One particular technology that still doesn’t get a lot of play in everyday circles is that of microchipping house pets. Willow the cat had been microchipped early in her life as a member of her owner’s family. That microchip didn’t come in handy right away but it did eventually mean the difference between Willow eventually being returned to her owners. 

The cat wandered away from her home in Colorado, only to be found five years later on East 20th street in New York City. Willow’s owners are now no undoubtedly pleased with their decision to implant the chip.

Microchipping is still a practice you won’t found done by a majority of pet owners. The technology is a little too new and a little too costly for it to be commonplace just yet. Still, the process of basically placing an RFID chip just under the skin of your family pet can lead to the avoidance of a lot of heartbreak. The RFID chips can conceivably store any sort of data that the user would like. When pets are microchipped, the information tends to include the pet’s name, his or her owner’s name as well as their home address.

Should the animal get lost like little Willow was, they can be turned into a veterinarian or animal shelter. These facilities can then scan the chip (while still inside the animal’s body) and access the information. This is how Willow was reunited with her family, after a man noticed the “healthy and well-mannered” cat and took him to an animal shelter. The staff there discovered the chip and placed a call. The owner, Jamie Squires says the family was “stunned” to be receiving a call about a cat they had written off as gone.

Willow is hardly the only pet that has gone on a long absence only to eventually be returned because of an RFID chip. This August, a miniature pinscher named Fadiddle who had left her home in Salt Lake City, Utah, eventually turned up in San Diego, California. Her journey wasn’t the 1,600 miles Willow traveled, but 750 is impressive enough.