Cyber-kitten

Shadow and Scruffy are being boarded at the vet this weekend, as I'll be in Pennsylvania to help my brother move. While they're there, Shadow will receive an indentification microchip, as her nature makes me worry that she may escape at some point. I don't have any type of vestibule or hallway between my living space and the outside world (I actually live in a tiny house with a main room, a cramped bathroom, and a tight kitchen, but somehow it seems easier to call it a studio apartment. House seems to suggest more than one room. More importantly, I rent the house, so I'm not really in a position to add a vestibule of any sort. [Digression over.])

The chip is really neat, though it's not a new concept. The idea is to attach a unique, indelible identifier to the cat (or dog, or wonder llama) so that, should it escape and be found, the ID can be compared to a database to find the animal's owner and reunite the two. Previously, and perhaps still, tattooed ID numbers were used - these were placed on the back of the animal's neck; the microchip version is injected in the same place; waving a wand over the animal's neck reveals the animal's ID number.

The vet's comment was that it unfortunately wasn't a tracking device, only an identification one (Kitty Lo-Jack would be really cool), but Big Brother issues aside, I still think this is pretty neat. And I am Big Brother, too, or Older Brother at least.