Identifying your Cat:
Collars, Tags and Microchipping

Many pet owners have experienced the agony associated with being unable to locate their animal companions. Your cat slipped out of the house, became frightened and ran away from familiar surroundings, and is now far from home.

Collars and tags are one way to make sure your pet is returned home if lost. They list basic information that can help locate you.

But what if your cat loses its collar? Unfortunately, that is a common occurrence. There are new technologies that are used in conjunction with collars and tags to permanently identify pets, keep their health information and provide all of their owner’s contact information. Microchipping has been used for years. A tiny glass bead about the size of a grain of rice is inserted under the skin between the shoulders. This chip is coded with a number unique to that chip, and can be read with special scanners- kind of like the scanner at the grocery store. That code is then linked to the secure information you provided when you registered the microchip.

Recently organizations have been working towards creating universal standards of microchipping- from the chips themselves, to scanners, to the databases that keep all the information. Dr. Silene Young of Bayer Animal Health is working to address many of the misconceptions associated with microchipping.

Dr. Young says, “Manufacturers are dedicated to stabilizing the pet microchipping infrastructure in the United States. In doing so, they are in compliance with the International Standards Organization (ISO) standards supported by the major pet welfare organizations in the United States. Equally as important as cats receiving microchips is making sure they are registered at the same time as they are inserted.”

Gary MacPhee of Intervet Schering Plough agrees and says, “Answering an industry call for all US pet recovery databases to work together, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), launched the Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool last week.”

The AVMA endorses the use of electronic identification in animals and supports the standardization in materials, procedures, equipment, and registries. Read more

Technology has given us the opportunity to positively impact the lives of all pets and their owners. Along with collars and tags, microchipping and registration can provide peace of mind and an added resource that will assist in the safe return of our animal companions- most especially, our cats!

CATalystas*

Dr. Alexis Nahama is currently Vice President of Marketing for VCA Animal Hospitals, a public company that owns and operates about 500 veterinary hospitals across the United States. He is a 1995 graduate fromthe Maisons-Alfort VeterinarySchool in Paris, France and has 13 years of experience marketing global animalhealth products and services. Dr. Nahama has worked with several of the leading pet companies, including Novartis Animal Health, Schering Plough and Hill’s Pet nutrition and was the co-owner of Mediavet, a marketing and adverting company. In addition to his corporate responsibilities, he also serves on the Executive Committee as Secretary for the Catalyst Council.

An overwhelming passion and concern for cats is what inspired Dr. Nahama to join the CATalyst Council. When asked what impact he feels CATalyst will have on the veterinary industry and the shelter and welfare of cats- Dr. Nahama remarked, “for whatever reason, cats are not living their lives to their full potential. Given the level of medicine available today – this is certainly something that should be addressed by all the players in this industry.” CATalyst Council is working towards changing the perception of and care received by cats. Enhancing the lives of cats involves getting more cats in good homes and ensuring they live happy and longer lives , is what CATalyst is about,” says Dr. Nahama.

A loving, three legged cat named Terror, captured Dr. Nahama‘s heart at an early age. My grandmother used to own a small tool shop in the South of France. She always had cats and she loved them dearly. My favorite cat lived in her shop. Terror, nicknamed by me, was a beautiful, overweight, black and white, three legged specimen. He positively loved to sit all day long on a shelf on top of the entry door of my grandma’s shop. Whenever a bald client would come in, he would freefall from the shelf and land with all his weight on the poor client’s head. He did that on purpose and seemed to get some really unique pleasure in that specific hunting technique. That cat had a special war-scream vocalization, unique to that ‘rare and delicious’ moment in his life. I don’t know how many bald men might have died from a heart attack during the 30 years my grandmother operated that store, but it certainly made for regular laughter in that small community of merchants downtown. The remarkable part is that outside of that particular idiosyncrasy, Terror was a gentle, loving and often purring companion; he seldom left my grandmother’s lap if allowed to spend his day there. I believe he might have started a bet with the other cat in the store to prove that cats with ‘disabilities’ could hunt better than regular cats if they put their hearts to it. In his life, he certainly achieved quite a score!

Cool Cat links - Check them out!

Catalyst Council has launched a cat gallery featuring pictures of our feline friends. Take a peek at our CATalyst Gallery!

Roof Kittens

Cat drinking from the faucet

National Feral Cat Day
October 16 is National Feral Cat Day—a day for people across the country to help protect and improve the lives of cats. National Feral Cat Day was launched in 2001 by Alley Cat Allies, the national advocate for feral and stray cats and the recognized authority on Trap-Neuter-Return—a program in which cats who live outdoors are humanely trapped and brought to a veterinarian to be evaluated, neutered, and vaccinated, and then returned to their outdoor home.
Read more

*CATalystas are people or organizations that celebrate and champion the cat.
** Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association July 15, 2009, Vol. 235, No. 2, Pages 160-167.