On Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:12:18 GMT, "Paul M. Cook"
wrote:

I have been reading terrible things about the transponder chips. They are
calling it the "cancer chip." I have a cat that came to me pre-chipped. I
am seriously considering having it surgically removed. My sister did this
to her two chipped cats and it as not especially easy for the surgeon but
the results were quite good.

Has anyone any thoughts?


Tough call. If it wasn't easy for the surgeon, it isn't easy for the
cat.

I fenced in the backyard so the cats can't get out but once in a while
they have been able to. I asked my vet about the chips and he said
that they had concerns and wouldn't do it. This was around two years
ago. Good vet I guess.

Anyway, I recently bought something called Loc8tor, which is an RF
system where the tag can attach to the cat's collar. It isn't easy to
get two of my cats to wear collars, but I made it mandatory if they
want to go out. It won't identify them if they do get out, but I can
track them within a few hundred feet.

Rather than have to look around to find them in the yard, if the
locator detects the tag, I know they're somewhere nearby. I'd like to
keep the collars on all the time so I can find them indoors, but one
of them really hates the collar.

The tags are far bigger than the chip because they have a battery
which gives them much greater range. The non-battery types (like the
chips and the ones used to prevent theft) use the energy of the
transmitter to reply.