Really? For dogs it is!
Not for cats? Very interesting - and probably a relief for ImaniOU.
Panda, did they come from Taiwan?
But since ImaniOU’s main concern seems to be “defacing” her cats, I guess the collar and tag thing wouldn’t work, either, as that’s a lot more noticeable than a microchip, which you can’t actually see at all.
Really? For dogs it is!
[/quote]That’s where I got the impression that it was mandatory. We exported dogs overseas before, and they had to be chipped.
If you get your cat chipped you can use it to play games from abroad. That alone makes it worth it.
Not one mention about the cats and how they feel about the possibility of being re-homed? Not even a tiny little mention? Hmmm…
Then you say this:[quote=“ImaniOU”]I know there are people more than willing to point their fingers at anyone who would be willing to give up their pets[/quote]Goddamn! Sorry but it’s difficult not to point fingers. Your post is all about YOU, and how YOU need them, and how YOU feel about your cats, and how YOU couldn’t live without them, and how they make YOU feel good.
Maybe you should stop to think for half a second about how your cats feel about you. How THEY feel they can’t live without you, and how THEY love you more than anything else in their world, and how THEY would be lost without you, and how good you make THEM feel and how happy you make THEM.
Here’s your post in its entireity, just for references purposes:[quote=“ImaniOU”]I am planning a return to the US in the near future (no more than one year from now). As anyone on here knows, I have two kitties I love dearly: my 5-1/2 year old blue-eyed cutie pie Isalu (rescued on a rainy night from a busy intersection after Typhoon Nari while fuckwits stood around commenting about the cat meowing itself hoarse) and my 1-1/2 dog wannabe Mariposa.
I have actually put off my return because of worry, not just about getting myself set up back home, but also getting my two cuties back home with as few hitches as possible. But there is one major obstacle which I think is the most difficult: I refuse to let my cats get chipped. I do not want anything inserted into my cats unless it is to save their lives. From what I understand, taking my kitties to the US, it’s something I may not have a choice over… Hell, I might have to be chipped too before they let me back in. They already missed meeting their American cousin Mokey who passed away this summer, and only Isalu has met my mom when she came here. My sister is thrilled to finally meet them after all the stories and pictures I’ve sent her. But I refuse to force them getting chips which may mean that I will have to give them up. I love them that much.
I know there are people more than willing to point their fingers at anyone who would be willing to give up their pets, but I love them too much to force them to undergo something as unnecessary as getting implanted with chips. They are unique enough in their markings that I think an official photograph signed by their vets would do (Isalu even has a mark on his side that looks like a lower-case ‘i’ when he’s sitting Smile ). I am very attached to them and anytime I have someone watch them when I make my trips back home, I ask for updates via email (one couple even sent me photographs) because I think about them when I am away from them. I brag about them all the time and the funny things they do because they make me so happy.
I can’t imagine my life without them, but I can’t also live with letting someone deface their bodies because of some stupid regulation.
Please, please, please tell me there is a way to avoid having to get my babies injected with chips to take them home with me![/quote]
And you wonder why some of us feel like pointing fingers when reading selfish posts such as your post? :s
I guess you have no excuses now, you cats can travel with you without a chip. 
Disclaimer: I’m in a shitty mood right now… Nothing personal.
Indeed. When I talked about fingers, yours was the one to which I was referring.
While we’re at asking my cats how they feel about someone sticking a needle into them against their own will and injecting them with a microchip so I can sleep better at night if they get lost, why don’t I also ask them how they feel about me denying them the right to parenthood and of ensuring their genes are passed on? I could ask them how they feel about having their balls chopped off and their ovaries cut out because I don’t want them to contribute to animal overpopulation.
I’m so fucking selfish for rescuing two cats from the streets, giving them a loving home, and wanting to find the best way to have them continue to be a part of my life without having them reduced to being encoded like a bottle of pop.
Why don’t I help you sleep better at night and just give you my cats since I am such a horrendously abusive owner for not wanting to have microchips put into them?
It continues to amaze me to see how conversely your amount of respect for animals is compared to your lack of respect for humans if they don’t share your own skewered fundamentalist views on animals’ rights.
Perhaps you need to back up and take a deep look within and find out why you have so many issues with humans.
Indeed. When I talked about fingers, yours was the one to which I was referring.[/quote]I knew that, and I also knew that you were going to reply with the exact line I quoted above. That’s why I replied to your post accordingly. 
I didn’t want to, but like I said, I’m in a pissy mood and I just had to say it.
The neutering of housepets is primarily to avoid health and behavioural issues, BTW. CNR cases are an effort not to contibute to over population, you are right. They all end up suffering on the street anyways. 
But since ImaniOU’s main concern seems to be “defacing” her cats, I guess the collar and tag thing wouldn’t work, either, as that’s a lot more noticeable than a microchip, which you can’t actually see at all.[/quote]
I can take a collar off, and often do, as the only reason why my cats aren’t naked is because the bell on their collars help me brace myself for when they are doing laps around my house in the dark.
A microchip, however, cannot be taken out at will, nor will it give me ample warning to duck when the cats are racing across the house after each other.
I think the sardonic comment was cute, if not effective. Of course, judging its efficacy would be to label the purpose for you posting it in the first place, but that is against a certain rule. No matter how good I may get at yoga, I have to come to grips with the fact that I’ll never manage to land the ‘backbiting’ pose as well as some people.
Try explaining that to my eunich of a cat. I’m pretty sure he’d be happier to be bad and still have a scrotum.
I was in tears when I got him neutered (I wasn’t as emotional when I did the kitten because she had already gone through one cycle of being in heat and the yowling was more than enough to not feel as sorry for doing that to her). It took me a long time to get over modifying Isalu. Having to carry my anesthetized kitty back, knowing I was butchering his body just so he could stay with me. And I swore that I would not put him through that again.
I just want to make sure I can keep my promise to him.
Greedy, egotistical, selfish me.
[quote=“ImaniOU”]
While we’re at asking my cats how they feel about someone sticking a needle into them against their own will and injecting them with a microchip so I can sleep better at night if they get lost, why don’t I also ask them how they feel about me denying them the right to parenthood and of ensuring their genes are passed on? I could ask them how they feel about having their balls chopped off and their ovaries cut out because I don’t want them to contribute to animal overpopulation.
[/quote]Irrelevant, as is your last post where you ask me to ask your cat what he/she thinks. I just mentioned that your post was me, me, me and me, and not one mention about how your cats feel. It’s clear that your cats are uncapable of making a decision for themselves(no one would argue wth that… ) My post addressed the re-homing part of your post and your comment about how some people(me) are quick to point fingers. Nothing to do with the chipping the cat bit. Since you mentioned that(re-homing and pointing fingers) in the OP, I figured I was on topic.
“Me, me, me, me, me, and don’t point fingers at me.”
Try explaining that to my eunich of a cat. I’m pretty sure he’d be happier to be bad and still have a scrotum.
[/quote]Like I said, I wouldn’t deny that your cat can’t answer questions. I’m just bothered that in the OP, it’s all about how you feel, and not one mention about how your cat feels in regards to re-homing. What does chipping an neutering have to do with that?
I am concerened though, if your vet removed your cat’s scrottom. I think I would be pretty horrified, too.(for the cat, of course…) 
[quote=“ImaniOU”]Having to carry my anesthetized kitty back, knowing I was butchering his body just so he could stay with me. And I swore that I would not put him through that again.[/quote]If you only understood what you did for your cat, you’d know that the advantages are more than just the fact that you can keep the cat with you.
[quote]I just want to make sure I can keep my promise to him.[/quote]You are comparing neutering to chipping. That’s plain silly. 
It’s not similar? They are both unnatural. They are both invasive. They are both unnecessary. They both simply serve to make it easier for the owner of said pet to keep it from getting too lost. They are both supposed to improve the longevity of pets (although I have yet to see widely noted evidence of the latter doing this). They are both imposed by humans to make the pet conform to what they want for it rather what may or may not be best for it.
Technically, declawing prevents a cat from getting an ingrown nail so by your logic that a cat, should it ever run away, benefits from being chipped, then I should suppose the same thing must be true about getting a cat declawed. Otherwise both operations are unnecessary.
Why is it that people have been able to have cats for thousands of years with a minute proportion of them having run away and never returned, but now all of the sudden it’s imperative to get them chipped to keep them from getting lost? Have cats suddenly become stupid in the last five years or are you swallowing (and spouting) some propaganda from people who benefit from you believing this is necessary?
[quote=“ImaniOU”] They are both supposed to improve the longevity of pets (although I have yet to see widely noted evidence of the latter doing this)[/quote]Chips are not meant to help your pet live longer. Indirectly maybe. You need to read up on this and do your homework before you carry on. Google is your best friend. :google: Many solid and reliable sources on the web would help you better understand the basis behind desexing and chipping pets.
Just as parenting doesn’t require having a degree in child psychology (but it might help), knowing the exact reasons for neutering and chipping a pet is not necessary to having one (although it might help). But just like parenting, pet owners should do what they feel is right for their pets. And just like parenting, there are certain people who feel they know what’s better for your pets than you do and have no hesitations of browbeating you for your decisions if they don’t agree.
And just like a parent is wont to do, bobepine, I will listen your advice with a grain of salt. A very big grain of salt. But that does not mean I will follow it.
I got my question answered - that no, Mari and Isa do not need chipping. My need for this thread is done.
Just like parenting, bad decisions regarding animal health and safety are often due to lack of education, and not ill-intentions.
Re: Chipping, all I’m saying is that you should read up on it. If that is browbeating to you, you need to ask yourself why.
re: Re-homing, I’m just tired of reading people say things like “I love my pet”, “I can’t live without him/her,” “he/she makes ME feel happy” without any mentions of what the animals go through. They have feelings, too, you know… And they don’t have a voice as you made very clear in your earlier posts.
I suggest that you contact the Bureau of Animals and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine in Taipei to find out for sure that you don’t need your cats chipped to travel with them. It may depend on which country you are going to. This may ease your stress come time for the big move.
I’d give you the contact details, but I only have the contacts for the Kaohsiung office.
Really? For dogs it is!
Not for cats? Very interesting - and probably a relief for ImaniOU.
Panda, did they come from Taiwan?[/quote]
Yes my cats were born in Taiwan. I remember alot of confusion about this issue at the time. The vets all said the cat had to be chipped but either the inspector at the airport or at the govt place near Tai Da they told us the cats dont need to be chipped. So make sure you dont listen to your vet but ask the govt bureau about it cos they are the ones who write up the cats paperwork to get out of the country. USA does not require it. Also, China air is much cheaper than EVA for taking the pet overseas.
Hows about looking at this from a [b]logical[b] perspective?
Comparing declawing and implanting a microchip? Well, maybe in the very broad sense that they are both by definition “invasive procedures”. But then again, so is heart bypass surgery, appendix removal, etc etc. If your, or one of your loved ones’ lives were at stake I’m sure you wouldn’t hesitate to go through with one of these procedures.
Another reason that the declawing/microchip comparioson is irrelevant is that declawing prevents a cat from performing instinctive patterns of behaviour (sharpening claws) which could prove to be traumatic and frustrating for the animal. Microchips, however do nothing of the sort. The animal doesn’t even know that it’s there - far less invasive and obtrusive than something like a collar.
Comparing microchipping to spaying/neutering is more relevant, in that both involve an “invasive” procedure that has no immediately discernible benefits for the individual animal. However, neither do they have any ill effects. Spaying/nuetering do not affect the animal negatively in any way, I’m sure. If you think that you’re mutilating and butchering them, seems to me that you’re projecting human fears and concerns onto them.
Sure, it feels bad that you’ve put them under anaesthetic and that they have a scar that needs to heal, but the long term benefits far outweigh the negatives. I’m sure my cat doesn’t really miss her ovaries. And I doubt she harbours any grudges about being left at the nasty vets to have surgery. After all, I’m pretty grateful that my parents “butchered” my tonsils when I was a kid. Not to mention that she won’t be contributing how many litters a year to the already overwhelming stray problem.
I don’t think my cat was under anaesthetic when she got the chip put in, and whilst that needle looked pretty scary, she didn’t yelp or scream. She just seemed relieved after the second that it took to do the job. I’m pretty sure that she has no idea that anything was left under her skin. After all, I’ve got a few titanium screws in my jaw and I’ve never felt like they were actually there.
Would you object to giving someone a vaccination because the needle hurts for a few seconds?
Anyway, I hope this doesn’t offend (as people seem to be taking things VERY personally on this board), I’m just giving my 2c.