Q:  What is a microchip?
A:  A microchip is a small, electronic chip enclosed in a glass cylinder that is about the same size as a grain of rice. The microchip itself does not have a battery—it is activated by a scanner that is passed over the area, and the radiowaves put out by the scanner activate the chip. The chip transmits the identification number to the scanner, which displays the number on the screen.
Q:  How is a microchip implanted into an animal? Is it painful? Does it require surgery or anesthesia?
A:  It is injected under the skin using a hypodermic needle. It is no more painful than a typical injection, although the needle is slightly larger than those used for injection. No surgery or anesthesia is required—a microchip can be implanted during a routine veterinary office visit.
Q:  What kind of information is contained in the microchip? Is there a tracking device in it? Will it store my pet's medical information?
A:  The microchips presently used in pets only contain identification numbers. No, the microchip cannot track your animal if it gets lost. Although the present technology microchip itself does not contain your pet's medical information, some microchip registration databases will allow you to store that information in the database for quick reference.
Some microchips used in research laboratories and for microchipping some livestock and horses also transmit information about the animal's body temperature.
Q:  What do they mean by "microchip frequency?"
A:  The frequency of a microchip actually refers to the frequency of the radiowave given off by the scanner that activates and reads the microchip. Examples of microchip frequencies include 125 kiloHertz (kHz), 128 kHz, and 134.2 kHz.
Q:  I've heard about something called "ISO standard." What does that mean?
A:  The International Standards Organization, or ISO, has approved and recommended a global standard for microchips. The global standard is intended to create an identification system that is consistent worldwide. For example, if a dog was implanted with an ISO standard microchip in the U.S., travels to Europe with its owners and becomes lost, the ISO standard scanners in Europe would be able to read the dog's microchip. If the dog was implanted with a non-ISO microchip and the ISO scanner was not forward- and backward-reading, the dog's microchip might not be detected or be read by the scanner.
The ISO standard frequency is 134.2 kHz.
Q:  What are forward- and backward-reading scanners? How do they differ from other scanners?
A:  Forward-reading scanners only detect 134.2 kHz (ISO standard) microchips, but will not detect 125 kHz or 128 kHz (non-ISO standard) microchips. Forward- and backward-reading scanners detect all microchip frequencies. The main advantage of forward- and backward-reading scanners is the improved chances of detecting and reading a microchip, regardless of the frequency.
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