How to Take Charge of Your Pet's Records and Appointments
/Keeping track of pet records and scheduling their various appointments can get overwhelming for pet parents. That's why I'm sharing some strategies to maintain order.
Use a cloud-based program/app as your filing cabinet.
Scanning all records into a cloud-based program or app just makes sense. And there are plenty to choose from.
Amazon Drive
Apple iCloud
Dropbox
Evernote
Google Drive
Microsoft OneDrive
Microsoft OneNote
Dropping off your fur baby at a new groomer? Starting an obedience class with a new trainer? Doggie daycare needs that annual check on immunizations? All records from your veterinarian are on your phone.
Out-of-town and your pet sitter or boarder needs to take your pet to the emergency veterinarian? If they need previous labs, medical records history, or any other documents, you've got them in the cloud ready to send electronically and easily to that facility.
You can keep the physical copies of all documents, but now you don't have to remember to bring them when you start new services, or cart them around with you on vacation in case there's an emergency. You're just prepared!
What kinds of documents could you keep in a cloud-based filing cabinet?
adoption paperwork
microchip registration
immunization records
county licensing paperwork
other vet visit documents
lab or test results
instructions for pet sitters or dog walkers
Organize your pet's appointments in a cloud-based calendar.
Whether you're a single pet parent or partnered, placing your pet's schedule into the cloud helps eliminate confusion and double-booking. If you haven't converted to using iCal, Google Calendar, Outlook, or another cloud-based calendar app, you should consider the convenience of having your schedule on your phone.
I'm a big believer in color-coding my life. If you're a single pet parent, I would dedicate one color to my pet's schedule. At a glance, I could see which time slots have been set aside for my pet.
Since Matthew and I share all of our different calendars in iCal, we decided that Bernie and Lizzie would not get their own color-coded calendar. Instead, we place all of their appointments in the calendar we named "Shared" because we're super original. Shared is set aside for anything we want to do together. We do have ten other calendars that are shared, but they have different names reflecting various aspects of our lives.
Below is a screenshot of just our August shared calendar, which I like to color-code red.
We use the "All Day" banner option quite a bit to push important reminders to the top of the day. However, with 11 calendars total, we can end up with several banners on one day. Frequently, I find honing in on the daily view much easier to read.
What kinds of appointments could you keep in your calendar?
Veterinary appointments
Grooming appointments
Training sessions or class dates
Doggie daycare appointments
Other socialization play dates
Heartgard administration
By using the cloud, you're setting yourself up for fewer headaches and less stress.
Establishing the habit of scanning all of that paperwork may take a bit of time. Just start with the most recent documents. Build from there. You don't have to scan everything all at once. If you do, maybe watch a fun movie or listen to an audiobook.
When I need to add an event to our shared calendar, I just do it right at the counter of the groomer's or vet's. If I'm talking to a friend about meeting up at a dog park, I add the event as we make the plan.
