I get it, organizing all of your pet’s medical records, vet bills, etc. might be the last thing on your mind. But now is the time to round up all those piles of paper and get them in order.
Not only will this help reduce clutter, but it will make it easy to keep your pet up to date with vaccines, give any pet sitter easy access to important info like the vet’s phone and address, and help you find important documents in case your pet has an emergency.
- Have a Dedicated Binder or Folder
Putting all of your pet’s paperwork into one corner of your desk or stuffed into random folders is a sure way to lose something! Set aside a dedicated binder or folder, I prefer a binder, as it tends to offer more room, and then insert pocket folders into it, and label with your pet’s name on the outside.
- Assign Folders
While you can put all of your documents into one folder or binder, assigning separate categories can make finding info even faster.
Some ideas for useful subcategories include:
- Vaccine records
- Vet visits (For each vet visit attach a page with a brief description of why you were there to help you remember in the future)
- Pet sitter (Include pet sitter’s numbers and address, vet information, medication dosages, feeding and walking instructions, and anything that might be helpful to a pet sitter.) You can also leave pages for pet sitter’s to write down notes about how your pet was or anything that happened during their visit.
- Medicine log
- Miscellaneous info
Then just file paperwork into the appropriate folder and voila!
- Create a Vaccine Chart
One of the more confusing things, especially if you have a puppy, can be determining what vaccines your dog needs and when. Creating a chart and keeping it in your binder is a great way to make sure your pet gets all the shots he needs and on time.
There are many optional vaccines so do your research and determine which vaccines your pet needs to have and, depending on where you live, which optional vaccines you would like your pet to have.
Here is a vaccine guideline for puppies and one adult dogs.
This is the vaccine chart I use to make sure my dog is up to date:
There are plenty of online templates that you can use, or speak with your vet and they might have a form in their office.
- Decorate
One of my favorite parts of organizing is making things look cool! While this is totally optional, it can be fun to snazz up your pet’s info binder by creating a fun name page on the front, adding stickers, or gluing on mementos that remind you of your pet. This can also be a fun activity for kids.
Organizing your pet’s info is a great way to declutter your home and bring you peace of mind knowing that you will be prepared for your next visit and have an easy way to file away any future paperwork you get.
