Setting up vaccine and parasite control reminders

Every reminder has a source, meaning a row recorded on one of the animal's tabs that carries a future date. Without that date the reminder does not exist. This is why a vaccination recorded with no next due date produces no alert at all: the system knows it was given, it does not know when it needs repeating.

• Vaccines: the due date goes in the next dose field of the individual vaccination record.
• Parasite control: same logic, using the date of the next application of the product.
• Medications: the reminder follows the start and end dates of the course.
• Appointments: the appointment date is already the due date.
• Insurance: the expiry date of the policy recorded in its own tab.
• Things to do: free entries you create yourself, with the date they need closing by.

1. 1

   Open the animal and go to the vaccines tab

   Start from the most recent vaccination you have a confirmed date for. If nothing is documented, record the one you are most confident about and note in the comment that the date is an estimate.

2. 2

   Log the dose with everything you know

   Vaccine name, type, date given and vet. The brand name matters more than it looks: it is what tells you whether a booster covers the same components when you change practice.

3. 3

   Fill in the next due date field

   This is the step that creates the reminder. Take the interval from the product leaflet or from your vet's instruction, not from habit: intervals differ between products even for the same disease.

4. 4

   Repeat for parasite control

   In its own tab, record the product, treatment type and date. Again the next application date is what makes the alert appear, and for monthly products it is the entry that will come round most often.

5. 5

   Add the items with no tab of their own

   Passport renewal, checking your registry contact details, booking the boarding kennel: these are things to do, created as free entries with a date, and they land in the same list.

6. 6

   Check the reminders view

   Go back to the reminders page and confirm the new entries show with the right due dates. If one is missing it is nearly always because the future date was not saved on the record.

7. 7

   Turn on notifications only once the dates are right

   Turning them on first means receiving alerts about an incomplete list and learning to ignore them. Get the list correct, then add the channel that reminds you about it.

Each entry falls into a band based on the days remaining until it is due. The bands are not configurable, but knowing them helps you read the colours and understand when it is worth bringing a date forward.

Above the list there are three counters, covering upcoming entries, entries due within the week and overdue ones, plus three quick filters showing everything, urgent items and this week's items respectively. Search runs across title, detail, animal name and category, so typing an animal's name isolates all of its due dates instantly.

Alongside the due dates you entered, suggestions appear based on the animal's history. They create nothing on their own: they propose an entry you can either accept or dismiss. There are four rules and their thresholds are declared.

A reminder list becomes useless once it gets too long: you stop looking at it and the real due dates sink among the invented ones. The fix is not switching alerts off, it is removing the entries that will never lead to an action.

• Set a next due date only where you genuinely intend to act, not on everything for the sake of completeness.
• Do not duplicate the same due date as both a vaccination and a task: you would end up with two entries and close only one.
• Accept or dismiss suggestions rather than leaving them sitting there, where they take up room every time you open the page.
• Group entries that get resolved in the same visit, such as a booster and the annual check, onto the same date.
• For monthly parasite products, log the dose on the day you give it, so the estimated interval stays correct.
• Delete entries that have stopped being relevant, such as vaccines that only belong to the first year of life.

The delivery channel is a separate choice. In settings you can enable or disable browser notifications and, independently of that, choose which categories to receive among chat messages, appointments, orders and promotional updates. Promotional updates are the one category optional by design: if your problem is the sheer number of alerts, that is the first switch to turn off.

A reminder list does not maintain itself, because it depends on what you record. Ten minutes a month, always on the same day, keeps it trustworthy. Skip maintenance for two months and the list starts lying to you, and shortly after that you stop believing it.

1. Open the overdue filter and close or reschedule every entry, leaving none in limbo.
2. For every entry you close, log the new dose and set the following due date immediately.
3. Go through the suggestions and decide: accepted or dismissed, never ignored.
4. Check the active courses and update remaining doses, so the low stock alert arrives when it should.
5. Reweigh any animal you have not weighed for more than six weeks and record the value.
6. Look at the entries beyond thirty days and confirm the dates match what the record book says.