Setting up the log
- Choose dog, cat or other pet and type the name, or leave it empty and write it in by hand. The name appears in the top corner of every page, which helps when a household keeps logs for two or three animals.
- Switch off the pages you won't use. The profile, the vet pages and the sitter sheet are usually one copy each; the daily tracker and the medication log are the pages you print again and again.
- Download the PDF and print it at actual size. A clipboard or a thin folder keeps the sheets together.
Fill in the profile first, with the papers you already have at hand: the adoption or purchase papers for the birthday and the microchip number, the tag on the collar, the insurance letter and the label on the food bag. Glue or tape a recent photo into the box. Pick one that shows the markings clearly.
Keeping the daily tracker by the food bowl
The tracker works best where the care happens. Pin it to the fridge, hang it on a hook next to the food bin or keep it on a clipboard by the leash. Write the date of each day on the short line under the day name, then tick a box as soon as a task is done.
The ticks matter most when several people look after one pet: one glance shows whether the evening meal was already served or the litter box cleaned today. The blank rows at the bottom are for anything that belongs to your routine, such as brushing teeth, a training session or topping up the hay. Use the notes line of each day for things you would otherwise forget by the weekend: a skipped meal, a new food, an odd cough, a long walk in the rain. If something looks wrong, call your vet rather than waiting for the end of the week.
Taking the vet pages to appointments
Bring the vet visit page and the vaccinations page to every appointment. Write the date and the reason for the visit before you go, then fill in the rest while the visit is fresh: the weight if your pet was weighed, what the vet did or found, and the date of the next visit if one was set. The lines under Questions for the next visit are for things you want to ask but tend to forget once you are in the room.
The vaccinations page has no schedule printed on it on purpose. What your pet needs and when is your vet's decision, so the page only records what was given, the batch number or a note, who gave it and the next due date your vet tells you. If a line is missing, ask your clinic for the details instead of guessing.
Medicines without mix-ups
Give medicines exactly as your vet or the label says; the log only helps you keep track. Start a block for each medicine and copy the dose and the number of times a day from the label. Write the time of each dose on the short line at the start of its row and tick the box under the day of the month when the dose is given. If two people share the job, the ticks stop a dose from being given twice or not at all.
When a course runs into the next month, start a new block or a new page with the same medicine. Keep the finished sheets: they show what was given and when if your vet asks.
Before a trip: the pet sitter sheet
Fill in the sitter sheet a few days before you leave, not the night before. Under Daily routine, write the time and the exact amount for every meal, in cups, grams or scoops, so the sitter does not have to guess. Note walks or litter box cleaning and anything special, such as a pet that eats in a separate room. Under Where things are, list the food, the supplies, any medicine, the carrier and the spare key.
House rules cover the things only you know: doors that must stay closed, rooms that are off limits, whether treats are fine and how many. Then add both vets, two emergency contacts who live nearby and where you can be reached while you are away. Walk through the sheet with the sitter in person, leave it on the fridge with the profile page and a stack of daily trackers, and ask the sitter to tick the boxes.
Tools and templates for pet owners
The dog age calculator converts your dog's age into human years with the formula from a 2020 study that compared age-related DNA changes in dogs and humans, and shows the life stage. The cat age calculator does the same for cats with the chart that came with the 2021 AAHA/AAFP feline life stage guidelines, from kitten to senior. If your pet goes missing, the lost pet poster turns a photo, the name, where it was last seen and your phone number into a flyer with tear-off tabs. For people rather than animals, the emergency contact list puts family, doctors, neighbors and home details on one page for the fridge or the babysitter.
Frequently asked questions
Is the pet care log free?
Yes. Download and print it as often as you like, for one pet or for each of them. There is no signup and no watermark; each page has one small line with our web address at the bottom.
What changes when I pick dog, cat or other pet?
Only a few everyday labels. For a dog, the daily tracker has a morning and an evening walk and the sitter sheet asks where the leash and bags are. For a cat, the rows are the litter box and play time, and the sitter sheet asks for the litter and scoop. Other pet uses neutral words such as feeding and cleaning and care, so the sheets suit a rabbit, a bird or a guinea pig as well. Every page also has blank rows for your own tasks.
Does the log tell me when vaccines or checkups are due?
No. The vaccination page and the vet visit page are blank records without a schedule, because what a pet needs and when depends on the animal and is up to your vet. Write down what was given on the day, and copy the next due date your vet gives you into the Next due column.
How does the medication grid work?
Each block is for one medicine, and there are 4 on a page. Write the name, the dose, how many times a day and the start and end dates at the top. The numbers 1 to 31 are the days of the month. Use one row per dose of the day (up to 3), write the time on the short line at the start of the row and tick a box each time the dose is given.
Can I print more than one week of the daily tracker?
Yes. Switch off the pages you do not need, download the PDF and set the number of copies in your print dialog. You can print four or five daily care pages at once and keep the stack on a clipboard. The days and the date lines are left blank, so every copy works for any week.
Why are some characters missing from the name?
The PDF uses a standard font that covers English and most Western European letters. Emoji and other alphabets, such as Greek, Cyrillic or Arabic, cannot be drawn with it, so they are left out, and a few rare accented letters print without the accent. A note under the field appears when that happens, and the preview shows the name exactly as it will print.