Sevier News Messenger Sevier County News and Opinion
Local pet owners can take advantage of low cost pet vaccinations and other pet health services on Sunday in Sevierville.
Veterinarians from PawsPlus will hold mobile pet clinics inside the following locations on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014:
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
699 Parkway Rd.
Sevierville, TN
865-908-4800
Tractor Supply
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
330 W. Main St.
Sevierville, TN
865-453-0777
The clinics offer individual vaccinations such as rabies vaccination, as well as vaccination packages for dogs, cats, puppies and kittens. Other low cost pet services available include microchip ID, deworming and testing for heartworm and FeLv/FIV (cats). See a complete list of pet health services offered and prices here.
Microchipping is a great way to ensure a pet has permanent identification because pet ID tags on collars can fall off or be removed. After insertion of a microchip the size of a grain of rice under a pet’s skin, it can be read by a variety of hand-held scanners used by shelter organizations and veterinarians. If a pet is ever lost and scanned, the scanner will read the microchip’s number. Using this number, the shelter or vet can locate the registered owner’s contact information, facilitating the reunion of the pet and its owner.
Recently, a microchipped Jack Russell Terrier named Gidget was reunited with her owner after being lost for five months. Gidget was found 2.700 miles away from home.
The owners of Nika, a toy Fox Terrier, never gave up hope of finding her after she disappeared from their yard in New York two years ago. Last month a Good Samaritan found Nika wandering in Florida and took her to a vet where they used her microchip information to locate her grateful owners.
However, a microchip should always be used in combination with a collar and pet ID tag. A pet ID tag is still the easiest way for someone who finds a lost pet to contact the owner. A microchip’s success relies on a lost pet coming in contact with a veterinarian or shelter where the pet can be scanned and owner information retrieved. It is important to keep your pet’s microchip registration information current if you move or change your phone number. A microchip is also a way to prove a pet is yours if it is ever stolen.
A pet microchip costs only $15 at the PawsPlus low-cost pet clinics on Sunday in Sevierville. The cost includes lifetime registration.
