older....and I can't...that needle is just way too big for me!

The only onther alternative to microchip is to tatto...and I had some tatto makeup done years ago and it HURTS!! So I won't do that....

I don't know if there is proof that cancer is caused by the microchip or vaccinations, but there is certainly speculation. Of course we don't want to do anything to risk cancer...but I think that microchipping is so important...

Sometimes all we can do is our best guess...and knowing that we love our puppies, we understand the responsibility of our decisions...the decisions are not made lightly, but we can never assure perfect health.

[Lucky Me]

I wonder what the actually percentage is of all the dogs chipped... how many that go on to develop tumors?

Hey Diane!!! Where in SE Penn are you? My relatives live in the Minersville-Pottsville area!

[Diane at DVL]

Wikipedia has a pretty in-depth article on microchipping. They don't have US numbers (as they claim that the systems in the US are a "mess", but this is what they do say about adverse risks:

"Reported adverse reactions
RFID chips are used in animal research, and tumors at the site of implantation have been reported in laboratory mice and rats.[48] Noted veterinary associations[49] responded with continued support for the procedure as reasonably safe for cats and dogs, pointing to rates of serious complications on the order of one in a million in the U.K., which has a system for tracking such adverse reactions and has chipped over 3.7 million pet dogs."

That was one of the things I read while looking into it for my pet family.

I am pretty far from Pottsville (although my parents grew up in Shenadoah and Frackville...about 20 minutes north of Minersville). I am the extreme SE corner where PA, DE, & MD all come together. I could literally walk through all 3 states and probably be back home in an hour!

[CindynEarl]

Jac, try contacting AVID microchipping people. Maybe they can help you find a vet that will do it. I think you have to wait til the pups are 9 wks. old.
Hey all you Pennsylvanians: Although I now live in Seattle, WA (Bellevue, actually); I'm from Muncy, PA (Williamsport area). Northumberland County.

[kirama]

Originally Posted by Jac

I agree with you guys...I have to weigh the benefits vs the risks and I microchip.

Since I moved here, however, I can't find a vet to microchip puppies! They say that the chip migrates so they won't insert them until they are older....and I can't...that needle is just way too big for me!

The only onther alternative to microchip is to tatto...and I had some tatto makeup done years ago and it HURTS!! So I won't do that....

I don't know if there is proof that cancer is caused by the microchip or vaccinations, but there is certainly speculation. Of course we don't want to do anything to risk cancer...but I think that microchipping is so important...

Sometimes all we can do is our best guess...and knowing that we love our puppies, we understand the responsibility of our decisions...the decisions are not made lightly, but we can never assure perfect health.

I guess there is some validity to that, when I asked about micro-chipping Murphy they said they would wait to do it when they neutered him for that reason. I asked about Beck since he was microchipped when quite young and they said it doesn't usually migrate enough to matter- so I took him to the SPCA and they checked and it was where it was supposed to be =)

[LabyLabradoodle]

What is micro chipping? Is this healthy to my dog? Thank you.