Just got a cat. Live in Zurich Canton. Cat is 1 1/2 years old. Are microchips required? Are they useful? I never used them in the US with our cats.

Thanks for your help.

They are not required but they are useful. If it's lost and found, they check for chips.

If you are going to have your cat vaccinated against rabies and if you ever need a pet passport then you will need to have chip, as the passport uses the chip as a unique identifier likewise any rabies certificate uses the chip as the unique ID as well

Have a read through this thread, and through the similar heartbreaking threads where a pet has been lost:
http://www.englishforum.ch/pet-corne...irst-time.html

And then, please, please have your cat chipped, and register the chip on ANIS, the Switzerland-wide database.

(Not mandated for cats, but all dogs must be chipped and registered under the TschV.)

I will definitely go for the chip. It will stay with your cat for his whole life and you will be sure to have better chances in case it get lost. ANIS allows you to manage your data online and i found it really good. My cat came with me from USA too and even over there he got the chip.

Just to make an example of how much useful the chip can be:
Some time ago i read the news that a cat in Australia was finally brought back to its family after several week that got lost thanks to the chip. It was really a happy ending!

I will not microchip any of my cats any more. My cat was hit by a car, taken away by the Gemeinde people and never checked for a chip. Why pay for the microchip if they don't check it?

Leonie, I'm so sorry to hear this.

I know how hurt you must be - but perhaps later it might be worthwhile to speak to the Gemeinde about how this was handled. They should have checked for a chip as a matter of course - and if that was not possible or if an animal is not chipped, although not required they should publish the info with the canton or on the Meldstelle here:

http://www.tierdatenbank.ch/cms/tier...t-anzeige.html

Perhaps speaking to the Gemeinde might help get them to make changes so that this doesn't happen to another owner.

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In addition to the microchip, my dogs wear tags that say they are chipped and have the ANIS telephone number on them (ANIS gives you these tags when you register). They also wear another tag with my name and contact details.

We dog owners know that every dog in Switzerland is chipped - but folks who don't have dogs might not know that, or know what to do when they find a pet. The tags are an added protection - perhaps it might be a good idea for cat owners as well, as not everyone thinks to check a cat for a chip.

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And an FYI for all who might find themselves in a car accident involving an animal: there is a legal (as well as moral) responsibility to help the animal and to report the accident to the authorities. Here are the relevant laws:
http://www.tierdatenbank.ch/cms/tier...chtliches.html

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Again, I'm very sorry to hear about your cat, Leonie.

All our pets are chipped. You can find a story here on EF of a Jack Russell who was stolen, sold and returned to owner 5 months later, all thanks to the chip - so they are certainly useful.

Thank you very much Meloncollie for your kind words! I am still very angry about the incident. I went to Gemeinde with a photo of my cat asking for information, but no record about the accident was located. They just trew away the chipped animal without any trace and didn't think that there was anything wrong with it.
I found out about the accident from the woman who lives next door. She had called the Gemeinde to come and pick up my dead cat insted of calling me and letting me know about the accident. She waited a week after the accident before she told me about it. I am still glad that she did tell me eventually because at least I know what happened.

About the chip -- no doubt that in some situations the chip is very helpful. When the lost cat gets to the animal shelter or to a vet. But what about police stations and Gemeinde? Are they really obligated to have the equipment for reading the chips? Once I have seen a huge dog running around freely on our street. The dog was not from our area and clearly alone. I had called the police but they were not interested. They told me to call the animal shelter. By the time I contacted the shelter the dog was gone. I thought the police would come and take the dog...

Microchips aren't required, but they are very useful. Only microchip-equipped cats are compatible with the Control-a-Cat system, which makes life with kitty so much more pleasant. Almost like having a dog.