Halo - Fibrosarcoma from microchip? Update #71

[mysweetscotty]

Oh Lisa, so sorry to hear about Halo! I know exactly what you are going through, me little 6 year old Yorkie had cancer, the tumor they removed from between his shoulder blades also contained the microchip....we had to send him on to the big dog park in the sky on May 27, just covered with tumors.
We tried treatments and chemo but they made him so sick we stopped .....trying to help him live longer but so sick would have been for us, not him. We miss our sweet boy so much!
I belong to a small group of pet owners whose pet also experienced cancer after microchipping....and the chip makers ought to be ashamed of themselves, they still maintain that these chips are completely safe!
We will have a web site up and running in the next week or so where pet owners can report/register adverse reactions in their pets from microchips...please check it out at www.chipmenot.com
Again, so sorry about Halo....we need to be strong and loud in our objections to chips!

[katladyd]

Most pets have no problem with microchips, but when they do....the problems are severe! My boyfriend's little girl kitty, Mau Mau, has a chip and I have showed him this thread. He said she has had no problems with it, so he will leave it in. He has decided not to microchip his other cat, Buddy, though. I hope Halo has no further problems and the worst is over. Sending good thoughts and prayers Halo's way.

[mysweetscotty]

Hi Katlady! Please just watch the spot where the chip was implanted...any signs of a bump should send Mau Mau straight to the vet!

[jenluckenbach]

I am so sorry to hear of this.

Please do not be so hard on yourselves. I believe that ALL (repeat.... ALL) things in life come with the possibilities of consequesnces. If you knew going in to the chipping procedure that it had a .05 % chance (just a random number here people, not a hard fact) of causing cancer, would you not take a 99.05 % chance that the chip would HELP to return her to you if lost?? Not everything is a guarrentee.

Rutherford had gotten a fibrosarcoma at a vaccination injection site, and it eventually cost him his life.....but I do not stop giving vaccines!! The diseases those vaccines prevent are much more commonplace than the cancer that he grew. On the reverse side, if Rutherford would have dies from panleukopenia or rabies I would be kicking myself for not doing my part in getting him the proper preventative measure.

I sure hope all that made sense, because I do not wish to take away from Halo's sickness.....I just hate to see you blaming yourself for things that just happen sometimes.

Best of luck with dear Halo.

[mysweetscotty]

Just curious, did Rutherford have a chip? If so, the chip rather an the vaccines may be the culprit. W believe that many pet owners do not realize that the chip is the problem, not the vaccine injection site....
And now that I've watched my Scotty boy die of cancer, you bet that miniscule % of 'what might happen' would stop me from chipping again. There are other ways to identify your pet including a tatoo! We've heard of pets being euthanized because the chip reader would not scan the chip....if anyone bothered to check and see if there is a chip!
Pet owners, like me, go into this blindly, believing what the chip mfgs say on their sites about the chip being 100% safe....wish I'd done my homework, if I had just googled pet chip cancer I never would have chipped Scotty....there are a lot of cases out there!

[jenluckenbach]

No chip in Rutherford.

But I will be honest, I prefer the visable tattoo to the microchip that people forget to scan for.

[katladyd]

Hi Katlady! Please just watch the spot where the chip was implanted...any signs of a bump should send Mau Mau straight to the vet!

Trust me, we are. What everyone is saying about the good outweighing the bad is true. If Mau Mau got lost and was never returned to us because she wasn't chipped, we would feel bad about that. Our cats are NEVER outdoors, they all strongly prefer to be indoors, so the chip debate is a moot point with us. Mau Mau came with the chip and just the address was changed. She seems well and happy, so for now, we leave it alone.

[kuhio98]

Oh Lisa, so sorry to hear about Halo! I know exactly what you are going through, me little 6 year old Yorkie had cancer, the tumor they removed from between his shoulder blades also contained the microchip....we had to send him on to the big dog park in the sky on May 27, just covered with tumors.
We tried treatments and chemo but they made him so sick we stopped .....trying to help him live longer but so sick would have been for us, not him. We miss our sweet boy so much!
I belong to a small group of pet owners whose pet also experienced cancer after microchipping....and the chip makers ought to be ashamed of themselves, they still maintain that these chips are completely safe!
We will have a web site up and running in the next week or so where pet owners can report/register adverse reactions in their pets from microchips...please check it out at www.chipmenot.com
Again, so sorry about Halo....we need to be strong and loud in our objections to chips!

Thank you. I will definitely check out the site.
From what we're learning, a very small percentage of pets who are chipped have problems. Unfortunately, for those who do develop fibrosarcoma, the prognosis isn't good.

If I had to do it all over again, and given the same circumstances, I probably would chip again. Of the 20+ kitties we've been involved in chipping in the last 8 years -- and we're still in contact with them -- Halo is the only one who has had a problem.

Someone "up there" is playing a cruel joke on us.

[Catlady711]

Just curious, did Rutherford have a chip? If so, the chip rather an the vaccines may be the culprit. W believe that many pet owners do not realize that the chip is the problem, not the vaccine injection site....

A microchip is implanted between the shoulder blades, vaccines are (or should be) given in the scruff of the neck, or a back leg. A microchip implant site and a vaccine injection site should never be in the same place if it's done right.

Pet owners, like me, go into this blindly, believing what the chip mfgs say on their sites about the chip being 100% safe

Halo had bad reactions to the innoculations, so we stopped those years ago. Our vet told us that rabies is the only one required by law. But, to NEVER get the 3-year rabies shot as it has caused fibrosarcoma. He told us that's why the 3-year shot is usually given in the back leg because the leg can be cut off if cancer develops. So, we made sure he never got the 3-year shot.

I don't have time to look up the study right now but there was a study that showed that ANY injection, including antibiotics, or even giving fluids under the skin can have a miniscule chance of causing cancer at the injection site.

Some vaccines may be more likely to produce an allergic reaction, but there shouldn't be any difference between a 1 or 3 year Rabies vaccine as far as odds of cancer goes.

we felt we were doing the right thing by getting her chipped. We have chipped 20 cats since we lost Kuhio. Halo is the ONLY one who has had any problems. We still believe that chipping is the right thing to do.

It is and I'm glad that this whole sad adventure hasn't caused you to stop doing what's right. As it was said above, there is a far greater risk of losing your pet, or having your pet contract a disease than the odds of your pet getting cancer from an injection. My thoughts are with you concerning Halo.

[Karen]

There is an alternative to chipping - there is tattooing. I'm gonna talk about it on the radio today, I'll come back with more info later. Prayers still for Halo's recovery.

[kuhio98]

There is an alternative to chipping - there is tattooing. I'm gonna talk about it on the radio today, I'll come back with more info later. Prayers still for Halo's recovery.

Tattooing does sound lik a good alternative -- of course if we had done that -- knowing Halo's luck, she woul have been allergic to the dye. She really is a medical mystery kitty.

Are there websites where you register the tattoo like you do chips?

[Karen]

Tattooing does sound lik a good alternative -- of course if we had done that -- knowing Halo's luck, she woul have been allergic to the dye. She really is a medical mystery kitty.

Are there websites where you register the tattoo like you do chips?

The website is http://tattoo-a-pet.com - they are the national registry, and have the database of all the pets and their ID numbers. They also give the owners a tag to put on the pet's collar with their 800-number on it, but even if the pet isn't wearing a collar, a vet or groomer who sees the number can always call.

It's only $35, and seems well worth it.

When someone asks why I don't have any tattoos, I tell them that with my luck, I'd be allergic to the dyes, and it's just not worth the risk. Anyone who knows me well knows I have all sorts of allergies, including a bunch of food allergies, so I'm not taking unnecessary chances!