What a sitter, a vet or a neighbour would need to know, in one file
A fillable A4 file for UK dog and cat owners. It has profile pages for up to three pets, two pages to leave out for the sitter, who would take the animals if you could not get home, a grab bag list, and the calls to make in the first hour if one goes missing. Type into it on screen, or print it and write by hand.
- 15 A4 pages and 206 form fields. Fill it in on screen with Adobe Acrobat Reader or Apple Preview, or print it and use a pen.
- Two pages for the sitter: morning and evening feeds, the recall word, where the lead and the medicines are, what is normal for each pet, and who to ring, in order.
- A plain summary of the microchip and collar-and-tag rules in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and of the Northern Ireland dog licence, with a sources page listing the official pages to check.
Secure card payment by Stripe. It downloads the moment you pay, so by buying you ask for it straight away and there’s no 14-day cancellation. Terms of sale.
The evening you hand over the key
Most owners carry all of this in their heads, and are not there to ask on the day it matters. The profile page has room for the microchip number and its database, the insurer and claims line, the vet and the out-of-hours vet, food, medicines as prescribed, and what a stranger should know about the pet's behaviour. The sitter pages add the routine, the house rules, a what-is-normal table and a reminder to tell your vet who is in charge before you go.
The night you do not come home
A night in hospital, a longer stay, or for good are three different questions, and the file asks them separately, with space for each person's number and whether they have actually agreed. It explains three charity schemes and who each one is for: the Cinnamon Trust, the Dogs Trust Canine Care Card and Cats Protection Cat Guardians, with a line to note whether you have registered. A grab bag page lists what to pack now in case you are asked to leave home for a night, and gives the fire service's advice for a fire in your own home: get out, and never go back in for a pet.
The hour one goes missing
Five steps, in order: the neighbours, the microchip database, the council dog warden for a dog, local vets and rescue centres, then a lost-pet site. A table holds your own local numbers, to fill in on a good day. Overleaf is a summary of the rules: microchipping for dogs and cats in each of the four nations, the collar-and-tag rule, and the Northern Ireland dog licence. A moving-house checklist helps keep the chip record current, and the vet-visits log, with the weight noted at each visit, gives a locum the history at a glance.
Look inside
Shown filled in, in a made-up household’s handwriting. Yours arrives blank, with every line ready to type into.
What’s inside
7 sections across 15 pages. Fill in what applies and skip what doesn’t.
When not to buy this
If you have one pet on no medicines and a sitter who already knows the routine, a note on the fridge with the vet's number and the microchip database will do most of this job. The official rules are free to read on GOV.UK and on the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland government sites, and the RSPCA's step-by-step lost-pet advice is free too. You register for the charity schemes with each charity directly, and the pet grab bag builder on this site is free. The file earns its place when more than one person, or more than one pet, is involved, and someone who has never met the animals may have to pick it up cold.
Questions
Does it work for rabbits, birds or other small pets?+
Yes, for the everyday pages. The file is written for dogs and cats, but the profile page works for rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and reptiles too. The microchip lines may not apply, and the file says to ask your vet. Put the heat, light, hay and water routine in the sitter's morning and evening table. The pages on the rules and the dog warden step are about dogs and cats.
I have more than three pets. Is there room?+
There are three profile pages, and the sitter's tables have a row for each of three pets. For more, print a spare blank profile page and fill it in by hand, and add the extra pets to the sitter's tables by hand too. The vet-visits log has a pet column, so all your animals can share it.
Does it tell me what to give a pet that is unwell?+
No. Medicines go in exactly as the vet prescribed them, and the file's own rule is that nobody changes a dose from it; they ring the vet. The sitter page says to ring the vet before setting off if a pet is hurt or suddenly unwell, and the who-to-call table puts your vet and the out-of-hours number where a sitter can find them.
What exactly do I get?+
A PDF file, A4, that you download straight after paying. Every line is a real form field: open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader or Apple Preview, type into it and save. Or print it and write by hand. We also email you a link to your downloads.
Does it work in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?+
Yes. Where the rules or services differ between the four nations, the file says so and points to the right official service for each.
Will it go out of date?+
It names the official service to check rather than printing fees or amounts that change. If we update the file, your download link gives you the current version.
Can I get a refund?+
Because it downloads the moment you pay, the 14-day cancellation period doesn’t apply to digital files you’ve asked to receive straight away. If a file won’t open or something is wrong with it, email us and we’ll sort it out.
Secure card payment by Stripe. It downloads the moment you pay, so by buying you ask for it straight away and there’s no 14-day cancellation. Terms of sale.
The Pet File is general information to help you organise your household’s records. It is not legal, financial or medical advice. Written by Tom Calder for PreparedBritain, an independent publisher not affiliated with HM Government.
