Taking care of a pet is a rewarding responsibility. In order to organize your pet caring supplies, please see the section on Organizing Your Pet. Today however, we are just going to organize the documentation and paperwork associated with your pets.

First gather all the paperwork regarding your pets:

• Vet Documents
• Registration Papers
• Purchase Receipts
• Care Sheets
• Microchip Information
• Rabies Certificates
• Vaccination Records
• Food Information
• Dog and Cat Licenses
• Prescriptions
• Any other paperwork associated with your pets

Determine a dedicated space for housing these documents. You can keep them in your regular filing system or you can select another file to keep these documents separate. In either case, categorize the documents as per each pet.

Most people have dogs or cats.  Therefore we will use these as the primary examples. Gather all the paperwork you have for each pet you own. You will also want to check your county animal ordinance laws regarding the documentation that you must have to legally own a pet in your county/state. For example pet vaccination records, pet licenses and microchip information are very important to have  handy and accessible. Therefore, I keep these documents in a binder in plastic page protectors with dividers for each pet.  This forms my own resource center when I need to use any of this information.

For all other paperwork such as vet invoices, breeder information, event information if you show your pet, and purchase/care information, file  them by chronologically organizing them from the most recent back to the oldest documents. Create a filing system using file folders for each pet and incorporate these into your mail filing system or keep them separated in another filing storage location.

It is important that you assess all the shot records to ensure that all the vaccines are up-to-date. Call the vet and schedule an appointment if needed. You can also check your local area for low cost rabies clinics to save some money. In most states, the rabies shots are the only shots required to be performed by a licensed veterinarian. The other shots such as distemper, parvo, lepto and bordetella, can be given at home. These can be purchased at Tractor Supply  or on-line very inexpensively. Be certain to follow the directions. If you are squeamish about giving injections, it would be better to have a vet give the shots. If you give the shots yourself, you will need to keep the documentation of the shot given, the date and where it was given, either Inter muscular (IM) or under the skin (Subcutaneously). Usually the vial with the inoculation peels off and you can stick this on your shot record and write the date and where the shot was given on your pet. You’ll also want to check with your vet as some vets do not accept pets that are vaccinated at home. Keep all of the shot records in the binder with your rabies/license information to be easily accessed if needed. If you keep all this pertinent information in a binder, when you take your pet to the vet, you can take the binder and have all the relevant information handy to give to your vet when needed.

Lastly, let’s make a care sheet for each animal you have to record all routines and feeding schedules. Don’t forget to indicate the type of food that you feed them. This is helpful if you go on vacation and hire a pet sitter, or if there is an emergency and you have to leave your pets for a time with a friend or family member.

Update all documents and make any appointments necessary for your pet to get their vaccines or check ups.

In addition for our daily beauty routine,  leash up Fido, rally the kids/grandkids and get out there to run, play, and enjoy. Get some fresh air and exercise; boost your outlook on life; breathe in deeply and feel the contentment of making positive changes in your life. When is the last time you flew a kite. What an uplifting activity. Take this time to get everyone involved in some sort of family activity that includes exercise for the humans and your pets.

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