Sunday's Question of the Day - Mar 29, 2015

pinkdagger

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Happy Sunday everyone! People are steadfastly working to compile all the documentation to fill out their tax forms for next month, but taxes make for a boring question, so let's talk about record keeping to our pets. I think this is especially important for people who have more than one pet to keep track of, or individual pets who, for example, may be boarded, groomed, or vetted often.

How do you keep record of pet things? (Digitally in text or on spread sheets vs on paper vs maybe a temporary medium like a whiteboard)

What do you keep records of? (Food/litter/toy costs, vets, documentation, etc.)

 
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sivyaleah

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I don't keep track on paper.  I pretty much know what everything costs me monthly.  I have a budget of $100 per month for food, treats, litter and other small necessary items (the occasional new toy).  Yearly, for healthcare, I spend around $1000 for the two of them.  Cocoa is really healthy but Casper has some  minor issues now and then due to his age.  

Both are chipped and that info is available online.  I leave it up to my vet to remember when they need vaccinations.  

If we had more pets, I can see needing to keep more detailed records but it's effortless as is.
 

Winchester

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We have a large vet folder in the filing cabinet. Inside are folders for each cat and each folder includes the appropriate rabies tag for that cat. That way, we know where we're at vet-wise for the kids. Rick also uses Quicken for our household budget. He can tell you down to the penny what we've spent on cat supplies and vet expenses and such, probably for the last several years....it's never pretty
.

I keep track of all appts and such on my Outlook calendar, not just for the cats, but for the both of us. Union meetings, planning commission meetings, dr appts, hair appts, dinner dates with friends, lunch meetings, you name it....everything is there. I can tell you when each cat has been to the vet last and I know that I need to make vet appts now for Mollipop, Tabby, and Muffin. Just general check-ups for all of them. Muffin needs a 3-year rabies shot. I also keep my date book with the same information in my bag, so that if the computer would die and my external drive would die, I still have my data.

If I buy anything, I am expected to put my receipt in a basket on Rick's desk.

It would be ugly to try to re-create this stuff if it was ever lost.
 
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fhicat

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I just have a folder for vet receipts and what each visit was for. Everything else I just have a rough idea for in my head.

Except vomit logs. One must never forget vomit logs.
 
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pinkdagger

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I wish I had the capacity to keep all that info in my head! Despite my best efforts, bits and pieces slip out of mind. I got a confirmation call from the vet the day before an appointment and had to call back the next morning to verify the time because I couldn't remember if it was 15 minutes earlier or 15 minutes later than the one I wrote on my calendar before it got changed. 


A backup is a good idea! @Winchester, you seem hardcore organized in every aspect.


I'm glad I don't have to keep a poop log anymore, ugh. He's "regular" enough now, abnormally huge as the output may be.


A couple weeks back, I spent the day organizing my vet documents/bills. A friend got me this pet organizer binder several years back, and I KNEW I would use it. It was very thoughtful of her, but it took a long time for me to put it all together! I don't really use the premade tabs or pages, I just use the binder itself and the blank customizable tabs. A lot of the examples for pet sitting and such were more applicable to cats/dogs, and I only had birds until last year. I have a card in my wallet that says something along the lines of "if anything happens to me, call my family (local) at ____ and (out of town) at ____; I have X pets at Y address, please refer to care instructions on the back of the door, on the fridge, and in binder" so I refer to it in case of emergency.

With that in mind, I have a custom page at the front introducing each of the pets, their age/DOB/gotcha date, sex, physical description, temperament, typical weight (although I use a separate digital Notepad file on my computer to document each time I weigh them), and any special conditions - because lucky me, every single pet has one; then another custom page detailing what each pet eats and the food ratios, as well as safe/unsafe foods; and then another page with vet contacts and rescue contacts in case of pet or human emergency (that may warrant rehoming or fostering, heaven forbid).

Since there are 5 pets, I have a tab for each one's vet records. Tweety's is the most substantial since she sees the vet so often, and she has a prescription and a specific pharmacy where I get it filled. The pharmacies near my current area wouldn't order it for me. Kismet's just has her vet visit and vaccination record for this year. We didn't get a copy of her adoption paper though. Mo has a subtab (with one of those little highlighter tabs) because he's not "technically" mine, and if ever my boyfriend and I have to move apart, I can easily separate his file for Mo and give it to him. He has adoption and neuter papers, microchip information, and a couple vet visits. I have a digital copy of his bloodwork from last year I need to print.

I only recently started keeping receipts for food purchases, and only have one for cat food thus far (that time I loaded a cart with 118 5.5oz cans and 12 13oz cans of food + 40lbs of litter and saved a whopping $2.48 with sale prices. A lady walking by me in the store thought I had way more than 2 cats) but intend to continue doing so, if for no other reason so I can go through all the bills when I'm 50 and cry myself to sleep thinking "I could have bought an island with this kind of money". If I had any record of my spending for the birds these past 13 years, whoo boy, that record would be an encyclopaedia set.
 

betsygee

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I never worried much about keeping track when we had three healthy young cats.  The vet sent a postcard when they needed vaccines and that was about it.  When we took in the four orphan kitties a couple of years ago, boy did that change.  Seemed like I was running to the vet every week with one or the other of them.  I put up a chart in the Cat Room for awhile so I could remember which cat got which med and when, and then I started an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of meds and vaccine dates.  Vet appointments go in the iPhone calendar.  Receipts and rabies certificates get scanned to Dropbox online, where I have a folder for each cat.

Now we're at four cats, but I'm still using the system I set up for the seven of them.  (Fewer cats to keep track of, but fewer memory cells in the old brain as well.)  
 

artiemom

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I have a folding file for Artie's receipts and records.  I wish I could claim him as a dependent on my income tax!  LOL!

Seriously, I do get copies of his most recent blood tests and have copies of all his medical records in a folding file..

The Vet's office is very good about keeping me informed of what he is due for...vaccines, office visits, etc..

They have my e-mail address and the Vet is very accessible for any questions I may have...
 

stewball

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I've got their inoculation cards and I'll get an email telling me it's vulgar.
 

Norachan

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I've got a thick plastic folder with all their medical records in that I have to take with me whenever one of them needs to see the vet. It's a huge, fat folder. I always want to explain to other people in the vets waiting room that I've got a lot of cats, not just one cat with Munchausen Syndrome.

I've got another folder with their vaccination certificates in and I write everything else, Birthdays, due dates for worming meds etc, on the calendar.

I don't keep track of how much money I spend on them, a scary amount I'm sure.
 

MoochNNoodles

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I am keeping track of my girls' weight on a chalk board in my kitchen. I need to transfer it to a notebook.  I have a spreadsheet for when i was tracking their food; but I found it more cumbersome to need to sit at the computer to add info.  A notebook is just "simpler" for me.  I have a file folder for medical records too.  

I think we've always just considered their food and litter as part of our grocery expenses.  DH does more of the financial tracking.  I'm not sure if he budgets their vet care specifically.  He may now that both are on daily meds.  
 

jcat

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I just have a folder for vet receipts and what each visit was for. Everything else I just have a rough idea for in my head.

Except vomit logs. One must never forget vomit logs.
Same here, except for the "vomit log". I maintain an " input/output log" when Mogli has an IBD flare. Since most of his food, litter, toys, etc., are ordered online, I also have those receipts.
 

Winchester

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A backup is a good idea! @Winchester, you seem hardcore organized in every aspect.


A couple weeks back, I spent the day organizing my vet documents/bills. A friend got me this pet organizer binder several years back, and I KNEW I would use it. It was very thoughtful of her, but it took a long time for me to put it all together! I don't really use the premade tabs or pages, I just use the binder itself and the blank customizable tabs. A lot of the examples for pet sitting and such were more applicable to cats/dogs, and I only had birds until last year. I have a card in my wallet that says something along the lines of "if anything happens to me, call my family (local) at ____ and (out of town) at ____; I have X pets at Y address, please refer to care instructions on the back of the door, on the fridge, and in binder" so I refer to it in case of emergency.

With that in mind, I have a custom page at the front introducing each of the pets, their age/DOB/gotcha date, sex, physical description, temperament, typical weight (although I use a separate digital Notepad file on my computer to document each time I weigh them), and any special conditions - because lucky me, every single pet has one; then another custom page detailing what each pet eats and the food ratios, as well as safe/unsafe foods; and then another page with vet contacts and rescue contacts in case of pet or human emergency (that may warrant rehoming or fostering, heaven forbid).

 
I've always been really anal about trying to stay organized. Seriously. I think it's because there's always so much stuff going on, between my work and Rick's work and his union stuff, that it just gets crazy sometimes. If I didn't keep track, it would get away from me. I know it would. Before I had Outlook at home, I was using it at work....you can create your own personal calendar and that's what I did. I used it just for me. I probably have lists of lists! 


I think I would like having a pet organizer like what you have. We could keep it in the hutch in the kitchen, where it would be available in times of emergency. The way it is now, I have our pet sitter's phone number and my sister's phone number in my wallet. Should anything happen to both Rick and me, they can call either number and the cats will have care.
 
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