Pet Care Handover Sheet

You are leaving your animals with somebody else — a sitter, a neighbour, a boarding kennel, a friend. Everything you know about those animals is in your head, and the person taking over knows none of it. This prints the sheet you leave on the counter, for every animal in the house on one page rather than several, because two sheets get separated and the one that goes missing is always the one that mattered. It covers who each animal is, down to the colour, the markings and the microchip number, because if an animal is lost while you are away that information has to exist without you; feeding, in your words; the shape of the day; behaviour and handling, including the door that must not be left open, which is a real and common disaster; health, in your words; and the emergency page — you, a second contact, your usual practice, whatever you name as an out-of-hours option, the insurer and the policy number, and the field almost everybody forgets, a written authority for the carer to seek treatment and a plain answer to who pays. It ends with a daily tick sheet so the carer can record what was done. Be clear about what it does not do. It records what you instruct and it instructs nothing itself: no amounts, no timings, no foods, no medicine names, no arithmetic. What an animal needs differs enormously by species, breed, age and individual, and a figure printed by a tool would be believed over you. It prints no list of what an animal must not be given, because such lists differ by species, none is complete, and a carer who read ours and took it as the whole story would be worse off — there is a line for you to write about this animal instead. It offers no veterinary guidance of any kind. Everything runs on your device, offline; nothing you type leaves it.

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Worked example

Pet Care Handover Sheet The Okonkwo household — 14 Lark Street Everything you know about your animals is in your head. The person taking over knows none of it. Fill this in, print it, and leave it where they will see it — on the counter, on the fridge, by the door. Every animal in the house goes on this one sheet. Two sheets get separated, and the one that goes missing is always the one that mattered. WHAT THIS SHEET IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT - This sheet records what the owner wrote on it, and instructs nothing itself. It supplies no amounts, no timings, no foods, no medicine names and no guidance of its own about any animal's care. - Amounts and timings are left blank for the owner because what an animal needs differs enormously between species, breeds, ages and individuals, and a figure printed by a tool would be believed over the owner who actually knows. - There is no list here of what an animal must not be given. Such lists differ by species, none of them is complete, and a carer who read ours and took it as the whole story would be worse off rather than better. There is a line instead, on which the owner writes what THIS animal must never have. - Nothing here is veterinary guidance. If anything seems wrong at all, the carer rings the practice named in section 6, or the out-of-hours option named beside it, and does not look anything up on this sheet. - No product is named here and no cost is printed here. Everything runs on your device, offline; nothing you type leaves it. ON THIS SHEET: 2 animal(s) - Bramble - Pip 1. THE ANIMAL The description and the microchip number are here for one reason. If an animal is lost while you are away, that information has to exist without you — in somebody else's hand, on paper, at the moment it is needed. A carer who can describe the animal and read out the chip number is a carer who can do something. Leave a clear, recent photograph with the sheet as well, and a second copy on the carer's phone. ANIMAL 1 — Bramble Name .......................... Bramble Species and breed ............. dog, border collie cross Age ........................... 7 years Sex, and neutered? ............ female, spayed Colour and markings ........... black and white, white blaze down the nose, one white front foot Microchip number .............. 981000000000001 Photograph: +--------------------------------------------+ | a clear, recent photograph goes here | | | +--------------------------------------------+ ANIMAL 2 — Pip Name .......................... Pip Species and breed ............. cat, domestic shorthair Age ........................... 3 years Sex, and neutered? ............ male, neutered Colour and markings ........... grey tabby, white chin, notch in the left ear Microchip number .............. 981000000000002 Photograph: +--------------------------------------------+ | a clear, recent photograph goes here | | | +--------------------------------------------+ 2. FEEDING Write these lines exactly as you want them followed, including the amount and the timing, in your own words. This tool deliberately prints none of that for you. Say where the food is kept and how it is measured, say how they take water, and use the last line for anything this animal must never be given — that line is yours, because it is about this animal and not about animals in general. ANIMAL 1 — Bramble What they are given ........... the amount written on the lid of her tub — please do not guess it When .......................... when we get up, and again when we get in Where ......................... her own bowl in the utility room, with the door shut so Pip cannot reach it Where the food is kept ........ the tub is in the cupboard by the back door Must never be given ........... nothing from the table and nothing from the bin — she will help herself if the lid is off Water ......................... big bowl by the back door, topped up whenever you pass it ANIMAL 2 — Pip What they are given ........... exactly what the card taped inside the cupboard door says, and no more When .......................... he will ask; go by the card and not by him Where ......................... on the worktop, out of Bramble's reach Where the food is kept ........ same cupboard, top shelf Must never be given ........... nothing at all beyond what is on his card, however hard he asks Water ......................... drinks from the bathroom tap, so leave it dripping, and refill his bowl anyway 3. ROUTINE How the day goes when the owner is here. Write it as it actually happens, not as it ought to. ANIMAL 1 — Bramble Walks or exercise ............. two proper outings, and she will tell you when Toileting ..................... into the garden, and she always asks first Sleeping ...................... her bed under the stairs, door left open Left alone, and how long ...... fine on her own, but not for a whole working day Favourite places .............. the sunny end of the back step ANIMAL 2 — Pip Walks or exercise ............. indoors only, never let him out Toileting ..................... tray in the utility room, emptied whenever you see it Sleeping ...................... anywhere warm, usually the airing cupboard Left alone, and how long ...... perfectly happy alone Favourite places .............. the top of the bookcase HOUSE RULES THE OWNER HAS SET [ ] Never off the lead outside the garden [ ] The front door is the one that matters — she goes straight out and she does not come back [ ] No animals upstairs [ ] The bin lid stays on and the bin stays behind the cupboard door 4. BEHAVIOUR AND HANDLING This is the section people skip and then wish they had not. Write down the things you have stopped noticing: the door that must not be left open, the noise that empties the room, the way this animal tells you it has had enough before it does anything about it. The carer has never seen any of it before. ANIMAL 1 — Bramble With people they don't know ... friendly, but she circles people and can nip at heels What frightens them ........... fireworks, thunder, the vacuum cleaner How they show unhappiness ..... goes very still and licks her lips Can they be picked up? ........ yes, but she would rather not be With other animals ............ good with dogs she knows, wary of large ones With children ................. fine, but she herds them Recall ........................ comes to her name, not to a whistle On the lead ................... pulls at the start, then settles Escape risks .................. the front door, every single time — hold her collar before you open it ANIMAL 2 — Pip With people they don't know ... hides for the first day, then decides you are furniture What frightens them ........... the doorbell, and bin lorries How they show unhappiness ..... flattened ears and a low tail, and then he swipes Can they be picked up? ........ no — do not pick him up at all With other animals ............ ignores Bramble, hates other cats With children ................. keep small children away from him Recall ........................ does not come when called On the lead ................... never on a lead Escape risks .................. the top window, and the flap in the back door, which is locked and must stay locked 5. HEALTH Conditions, current treatments, where the medication is kept and the timing you want followed — in your words, copied off the label where there is one. This tool prints no medicine names, no amounts and no timings of its own, and it does no arithmetic on yours. If the carer is unsure about any of it, the answer is the practice in section 6, not this sheet. ANIMAL 1 — Bramble Conditions and treatment ...... stiff back legs; she is on something for it from the practice, in a tub labelled with her name Where the medication is kept .. on the shelf above the kettle, in the box with her name on it Timing, as the owner wrote it . with her second feeding, exactly as the label says ANIMAL 2 — Pip Conditions and treatment ...... nothing ongoing Where the medication is kept .. — Timing, as the owner wrote it . — 6. EMERGENCIES Everything the carer needs in order to act without you. Fill in every line, including the ones that look obvious to you — none of them are obvious to somebody standing in a waiting room. THE OWNER Name .......................... Ada Okonkwo How to reach them ............. mobile 555-0114, or 555-0115 if that fails Where they are ................ in Lisbon until the 14th, back that evening SECOND CONTACT, IF THE OWNER CANNOT BE REACHED Name .......................... Femi Okonkwo How to reach them ............. 555-0116 Who they are .................. Ada's brother, ten minutes away, has a key and knows both animals THE USUAL VET Practice ...................... Larkhill Veterinary Practice Address ....................... 3 Larkhill Road, Northbrook Hours ......................... Monday to Saturday, mornings and afternoons — the card on the fridge has the exact times Telephone ..................... 555-0180 OUT OF HOURS, AS THE OWNER NAMES IT Where ......................... Northbrook Emergency Veterinary Hospital Address ....................... 22 Mill Way, Northbrook Telephone ..................... 555-0190 — they hold our records; give them Bramble's or Pip's name INSURANCE Insurer ....................... Whitegate Pet Insurance Policy number ................. policy PA-4471902 How to claim .................. claims by telephone on 555-0195; the practice will claim direct if you ask them WRITTEN AUTHORITY TO SEEK TREATMENT — SIGN THIS BEFORE YOU GO Fill this in and sign it before you go. A carer standing at a veterinary counter with a frightened animal, no written authority from you and no answer to "who is paying" is in a genuinely bad position, and this is the field owners forget. Say plainly that the carer may seek treatment in your absence, say who pays and how, and say what you want to happen if you cannot be reached. Give a copy to the practice too, if they will take one. I, Ada Okonkwo, the owner of the animal(s) named on this sheet, authorise Ines Marques, next door but one to seek veterinary treatment for them on my behalf while they are in that person's care, and to give the practice this sheet. The carer ..................... Ines Marques, next door but one Who pays, and how ............. I do. Put it on my card, which the practice holds on file, or the practice can telephone me and I will pay over the telephone. Any limit, and what then ...... No limit if it is urgent — do what the vet says is needed and tell me afterwards. For anything that can wait, ring me first. Owner's signature ........ ______________________ Date ..................... ______________________ Carer's signature ........ ______________________ Date ..................... ______________________ 7. DAILY TICK SHEET One column per day, in order, numbered rather than dated — this tool has no clock and will not invent a date. Write the real date on each column yourself. The tick sheet is reassuring for both sides while you are away, and if anything does go wrong it is a record of what was actually done and when. Columns run left to right, day 1 first, up to day 7. Date of each column, written by hand: ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ANIMAL 1 — Bramble Fed, as written on this sheet . [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fresh water ................... [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Out, exercise or play ......... [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Toileting, or tray ............ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Medication, as written here ... [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Anything that seemed different . [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Carer's initials .............. [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] ANIMAL 2 — Pip Fed, as written on this sheet . [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fresh water ................... [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Out, exercise or play ......... [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Toileting, or tray ............ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Medication, as written here ... [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Anything that seemed different . [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Carer's initials .............. [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Anything the owner should know when they get back: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ BEFORE THE OWNER LEAVES — GO THROUGH THESE OUT LOUD [ ] Where is the food kept, and where is the medication kept? [ ] Which door must not be left open? [ ] Which of these animals can be picked up, and which cannot? [ ] What is the one thing that would frighten this animal most? [ ] Which practice do I ring, and what do I ring out of hours? [ ] Am I allowed to authorise treatment, and who pays for it? [ ] How do I reach you, and who do I reach if I cannot reach you? Print it, fill it in by hand, and go through it with the person taking over rather than just handing it to them — five minutes standing in the kitchen together is worth more than the whole sheet, and the sheet is what they have after you have gone. Leave a photograph of each animal with it. Tell them plainly that if anything seems wrong at all, they should ring the practice on this sheet, and that you would far rather they rang for nothing.

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Inputs

Sheet label (household, address)
The Okonkwo household — 14 Lark Street
Print
Everything / Handover sheet only / Tick sheet only
The animals — one per line: name | species and breed | age | sex, and neutered? | colour and markings | microchip number
Bramble | dog, border collie cross | 7 years | female, spayed | black and white, white blaze down the nose, one white front foot | 981000000000001 Pip | cat, domestic shorthair | 3 years | male, neutered | grey tabby, white chin, notch in the left ear | 981000000000002
Feeding — one per line: name | what they are given and how much, exactly as you want it followed | when | where | where the food is kept
Bramble | the amount written on the lid of her tub — please do not guess it | when we get up, and again when we get in | her own bowl in the utility room, with the door shut so Pip cannot reach it | the tub is in the cupboard by the back door Pip | exactly what the card taped inside the cupboard door says, and no more | he will ask; go by the card and not by him | on the worktop, out of Bramble's reach | same cupboard, top shelf
Must never be given — one per line: name | what this animal must never have (your words, about this animal)
Bramble | nothing from the table and nothing from the bin — she will help herself if the lid is off Pip | nothing at all beyond what is on his card, however hard he asks
Water — one per line: name | how they take water
Bramble | big bowl by the back door, topped up whenever you pass it Pip | drinks from the bathroom tap, so leave it dripping, and refill his bowl anyway
Routine — one per line: name | walks or exercise | toileting | sleeping | left alone, and how long | favourite places
Bramble | two proper outings, and she will tell you when | into the garden, and she always asks first | her bed under the stairs, door left open | fine on her own, but not for a whole working day | the sunny end of the back step Pip | indoors only, never let him out | tray in the utility room, emptied whenever you see it | anywhere warm, usually the airing cupboard | perfectly happy alone | the top of the bookcase
House rules you have set — one per line
Never off the lead outside the garden The front door is the one that matters — she goes straight out and she does not come back No animals upstairs The bin lid stays on and the bin stays behind the cupboard door
Behaviour and handling — one per line: name | with people they don't know | what frightens them | how they show unhappiness | can they be picked up | with other animals | with children | recall | on the lead | escape risks
Bramble | friendly, but she circles people and can nip at heels | fireworks, thunder, the vacuum cleaner | goes very still and licks her lips | yes, but she would rather not be | good with dogs she knows, wary of large ones | fine, but she herds them | comes to her name, not to a whistle | pulls at the start, then settles | the front door, every single time — hold her collar before you open it Pip | hides for the first day, then decides you are furniture | the doorbell, and bin lorries | flattened ears and a low tail, and then he swipes | no — do not pick him up at all | ignores Bramble, hates other cats | keep small children away from him | does not come when called | never on a lead | the top window, and the flap in the back door, which is locked and must stay locked
Health — one per line: name | conditions and current treatments, in your words | where the medication is kept | the timing you want followed
Bramble | stiff back legs; she is on something for it from the practice, in a tub labelled with her name | on the shelf above the kettle, in the box with her name on it | with her second feeding, exactly as the label says Pip | nothing ongoing | — | —
You: name | every way to reach you | where you are
Ada Okonkwo | mobile 555-0114, or 555-0115 if that fails | in Lisbon until the 14th, back that evening
Second contact: name | how to reach them | who they are
Femi Okonkwo | 555-0116 | Ada's brother, ten minutes away, has a key and knows both animals
Usual vet: practice | address | hours | telephone
Larkhill Veterinary Practice | 3 Larkhill Road, Northbrook | Monday to Saturday, mornings and afternoons — the card on the fridge has the exact times | 555-0180
Out of hours, as you name it: where | address | telephone
Northbrook Emergency Veterinary Hospital | 22 Mill Way, Northbrook | 555-0190 — they hold our records; give them Bramble's or Pip's name
Insurance: insurer | policy number | how to claim
Whitegate Pet Insurance | policy PA-4471902 | claims by telephone on 555-0195; the practice will claim direct if you ask them
Who is taking over (the carer)
Ines Marques, next door but one
Who pays for treatment, and how
I do. Put it on my card, which the practice holds on file, or the practice can telephone me and I will pay over the telephone.
Any limit you set, and what happens then
No limit if it is urgent — do what the vet says is needed and tell me afterwards. For anything that can wait, ring me first.
Tick-sheet rows — one per line
Fed, as written on this sheet Fresh water Out, exercise or play Toileting, or tray Medication, as written here Anything that seemed different
Days the tick sheet covers
7

Frequently asked

Why does it not print any amounts?

Because it does not know, and neither does any tool. What an animal is given differs by species, by breed, by age, by weight, by what a vet has said and by the individual animal in front of you, and none of that is knowable from a form. The real problem is worse than being wrong: a figure printed by a piece of software gets believed, and a carer who has your sheet in one hand will follow the printed line over the owner's scribble. So every line about amounts and timings is blank, and it is yours to fill in, in your words, as you want it followed.

Why is there no list of what my animal must not eat?

Because it is the most tempting thing to put on a sheet like this and the most harmful. Any such list differs by species, and no list is complete — there is always something else. A carer who reads a printed list takes it as the whole story, stops thinking, and is then more confident and less careful than a carer who read one line you wrote yourself. So the sheet has a field, per animal, for you to write what THIS animal must never be given, in your own words, including the habits: the bin, the table, the compost, the neighbour who slips things over the fence.

Can I put more than one animal on one sheet?

Yes, and you should. Most households with animals have more than one, and separate sheets get separated — one ends up on the fridge and the other in a drawer, and the one in the drawer is the one that was needed. Put every animal in the house on this one sheet. Each gets its own block in every section, and the tick sheet gets a set of rows for each of them, so nobody has to work out which sheet belongs to which animal at the moment it matters.

Why does it ask for the microchip number and the markings?

For one reason: if an animal goes missing while you are away, that information has to exist without you. You may be somewhere with no signal, asleep in another time zone, or simply unreachable for the two hours that count. A carer who can describe the animal accurately and read out the chip number to a practice, a warden or a rescue can actually do something. A carer who can only say "a smallish brown dog" cannot. Leave a clear, recent photograph with the sheet as well, and put a copy on the carer's phone.

What is the treatment authority for, and does it need signing?

It is written permission from you for the carer to seek veterinary treatment while you are away, plus a plain answer to who pays and how. Sign it before you go, and get the carer to sign it too. A carer standing at a counter with a frightened animal, no written authority and no answer to the money question is in a genuinely bad position — decisions get delayed while somebody tries to reach you. It is the field owners forget, and it is the field that turns this sheet from useful into worth having. Give the practice a copy too, if they will take one.

What if I have no insurance?

Then say so on the line, and be specific about what you want to happen instead: who pays, up to what, and what you want done if you cannot be reached. This tool has no opinion about whether you should be insured and will not develop one — it records what you decided. An honest blank with a clear instruction beside it is far more use to a carer than a policy number that turns out to be out of date.

Why is there a tick sheet?

Because it is reassuring in both directions. The carer can see what has been done and what has not, and does not have to hold it in their head or guess whether somebody else already did it. You come home to a record rather than a shrug. And if anything did go wrong, there is a written account of what was actually done and when, which is worth a great deal to a vet and to you. The rows are yours to edit — the ones it starts with are only a shape.

What should I write in the behaviour section?

The things you have stopped noticing. How they are with people they have never met. What noise empties the room. How they tell you they have had enough, before they do anything about it. Whether they can be picked up, and by whom. How they are with other animals and with children. Whether they come when called, and what they are like on a lead. And the escape routes: the door, the gate, the window, the flap. The carer has never seen any of it and cannot guess it, and the door left open is the disaster that actually happens.

Does it give any veterinary guidance at all?

None, deliberately, and it never will. It describes nothing about illness, tells the carer nothing to look out for and gives no emergency handling of any kind. That is not caution for its own sake: guidance written for animals in general is wrong for animals in particular, and a carer reading a printed page instead of ringing a vet is the outcome to avoid. The sheet has one instruction on this subject, and it is a telephone number you supply — if anything seems wrong at all, ring the practice named on the sheet.

Why can it not put dates on the tick sheet?

Because it has no clock. The whole tool is a pure function running on your device with no network and no way to read the date, so the columns are numbered and there is a row for you or the carer to write the real dates on by hand. That is also why it will not tell you how long you have been away or count anything down for you.

Does anything I type leave my device?

No. There is no network, no server, no storage and no clock. Your address, your telephone number, your policy number, your animals and your carer's name stay on your machine. That is also why the useful copy of this is the printed one on the counter — not a file on a device the carer does not have.