I highly recommend a microchip for additional peace of mind. It's one more way to identify your cat if he/she slips the collar, and it is definitive. Sure, the downside is that if a regular person ends up with your cat, they may not think to go to the vet/shelter to get scanned.
All my cats are microchipped with HomeAgain. There's only 2 major chip brands in the US: AVID and the HomeAgain.
WARNING: there's a new ISO chip being sold by 24PetWatch through clinics like Banfield that
cannot be read by most machines here in the U.S. yet. I would advise against buying them until everyone gets their act together. Here's the Humane Society article:
ISO chip warning.
ForJazz: a chip gets injected into your cat above the shoulderblades. Then you give your contact info to the company you chose. The chip only contains a unique number that pops up when scanned. Then the shelter/vet calls the AVID/HomeAgain registries to get your info off their database. So it's basically up to you to keep your info updated. Mine is staffed 24/7.
Cost: I got ours chipped for $28 each at a mobile vet. My regular vet charged $35. I called various vets in my area to get prices, and some charged up to $50, and it's for the same thing. A few shelters may offer it for a lower price. You pay an additional $12 to be registered in the company's national database. It was very easy to register and update info online.
ISO chips: this is a universal chip that's already common and available in other countries, except the U.S. They're slowly rolling it out, but again, most American scanners can't read it, and they're not providing the support. :roll: The advantage of an ISO chip is that you can move from country to country (except U.S.) and still be able to recognize the chip.
Future chips: My hubby told me some company displayed a prototype of a new chip with GPS capability at some trade show, that can track exact location within a certain distance. It's only in research stage now, so it'll probably take a few years to get it into the market, but BOY am I excited.....it's about time!!! Although the primary target is parents with human children, I don't care, as long as it trickles down to those of us with furrchildren. And that means more kinds of chips and better to follow. Woohoo! Now if only someone could come up with an idea so we don't have any more litterbox duties.
EDIT: Clarified Banfield as vet clinic.