How to Keep Your Pet's Medical History (2026 Guide)
June 18, 2026 · 7 min read
Your pet’s medical history is the summary of their whole health life: vaccines, lab tests, diagnoses, treatments, weight and surgeries. Keeping it complete and within reach isn’t a big-clinic luxury —it’s what lets any vet make better decisions and, often, avoid repeating tests you already paid for.
What exactly is a medical history?
It’s the chronological record of everything that has happened to your dog or cat health-wise. Think of it as the “file” any professional should be able to read in two minutes to understand who your pet is: how old they are, which vaccines they’ve had, what illnesses they’ve had and what medication they take.
What it should include
A good history gathers, at a minimum:
- Basic data: species, breed, sex, date of birth, color, microchip number and current weight.
- Vaccines: which vaccine, date given and next booster date. (We cover this in depth in the digital vaccination card.)
- Lab work: blood counts, biochemistry, urinalysis. Keep the full report, not just “it was fine”.
- Deworming: internal and external, with product and date.
- Diagnoses and treatments: what they had, what was prescribed and how they responded.
- Surgeries and procedures: neutering, dental extractions, etc.
- Allergies and notes: drug reactions, special diet, temperament.
Why it matters more than you think
- Emergencies: if your usual vet isn’t available, another professional can act fast when they see the full history.
- Savings: you avoid repeating recent tests just because you “didn’t bring the papers”.
- Tracking: seeing how weight or a blood value changes over time says far more than a single reading.
- Moving and travel: changing city or crossing a border is much easier with everything documented.
Paper or digital: which is better?
The classic cardboard booklet works… until it gets wet, gets lost, or isn’t on you the one day there’s an emergency. A digital history solves that: it’s on your phone, it doesn’t fade, you can share it with one tap and it lets you set reminders for vaccines and deworming.
The best version of the history is the one you have with you when you need it. That’s why digital usually wins: it doesn’t depend on you remembering to bring a folder.
How to start today
- Gather what you already have: vaccine booklet, lab reports, prescriptions.
- Take a photo of each document (in Furtale, AI can read the report and log the values for you).
- Note the current weight and the next vaccine booster date.
- Keep it all in one place you can reach from your phone.
Furtale keeps your pets’ entire history in one place and lets AI digitize reports from a simple photo. Create your free account and start with your first document.