Your pet's health records: what to keep and how to get copies

When you'll need them

• A new vet or a specialist, who will want your pet's history before the first appointment.
• An emergency clinic after hours, when your regular vet is closed and can't send anything.
• Boarding, daycare and grooming, which usually ask for proof of vaccines, especially rabies.
• Travel. Airlines and some destinations require a health certificate signed by a vet shortly before the trip. For travel outside the US, start with the USDA's pet travel pages.
• A lost pet, when you need the microchip number and a description fast.
• A pet sitter or family member caring for your pet while you're away.

What to keep

• The rabies certificate. The signed certificate, not just a line on an invoice. It's what licensing offices, kennels and travel paperwork ask for.
• Vaccine history: each vaccine, the date given and the date the next one is due.
• Microchip number and the registry it's enrolled with.
• Current medications and preventives, with the exact dose from the label.
• Allergies and reactions, including any reaction to a vaccine.
• Ongoing conditions, surgeries and major illnesses, with dates.
• Recent lab results for any ongoing condition, so a new vet has something to compare against.
• Weight over time.
• Contacts: your vet, the nearest 24-hour emergency clinic and your pet insurance policy.

How to get copies from your vet

Ask at the front desk or check the clinic's client portal. Most clinics can email records as a PDF. Ask specifically for the vaccine history, the rabies certificate, recent visit notes and any lab results.

In some states it's the law. Florida, for example, requires veterinarians to provide copies when a client asks, without making it wait on payment for services, and limits any charge to the actual cost of copying. Rules differ from state to state, so if a clinic is slow, ask what their policy is.

The easiest habit: ask for an updated copy at the end of every visit. It's much less work than gathering records from three clinics later.

Check the microchip

A microchip only helps if its registration leads back to you. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends:

• Registering the chip with its manufacturer as soon as you get your pet, with all of your contact information.
• Updating it whenever you move or change phone numbers.
• Asking your vet to scan the chip at each annual exam to make sure it still reads.

Not sure where your pet's chip is registered? AAHA's Universal Pet Microchip Lookup searches most registries at once.

Where to keep it

Keep two copies: one on paper, in a folder with the original certificates, and one on your phone. Share it with anyone who regularly cares for your pet, and update it after every visit while the details are fresh.