I haven't chipped my boys yet because I'm a bad meowmie...LOL...But I swear I have every intention next time we are at the vet...My huge fear is earthquakes...being in California...I had two kits home when the big one happened and to find them cowering under the dining room table was such a relief! EVERYTHING had tumbled around them and it was a miracle they weren't hurt....but to think of them out on the street would have done me in...LOL...When we got home the front door was wide open but there they were together and holding each other...hudled under the safest place...that's where I would have been..with my boys.....chip chip chip....even if it's unlikely your area has the ability to scan....I had a kitty find me at my girlfriends house more than 40 miles away...that was long before chipping but what's the harm??? better safe than sorry...