Problems Related to Microchip
 

Hello,

In reading the news today, I read an article that claimed there were studies that revealed cancer related to microchips made by Verisign in mice and rat studies, although of course, these don't necessarily translate to other animals. Both of my dogs are microchipped. Some people are microchipped as well (mostly disabled, or people with alzheimers)! Just curious - has anyone ever had problems with microchipped dogs?

Marcy

Microchips are used in race horses since quite a long time and in dogs and cats too. I have never heard of any case of cancer and other problems are extremly rare compared to the large amount of chipped animals.
If you look at studies, expecially on american ones it is extremly important to look at the conditions of the study. What kind of microchip was used, what kind of mice and rats (there are cancer breeds in both), how many animals have been in the study and so on.
I also can´t understand why the used rats and mice when there are so many chipped animals around that you could use for a clinical study under normal circumstances.

Ina

In the US, it is much easier to seek approval for, and use in studies, mice and rats, under controlled conditions (much easier to maintain humanely, spacewise, and with regards to hygiene, they also mature much faster than a dog or cat)- most products must undergo safety testing in 2 animal species before being approved for testing in humans, so they are a common starting point for health studies. I realized too, that I wrote the incorrect name of the chip - it is VERICHIP, not VERISIGN (verisign is a completely different company and product! OOOPS!).

As for the studies referred to, testing was also reviewed from a German study, at Hannover Medical School, I believe, and another study at Ecole Nationale Veterinaire of Unite d'Anatomie Pathologique, in France, in the article. Your point about the breeds of mice and rats is a good one - I hadn't thought of that, often certain breeds are more susceptible to cancer. The description did not include the breeds. It did point out that the tumors - sarcoids, fibroids, adenocarcinomas, and others - were located directly around the glass-encased capsules. They also reported a single case of a French Bulldog in Italy with a sarcoid right around the microchip, and mentioned that a study had fairly recently been prompted to study dogs -some of the tens of thousands of them - that had been implanted.

Which is the question that led me here - has anyone elsewhere had any problems with their microchips in dogs? I love the international nature of this website, and the combined experiences of the users! In years of working with dogs, I'd never heard complaints of cancer from microchips, but never really asked anyone,either. The only issue I've ever had was a microchip, around 5 or 6 years back, that migrated downwards from it's place between the shoulders, and removed by my veterinarian, and didn't cause any injury or illness to the dog. Certainly nothing such as cancer! I'm sure there is a good chance of this being yet another media frenzy article!

Marcy

I just can tell you that I am in small animal veterinary practice since 17 years and I implanted quite a lot. I never heard of one case of cancer not in my patients and not in one of any collegue

Thank you for your responses! I certainly feel that the risk of losing a "runaway" dog far outweighs the risk of cancer from a microchip - as you mentioned before, the numbers of animals unaffected by placement of a microchip are vast, and the cases of animals with problems very tiny. The number of dogs that escape from a home, kennel, or enclosure each year are high. Any way to bring them home safely is very beneficial. In some instances, microchipping is sometimes required in the US, such as in the case of importing a foreign bred dog, and registering with the AKC, replacing the tattoo as a permanent identification mark. I guess reading the article - it was posted on CNN as a headline yesterday - just caught me by surprise. My son passed away from cancer earlier this year, and now we have very "sharp-tuned" ears for the word "cancer" - probably too much so! Again, thank you for your clarification.

We have both dogs microchipped, even our cat has one. No one ever had problems. When I used to work at the zoo, we were giving microchips to all sorts of animals, from lizards to parrots and there never occured any problem with the chip.

Hi,
I've heard about cancer possibility :(
Last times people started to talk about it more...

Problems?
my dogs problem with microchip - swelling area around microchip, even to about 4 cm big, it goes away after a course of AB
bye