Lost for Two Years, This Shelter Cat’s Story Shows Why Microchipping Matters

Among the many quirky old folk songs my grandmother used to sing to us was one about cat that "wouldn't stay away." She would only sing the three-line chorus; maybe she knew not to belt out the rest since it's actually kind of dark.

Microchipping Your Pet

Hop in a time machine, and take the term "microchipping" back to 1893 when songwriter Harry Miller penned the ultimately unsettling "The Cat Came Back." After you tell him it has nothing to do with tiny poker chips or little pieces of wood, he'd likely be very impressed at our technology way up here in the future.

Microchip Reunites Cat With Owners Two Years Later

Time traveler "X" would likely explain how vitally important it is if you have a pet. The Daviess County-It Takes a Village No Kill Rescue Shelter shares its benefits on social media as much as possible. Simply put, it's how you reunite with your furry loved one should he or she should wander away. This most recent story of a cat separated from its owners for two years is a mind-blowing example of the importance of microchipping.

Imagine being separated from your cat or dog for so long that you'd just written off every reconnecting, and then getting a phone call from a shelter hundreds of miles away with shockingly good news.

Yes, cats can find their way back home when they stray, even from great distances, on the rarest of occasions. But those "great distances" are usually in the tens of miles; from Colorado to Kentucky is too big an ask.

And that's why microchipping is so necessary. In the United Kingdom, it's a required practice.

Skip the remake of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, and go for the chip.

Now, read on for a list of animals about which you don't need to worry about microchipping. That's because you probably can't have one.