Whether or not you have or want to get pet insurance, you should make sure to track your pet's health record from the moment you bring your pet into your home. It seems kind of obvious doesn't it, but how many of us do this properly? I know I put my receipts into Barnes's file but I haven't sat down and wrote out what happened since Barnes first got sick with his kidney problems and we've changed vets a couple of times.
To save yourself time and to keep track of the details while you remember them, here are some tips for keeping a comprehensive record of your cat or dog's health record.
- set up a file folder for each individual pet and put in a blank sheet of paper with three columns - date, issue, action (of course, you can do this electronically too). Here you will track routine and unusual health events.
- the date the event occured
- the issue that caused the vet visit, such as routine check up, sore paw, vomiting, and so on
- the action the vet took, such as rabies vaccine, examination, stitches, or pumping stomach, hospital stay. If the visit is routine, the entry will be brief, but if not, you'll have more to say. Be sure to record a diagnosis if there is one.
- if you have more than one pet, set up a family pet file to hold those receipts that cover more than one pet but remember to record the event in each pet's file.
- if one of your pets has a major illness or accident, you might want to set up a separate sheet to record in detail what happened, especially if you have to visit a number of specialists. Keep track of who you saw, what they did, what they said, and so on. If anything, it will help you when you go to the next specialist and you won't have to repeat everything that has happened all over again.
- ask for a copy of all your pet's records for future reference, once an illness or accident has been taken care of or every now and then throughout a chronic condition.
- never give out your own copies of your pet's health records; let whoever wants them make copies of what you have while you are with them.
This isn't disimilar for what you would do for your own health record or that of your family. No wonder, our pets are part of our family, why would we do anything different?
