|
Post by kunuma on Apr 3, 2009 19:09:07 GMT 1
Does anyone (garej?) know if it is usual procedure for a rehomed CPL cat to have been microchipped??
|
|
|
Post by garej on Apr 3, 2009 20:31:28 GMT 1
Yes they are microchipped. All cats that leave their care are vaccinated (though sometimes not fully - though if you use their vets you will get it free), and neutered (unless they are not old enough). They have been also health checked and any treatment deemed necessary would have been done. They also come with 4 weeks free insurance from Pet Plan (it used to be 6 but Pet Plan have become a little stingy of late).
Sometimes the microchip company can be slow or not bother to send out a certificate. Our shelter is providing printed out copies until the certificate comes through: however in the past it has not been so. It took 2 months to get my Tigger's certificate: the company was very slow.
Sometimes volunteer branches can be a little bit slow: the thing that they rely on fosterers rather than having a dedicated shelter. Because you have to have training to insert microchips, if they do not have anyone trained then they are reliant on the vet. But they should not allow a cat to leave their care without being microchipped.
Is there is a specific reason why you asked?
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Apr 3, 2009 21:12:07 GMT 1
I just discovered that my mystery cat here that reappeared again months after being handed in to the CPL doesn't have one - we always thought she had run away from her new home, but perhaps they thought she was just a lost pet, and released her back in the area? We are never going to find out where she came from originally - she seems determined not to live anywhere else!
|
|
|
Post by garej on Apr 3, 2009 22:14:45 GMT 1
I just discovered that my mystery cat here that reappeared again months after being handed in to the CPL doesn't have one - we always thought she had run away from her new home, but perhaps they thought she was just a lost pet, and released her back in the area? The Cats Protection dont release them straight back to the area they have been found in (unless they are feral), so a couple of things could have happened:- 1) The particular branch of Cats Protection did not have any space. This is particularly true if they are a volunteer branch (in others words do not have a shelter) and told whoever found her to keep her until they had space. They did not want to do so and simply dumped her in the area where she came from (hoping she would find her way home). If she was a stray, the Cats Protection would have kept her for 10 days or until (within those 10 days) her owner collected her. If after the 10 days she was not claimed, then she would have been microchipped. Even if she was being looked after by the people who went to the shelter/branch, she may have escaped from there, or decided she wanted to no longer live there and went back to your area. 2) The owner (if she was on their lost list) has reclaimed her and lives locally. The Cats Protection have minimum welfare standards, and one of them is that all cats that leave their care (i.e. those that have either been born into their care or signed into their care) must be microchipped, either by a trained person, or by an vet. The only exception to this rule is that cats that have left their care more than 4-5 years ago (since this rule was not in place and it was up to individual branches), but this does not sound the case. Or if she was feral. With feral cats, the only thing they tend to do is deflea and deworm them, neuter, and perform blood tests. Any non essential work (microchipping, vaccination) is not done. The only other thing is that sometimes (though incredibly rare) microchips can become either dislodged or imbed deeper through the skin (this usually happens with inexperienced operators) and this can cause the scanner to not recognise a chip present. But if that happened when it was first done, then they should have redone the cat with another chip. But sometimes that does not happen until years later, which is a good idea to check with the vet that your cat's chip can be still read (usually when they go for their booster is a good time).
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Apr 5, 2009 13:42:30 GMT 1
It is an absolute mystery, and only the cat knows - and she is not telling! I know she got to the CPL, as I took her myself on behalf of her finders, although I did not live in the area then. They had said they would blood test her before deciding whether to keep her or not, so I said I would ring, and if she failed the tests I would take her back and try and home her myself so she was not put to sleep. ( I would not have been part of handing her in only for her to be killed! ) However, she passed her tests and I thought that was the end of that. It was months later, after I had moved here, that she reappeared, in a terrible state, hence we always thought she had run away from her new home. She is the tiniest most loving little cat, but with no common sense at all, so how she survived it all, I just can't imagine! She needs a ghost writer to tell her story!
|
|
|
Post by garej on Apr 5, 2009 19:50:17 GMT 1
I would not have been part of handing her in only for her to be killed! Just a note that the Cats Protection would only put a cat down if the vet strongly advises it. For example the RSPCA would automatically put down an FIV positive cat (even if it is healthy otherwise), but the Cats Protection only put it down if it's immune system is basically non existant, feral or hates living indoors. We have a semi feral FIV positive cat in our shelter, she has been there for 1 year and 3 days. She is still going to be there no matter how long it takes. I knew one cat that stayed there for 2 years! The Cats Protection take on a cat no matter how long it will stay there or regardless of it's ages: I have known more than 1 20 year old. We have one 15 year old and one 14 year old at present, and even if they stay months, they will never be put down. Especially as they have no health problems (one is a naggy old foreigner though!).
|
|
|
Post by zoe on Apr 6, 2009 9:42:51 GMT 1
Is this the one you've been trying to catch for ages kunuma?
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Apr 6, 2009 9:50:33 GMT 1
No that's the other one!! I've acquired two since I moved here! One was the little stray who reappeared after I moved here and the other is a true feral, that is the one I am trying to catch, as I can't either leave her here or move her round the country! However, catching her has proved to be the easy part - the hard part is finding somewhere for her to go, even though I have offered to pay for her keep for the rest of her life!
|
|
|
Post by Claire on Apr 6, 2009 21:00:01 GMT 1
Dont tempt me! Thank heavens I live a LONG way away! ;D
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Apr 6, 2009 21:08:38 GMT 1
Well if she starts walking now, she could be with you for Christmas!
|
|
|
Post by garej on Apr 10, 2009 14:48:55 GMT 1
kunuma, I just thought of something.
Some Cats Protection shelter take them in, examine them and then either move them to an admission pen (if they have room) or send them to further treatment. If they require no further treatment, and they dont have space, then they will just scan them, and if there is no chip, return them to where they were found. I dont know why they do that though.
Did you sign an acceptance form (coloured yellow)? If the answer is no, then it was technically not their property, and that is why she was returned.
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Apr 10, 2009 15:23:51 GMT 1
I think you have worked it out garej, now I have found out she has no chip it is the only explanation. Though I did sign her over at the vets, I got the feeling, especially as I took her in for people that were on holiday, that they thought that I had kidnapped someones cat! We reckon now that the first time she turned up she had been in someone's car (she does have this thing about getting into cars! ) because she was perfectly healthy, very tame, and had obviously not been living wild. She can't do the wild cat thing at all, she is hopeless, hence the nearly dead state she reappeared in! I wanted to spoil her yesterday to cheer myself up, so got her one of those fluffy roofed beds which I always thought looked so comfy for a cat! She took one look at it, snorted with derision, and climbed into her battered cardboard box she is so fond of!
|
|
|
Post by garej on Apr 10, 2009 16:35:06 GMT 1
Another thing re: microchips. Some branches/shelters have the older type of microchip scanners, and for some type (particularly foreign) it wont read it, and therefore come up on the screen as "No chip found". Even if foreign/certain type of microchip's numbers cannot be read by certain scanners, it will come up as either 1 of 2 error message, indicating that there is a chip present. The manual does recommend that you either borrow an newer one or (if possible) reprogram the scanner.
But any stray cat scanned at the vets, if the vet has an older scanner (usually the case - though not always - with smaller practices) then that error could occur. Thankfully most practices do own scanners who read all types of microchip. Though it is worth pointing out that magnetic collars (used for gaining access to cat flaps) can also interfere with scanners (causing them to not recognise a chip), though a good vet should remove that type just in case when dealing with a stray.
|
|