A recent study found that microchipped pets who were brought to an animal shelter were returned to their owners in 3 out of 4 cases.  There were 53 shelters participating in the study, each agreeing to keep records of pets who were found to have a microchip.  Of the pets that had the chip, 73% of the owners were found.

Surprisingly, some animal microchips were not detected during the first scan.  Some required multiple scans, either during a medical exam or prior to euthanasia.  This finding reveals the need for shelters to scan dogs and cats multiple times for the presence of a microchip.

Another important finding of the study?  If your dog or cat has a microchip, it is imperative that you keep your contact information up to date.  If your phone number or address changes at any time, you should make the change in the microchip database immediately.  Sadly, 35% of the owners’ phone numbers were disconnected while 9.8% of the chips weren’t even registered.

So talk to your veterinarian about placing a microchip in your dog or cat.  After all, it only takes a moment for a family pet to become lost.  And your furry friend can only count on you to bring him or her back.

As a matter of fact, pets in smoking households have a 60 percent greater chance of lung cancer.  Cats in smoking households have three times more chance to develop lymphoma.  And finally, dogs with long snouts are two times more likely to develop nasal cancer in smoking households.

Furthermore, it isn’t just inhaling smoke that causes damage to pets.  The residue from smoke in the house settles on to their fur and is quickly ingested as the pet grooms him or herself.

A survey was conducted online including more than 3,300 smoker pet owners.  Not surprisingly, 28 percent of these folks felt motivated to quit after hearing of second hand smoke health risks to their pets.

If you are a smoker and need that extra little boost to quit smoking, maybe doing it for your pet will be just the thing to help you quit.  Then, you can truly be a dog’s best friend!  Or cat, or hamster or….

Keeping a pet is incredibly rewarding.  But for many pet owners, the cost of pet food has hurt their already empty wallets.  With today’s economy, it is important to save money at every turn, including when buying for your pet. 

Here are some current printable pet food coupons that might help to decrease the cost of keeping your wonderful pet: 

Online pet coupons: 

Purina

Coupon Cat

The Good Life Coupons

Pedigree Pet Food Coupons

Nature’s Best $5.00 Coupon

Food Lion Pet Partners Pet Food Coupons

Iam’s Cat Food Printable Coupons

Pedigree Dog Food Coupon

Please help us with comments to other great pet coupons!