Whether its routine care, vaccinations and preventative or a major medical issue, it’s never been easier to maintain the records than in the medical module. Not only that, when dog get adopted, the medical records can be emailed to the adopter! No more scraps of paper or medical records for the adopter to lose (come on, you all know that has happened). You can even email them to the adopter’s veterinarian if you want.

Select the dog from the Dog Roster, which will bring up their record. From there, select the Medical Tab under Internal Information.

This will bring up the Medical Module with various options/screens for you to complete.

Medical Conditions

The Medical Conditions tab allows you to enter all medical conditions (whether permanent or transitory; acute or minor) for the dog along with any testing and/or treatment the pet may have had. So, let’s head on over to the Medical Conditions tab and get started!

1. When you click on the tab, it will bring you up the Conditions module. If this is the first entry for the pet, I guarantee your first thought is going to be “Ummmm, why do I have a blank page?” No, we’re not trying to test you, you just need to click on the +Add Condition link.
2. That will bring up a box with 5 sections for you to fill out – General, Tests, Diagnosis, Treatment and Resolution. Let’s start where most people would – at the beginning – with the General Section.
3. You need to determine what the level of the condition is. Pick the most appropriate:
   • Is the condition Acute? Something like an open fracture or high fever would probably qualify. In other words, does the dog need to see the vet ASAP.
   • Is the condition Chronic? Something like cataracts or autoimmune disease probably would be classified as that.
   • Is the condition Acute & Chronic? Does that dog have a chronic autoimmune disease which is flaring up and needs to be dealt with Stat?
   • Is the condition Non Acute & Non Chronic? Everything else, from the beginnings of kennel cough to the dog got into the kitty litter box for some “tootsie rolls” and has a bit of a tummy ache!
4. Next will be the symptom, which you can pick from the drop-down box:
5. Next fill out the date of onset and if they went to the vet – which one and who took them. When you’re done, you will have a box that looks like this:
6. The next portion is Tests. If any tests were performed, you can note them here along with any notes. First pick the test from the drop-down box:

   You can select more than one test and, for each selected, a test result box will appear. You also can make any notes about the testing (although noting the dog bit the technician while she was retrieving the stool sample for testing might not be a good idea since, eventually, the adopter will get all this information.)

7. Once you have completed the Testing section, it’s time to move on to the Diagnosis section. Here you can add the diagnosis or diagnoses from the drop-down box. There are lots and lots to choose from mostly grouped into sections such as infection, Muscular/Skeletal, Gastrointestinal, Dental, etc. There’s even a section at the bottom for that dreaded makes-our-blood-boil “Human Inflicted Injury.” Pick the appropriate diagnosis(es) which will be entered into the box.
8. Next section relates to what you are going to do about it – Treatments. Again, you have a lot of options to pick from the drop-down box and can pick as many as you want.

   If medications are given, you can select that from the drop-down box, but the medications will be entered on the Medications screen.

9. Under Resolution, if the issue has been resolved, click on the Yes button; if it has not, then click on the No button and complete the requested information:
10. Since you also have the ability to upload any x-rays and vet records through the Documents section (see How to Upload Documents), you will be asked whether that has been done.
11. Once all filled out, click Submit Condition.

You can continue entering conditions now or in the future until you have all the conditions this poor dog has/had have been entered. You will do that through the +Add Condition link you used before. Once all the conditions have been entered and submitted, you will have a listing of them here. You can click on a Condition at any time to review or revise (such as marking a condition resolved).

While this is the most time-consuming of all the sections, it sure beats having to keep track of paper records! Also, you can print, review or send some or all the medical records at any time from the Documents tab. (See Working with the Documents).