infection from microchip?

[kimnmark]

I was wondering if anybody here had ever had a problem with their pet getting an infection after being microchipped?

The dog I adopted, has a bare spot (slightly larger than a quarter) on her back between her shoulders where it appears the top layers of skin have 'peeled' away. In the center is an oblong dark red lump, maybe twice as large as a grain of rice.

When we had her at the vet's last week, she thought it could be an infection from a microchip. She didn't seem overly concerned about it at the time. Of course, this is given that the pneumonia was our first priority.

Now however my dog (still nameless) has been on a double dose of antibiotics (Orbax) for the past week and prior to that she had received 3 Baytril injections while at the vet's. This has worked great for the pneumonia but I also expected to see some improvement on her back and there has been none at all. I might even say that the bare patch has grown but not the lump.

We contacted the rescue we got her from and they say that they did not microchip her and that it would have been the SPCA that microchipped her possibly sometime in April. That seems like long enough for it to have healed.

[Dr Lee]

I am sorry to hear about the problems with your pet. I am glad she is getting better.

There are several complications that can arise with microchips. This is one but it is uncommon.

As far as the delay in abscess, it may be related to the pneumonia. After microchip placement, there is a small amount of inflammation as the body forms scar tissue around the foreign object. Any area of inflammation and any foreign objects in the body are at a higher risk for infection from circulating bacteria. We always have a small amount of bacteria in our systems, but when there is a serious infection like pneumonia, there may be high amounts of blood borne bacteria. If the bacteria settled at the site of the microchip, then it could have abscessed. Then again, it may have just been a microchip that delayed in abscessing - this can happen sometimes too. Hard to say. Either way, abscessing of microchips occurs but is rare and should not be a reason to avoid microchipping most pets.

Hope that helps.

[kimnmark]

Thanks for the response Dr. Lee.
I am a firm believer in microchipping pets and would not let this incident change my mind. I'll just be keeping an eye on it and following up with my vet if it gets worse.