Team notes let staff record observations, care instructions, and internal context for each pet. Notes are internal only and help maintain continuity when multiple people care for the same animal.
Accessing Pet Notes
- Open a pet profile
- Find the Team Notes card in the right rail
- Review recent notes or expand the card to see more, depending on how many notes exist
The notes card appears beside the main profile tabs, so you can add or review notes while looking at overview, medical, food, relationship, or matching information.
Creating New Notes
- In Team Notes, type your note in the composer
- Add attachments if needed
- Click Save
The note appears in the profile with the author and timestamp.
Managing Existing Notes
Depending on your permissions, you can:
- Edit notes you are allowed to manage
- Delete notes that are no longer needed
- Add comments to a note for follow-up discussion
- Delete comments when appropriate
Notes are shown with the most recent activity first so the latest context is easy to find.
When to Use Pet Notes
Notes are best for:
- Behavioral observations
- Feeding preferences or issues
- Exercise and enrichment responses
- Training progress
- Staff handoff instructions
- Potential adopter interactions
- Temporary care instructions
- Concerns that do not need to be part of the formal medical history
- Day-to-day changes in behavior or health
Notes vs. Medical Records
Use notes for internal observations and team communication. Use the Medical tab for formal health history, including conditions, symptoms, exams, procedures, medications, prescriptions, preventatives, diagnostics, and treatment plans.
If a note describes something that should drive medical follow-up, create the medical record or task as well so it appears in due lists and care workflows.
Note Privacy and Security
- Notes are visible only to team members with access to the pet profile
- Notes are never visible on public pet profiles
- Notes are not part of public QR code or public profile sharing
- Avoid storing sensitive personal information about people in pet notes
- Follow your organization's privacy policy when documenting owner, adopter, foster, or volunteer details
Best Practices
- Be specific and factual
- Include dates or context when the timing matters
- Separate observations from guesses
- Reference previous notes when following up
- Use consistent terms for behavior, training, and care issues
- Keep medical facts in medical records when they need to be part of the formal health history
Example Note
April 15, morning walk: Showed leash reactivity to large dogs but ignored small dogs. Used treat distraction successfully. Recommend keeping distance from large dogs during walks and continuing positive reinforcement training.