Got them microchipped - question

We had all three cats microchipped. I was told at the vet's office last
week that there would be a one time charge for registering each cat,
included in the $47 fee to insert the chip. No yearly fees. But reading the
literature they sent home with me, it says there's a yearly fee of $15.
WTF? Not to the vet but to HomeAgain. Has anyone else heard of this? The
tech works there for a long time so I can't see how she could have not
known. I was also supposed to get a confirmation by email from HomeAgain and
haven't got anything yet.

Suggestions. Opinions. Anyone......?

"Kelly Greene" wrote:
We had all three cats microchipped. I was told at the vet's office last
week that there would be a one time charge for registering each cat,
included in the $47 fee to insert the chip. No yearly fees. But reading the
literature they sent home with me, it says there's a yearly fee of $15.
WTF? Not to the vet but to HomeAgain. Has anyone else heard of this? The
tech works there for a long time so I can't see how she could have not
known. I was also supposed to get a confirmation by email from HomeAgain and
haven't got anything yet.

Suggestions. Opinions. Anyone......?

I get emails every once in a while from them to "renew" my membership.
Of course, your pet and contact information stays in their database
forever, and a shelter or vet who scans the chip can always find that,
and you can also always update your contact information online for
free.

But if you want, you can pay the yearly fee, which gets you proactive
recovery (where Homeagain sends out notices if you tell them your pet
was lost, then contacts you from their end if the pet is found),
access to an emergency hotline of some sort, and other things I'm not
very familiar with, because I've never paid them a thing.

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
"Kelly Greene" wrote:
We had all three cats microchipped. I was told at the vet's office last
week that there would be a one time charge for registering each cat,
included in the $47 fee to insert the chip. No yearly fees. But reading
the
literature they sent home with me, it says there's a yearly fee of $15.
WTF? Not to the vet but to HomeAgain. Has anyone else heard of this? The
tech works there for a long time so I can't see how she could have not
known. I was also supposed to get a confirmation by email from HomeAgain
and
haven't got anything yet.

Suggestions. Opinions. Anyone......?

I get emails every once in a while from them to "renew" my membership.
Of course, your pet and contact information stays in their database
forever, and a shelter or vet who scans the chip can always find that,
and you can also always update your contact information online for
free.

But if you want, you can pay the yearly fee, which gets you proactive
recovery (where Homeagain sends out notices if you tell them your pet
was lost, then contacts you from their end if the pet is found),
access to an emergency hotline of some sort, and other things I'm not
very familiar with, because I've never paid them a thing.

I think I'll skip that also. All I was is my cats in their database in case,
God forbid, one somehow gets outside and lost.

"Kelly Greene" wrote:
"Takayuki" wrote in message
.. .
I get emails every once in a while from them to "renew" my membership.
Of course, your pet and contact information stays in their database
forever, and a shelter or vet who scans the chip can always find that,
and you can also always update your contact information online for
free.

But if you want, you can pay the yearly fee, which gets you proactive
recovery (where Homeagain sends out notices if you tell them your pet
was lost, then contacts you from their end if the pet is found),
access to an emergency hotline of some sort, and other things I'm not
very familiar with, because I've never paid them a thing.

I think I'll skip that also. All I was is my cats in their database in case,
God forbid, one somehow gets outside and lost.

Your cat will definitely remain in their database. If you think about
it, their database is money to them. They probably wouldn't lose your
pet information even if you begged them to! It essentially doubles as
part of their inventory and customer relationship management system,
gives them information on both hoomin and furry demographics and where
their products are being sold, and is also their sales leads system,
allowing them to offer you lots of different services.

Plus, having an up-to-date database allows them to sell more
microchips, scanners, and even training services to vets and shelters.

If you haven't already, you should register at www.homeagain.com and
create an account using your cat's microchip ID number.

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
"Kelly Greene" wrote:
I think I'll skip that also. All I want is my cats in their database in
case,
God forbid, one somehow gets outside and lost.

Your cat will definitely remain in their database. If you think about
it, their database is money to them. They probably wouldn't lose your
pet information even if you begged them to! It essentially doubles as
part of their inventory and customer relationship management system,
gives them information on both hoomin and furry demographics and where
their products are being sold, and is also their sales leads system,
allowing them to offer you lots of different services.

Plus, having an up-to-date database allows them to sell more
microchips, scanners, and even training services to vets and shelters.

If you haven't already, you should register at www.homeagain.com and
create an account using your cat's microchip ID number.

The receptionist told me she was going to do that and I would get a
conformation in my email in a few days. But I sure will go there and look.

"Kelly Greene" wrote:
"Takayuki" wrote in message
.. .
"Kelly Greene" wrote:
I think I'll skip that also. All I want is my cats in their database in
case,
God forbid, one somehow gets outside and lost.

Your cat will definitely remain in their database. If you think about
it, their database is money to them. They probably wouldn't lose your
pet information even if you begged them to! It essentially doubles as
part of their inventory and customer relationship management system,
gives them information on both hoomin and furry demographics and where
their products are being sold, and is also their sales leads system,
allowing them to offer you lots of different services.

Plus, having an up-to-date database allows them to sell more
microchips, scanners, and even training services to vets and shelters.

If you haven't already, you should register at www.homeagain.com and
create an account using your cat's microchip ID number.

The receptionist told me she was going to do that and I would get a
conformation in my email in a few days. But I sure will go there and look.

That makese sense. HomeAgain has a promotional program with vets where
for each chip whose owner information they enter, they get a free chip
back from HomeAgain. That's why the vet is eager to be helpful.

Kelly Greene wrote:
We had all three cats microchipped. I was told at the vet's office last
week that there would be a one time charge for registering each cat,
included in the $47 fee to insert the chip. No yearly fees. But reading
the literature they sent home with me, it says there's a yearly fee of
$15. WTF? Not to the vet but to HomeAgain. Has anyone else heard of
this? The tech works there for a long time so I can't see how she could
have not known. I was also supposed to get a confirmation by email from
HomeAgain and haven't got anything yet.

Suggestions. Opinions. Anyone......?

I did that route with them, once, until I discovered that $15 is
optional, and does not affect the actual registry (which IS included in
the initial charge, and is good for the cat's lifetime). There are
other alleged "benefits" to the annual fee, but the cat is still in
their registry, whether you elect to opt for the extra "benefits" or not.

On Jan 23, 2:20*pm, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:
Kelly Greene wrote:
We had all three cats microchipped. *I was told at the vet's office last
week that there would be a one time charge for registering each cat,
included in the $47 fee to insert the chip. No yearly fees. But reading
the literature they sent home with me, it says there's a yearly fee of
$15. WTF? *Not to the vet but to HomeAgain. Has anyone else heard of
this? The tech works there for a long time so I can't see how she could
have not known. I was also supposed to get a confirmation by email from
HomeAgain and haven't got anything yet.

Suggestions. Opinions. Anyone......?

I did that route with them, once, until I discovered that $15 is
optional, and does not affect the actual registry (which IS included in
the initial charge, and is good for the cat's lifetime). *There are
other alleged "benefits" to the annual fee, but the cat is still in
their registry, whether you elect to opt for the extra "benefits" or not.

The shelter I adopted from implants AVID chips. AVID doesn't confront
you with the dilemma of whether to subscribe or not. There are no
annual fees. That is not to say that AVID is necessarily better.
With AVID, you cannot update or check your data online, and when you
do update, you have to mail or fax your changes and pay a $6 fee. (I
don't consider the $6 fee a big deal though.)

FirstHit

"Kelly Greene" wrote in message
...
We had all three cats microchipped. I was told at the vet's office last
week that there would be a one time charge for registering each cat,
included in the $47 fee to insert the chip. No yearly fees. But reading
the literature they sent home with me, it says there's a yearly fee of
$15. WTF? Not to the vet but to HomeAgain. Has anyone else heard of this?
The tech works there for a long time so I can't see how she could have not
known. I was also supposed to get a confirmation by email from HomeAgain
and haven't got anything yet.

Suggestions. Opinions. Anyone......?

In the UK there is a one-off charge for the microchip, which IIRC cost me
around GBP 25 for Boyfie, there is no annual charge.
You must always remember to update your details with them if you move.
I wanted to have him get a microchip that also took his temperature if he
was at the vet to save him having the thermometer up his bottom but it was
not available at my vet.
I emailed them to say why not and they said that the microchip they offer is
read by all shelters and vets in the UK with their scanners and the
thermometer-type one isn't. So if I wanted to get him back from anywhere, I
should go with that one.
So I did.
My problem is that I sometimes think I know better because I've seen this
brilliant thing on the internet. I think my vet hasn't seen it.
I don't know how he is so patient with me..

Tweed

Christina Websell wrote:

In the UK there is a one-off charge for the microchip, which IIRC cost me
around GBP 25 for Boyfie, there is no annual charge.
You must always remember to update your details with them if you move.
I wanted to have him get a microchip that also took his temperature if he
was at the vet to save him having the thermometer up his bottom but it was
not available at my vet.
I emailed them to say why not and they said that the microchip they offer is
read by all shelters and vets in the UK with their scanners and the
thermometer-type one isn't. So if I wanted to get him back from anywhere, I
should go with that one.
So I did.

Would it work to install both microchips? One that will be picked up by
all scanners so he's more likely to be identified if found somewhere, and
the other one to get his temperature.

Joyce


--
The heck with top and bottom -- I want relationships with strangeness
and charm.