Pet Configuration

Open Settings > Records & Data > Pet Configuration. The page has three sections: Custom Pet Statuses, Automation, and Pet Age Display Mode.

Custom Pet Statuses

Statuses are organized into named groups. Groups control visual organization and order; behavior belongs to each status.

Each status defines:

• Enabled: whether it can be selected
• Public: whether eligible pets can appear publicly
• Care state: In care, Placed, or Out of care
• Ends foster: whether moving a pet to the status completes an active foster assignment
• Color: the badge color used across PawPlacer

Only in-care statuses can be made public. Placed and out-of-care statuses are kept off public pet listings. A status that changes a pet out of normal in-care handling usually ends its active foster assignment by default.

PawPlacer does not apply a separate quota to the number of custom status definitions. Subscription pet limits count non-deleted pets assigned to an in-care status, not the number of statuses you create.

Add and Organize

• Add groups and statuses from the relevant group controls.
• Rename groups and statuses.
• Drag groups and statuses to reorder them or move a status between groups.
• Use search to find a status. Reordering pauses while search is active.

System statuses have protected behavior. A custom status can be deleted after selecting a replacement for any pets that use it. A group with statuses must be emptied or have its statuses moved before deletion.

The care state of a built-in status or a custom status already assigned to pets is locked. This prevents an edit from silently changing how existing pet records count or behave.

Creating or editing a status does not move pets automatically. Change pet statuses from individual profiles or the Pets list.

Use a status for workflow and care state, such as Available, Medical Hold, or Sanctuary Resident. Use a tag for descriptive attributes that may overlap, such as Shy, Bonded, Needs yard, or Long-term resident. Avoid creating a status for breed, temperament, location, or every temporary note.

The built-in Adopted status already supports the adoption workflow. Completing an adoption moves the pet there automatically. Do not create a second adopted status to work around an incomplete adoption record.

Choosing a Care State

• In care counts toward the account's in-care pet limit and appears in the In Care view.
• Placed records a placement outcome without treating the pet as currently in care.
• Out of care appears in Past and does not count toward the in-care limit.

Choose the care state carefully when creating a status. After pets use a custom status, its care state is locked so their historical classification cannot silently change.

Automation

Automatic pet IDs can assign a custom ID when a pet is created.

Choose from ten sequence patterns, including year, month, day, and sequence-only formats. You can also configure:

• Optional prefix
• Sequence padding from one to six digits
• Yearly reset for patterns that include a year

A live preview shows the resulting format before you save.

Pet Age Display Mode

Choose how ages appear throughout PawPlacer:

• Automatic/default presentation
• Date of birth
• Calculated age
• Life-stage category

This preference saves immediately and reloads the display so the new format is applied.

Permissions

Pet Configuration requires Administrator access.