Every pet in Lupa has a profile that holds their species, breed, sex, weight history, microchip, insurance, and the relationship to their owner. A complete profile means the consulting vet has full context before every appointment, and it powers downstream features like species-specific appointment types, species-aware sex options, weight charts and health plan eligibility.
💡 In short: Create a pet profile to register a patient and link them to their owner. Use the profile to keep the basic medical record up to date — clinical timeline, AI summaries and admissions live in .
Creating a New Pet
There are several ways to register a pet — pick whichever fits your workflow.
Method | How | Best for |
From a client's profile | Open the client → Create dropdown → Pet | Adding another pet for an existing client (fastest — owner pre-filled) |
From the Pets list | Clients (top nav) → Pets tab → Add Pet | Standalone pet registration |
During client creation | Add pets inline in the Pets section of the client form | New client and their pet(s) registered together |
During appointment booking | Create the pet from the new appointment dialog | Walk-ins booked at reception |
Step-by-step: registering a pet
From the client's profile, click Create → Pet (or open Clients → Pets tab and click Add Pet in the top right).
If you started from a client profile, the owner is pre-filled. Otherwise, search and select the Client.
Fill in the Basic Details: Name, Species, Breed, Sex, optional Date of Birth and Colour.
Tick Neutered if applicable and set the Neutered Date (it appears once Neutered is ticked).
Tick Microchipped to expand microchip fields and enter the Microchip Number and optional location.
Add a Weight if you have one — readings appear on the pet's weight chart over time.
Fill in Insurance (insurer + policy number) if relevant.
For livestock or equines, tick Large Animal to expose the location and height fields (see below).
Click Create. The pet is saved and you land on the new pet's profile.
The Pet Form — Fields explained
Basic details
Field | Required | What it does |
Client | Yes | The pet's owner. Search for an existing client; you can also create a new client inline from this dropdown. |
Name | Yes | The pet's name. |
Species | Yes | Grouped by Dog, Cat, Livestock & Farm, Small Mammals, Avian, Exotic Pets, Reptile & Amphibian, Wildlife, Fish and Other. Selecting a species filters the breed list and the available Sex options. |
Breed | Yes | Searchable autocomplete restricted to the chosen species. Free-text values are accepted for breeds that aren't in the list. |
Sex | Yes | Male, Female or Unknown for most species. Equine species also show Mare, Stallion and Gelding. Neutering is captured separately via the Neutered checkbox below — there's no combined "Male Neutered" option. |
Date of Birth | No | Used for age calculations throughout Lupa. Leave blank if unknown. |
Colour | No | Searchable from a preset colour list, or free text. |
Neutered | No | Tick when the pet has been neutered/spayed. A Neutered Date field appears once ticked. |
Deceased | No | Tick to mark the pet as deceased. A Deceased Date field appears. All health-plan subscriptions for the pet — including any that are paused or awaiting payment — are cancelled automatically. |
Microchip
Tick Microchipped to expand the microchip section:
Microchip Number — the chip's ID.
Microchip Location — optional free-text location on the body.
Register with VetEnvoy — appears only when the VetEnvoy integration is enabled for your practice. Submits the chip electronically to the VetEnvoy network.
Weight
You can add an initial weight on the create form, and add further readings any time from the Weights section on the pet's profile. Each reading is timestamped, and once you have multiple readings the profile shows a weight chart so you can track trends over time. The display unit follows your locale (kg or lbs); Lupa always stores the value in kg internally.
Insurance
How this section looks depends on your practice's integrations.
Without an insurance integration: simple Insurer and Policy Number text fields. Insurer is searchable from a country-specific list and accepts free text.
With the VetSure integration enabled: you can choose VetSure or Other Insurance. For VetSure policies, click Search Policy to look the policy up directly in the VetSure database; the insurer and policy number are then filled in for you.
Primary vet (referral cases)
For referral patients whose primary care lives at another practice, fill in Practice Name, Vet Name, Email and Phone under the Primary Vet section. This is informational only — Lupa doesn't sync clinical records back to the referring practice.
Large Animal
Tick Large Animal for livestock and equines to reveal:
Field | What it does |
Address / Location | Where the animal is kept (farm, stable, yard). |
Location Type | Free-text label for the type of location (e.g. "Yard", "Stable", "Field"). |
Height + Unit | Height value with unit selector (cm, m, ft, in). For equines, hands are typically captured in cm. |
Food Producing Animal | Tick if the animal enters the food chain. Affects medication restrictions and triggers a confirmation dialog on save where farm assurance documents can be uploaded. |
⚠️ Food-producing status changes prescribing rules. When ticked, certain medications become restricted and withdrawal periods apply. Make sure this is set correctly — it affects what the vet is allowed to prescribe.
Tags, internal notes and avatar
Tags — multi-select labels from your practice's tag list (configured in Settings → Tags). Use tags like "Aggressive", "Anxious", "Diabetic", "VIP" so the team is prepared before the consult.
Internal Pet Notes — rich-text field visible only to your team. Use it for handling tips, medical quirks and dietary requirements.
Avatar — upload a photo of the pet. Appears on the profile and in search results, helping reception recognise the patient on arrival.
Passport Number — optional, for international travel documentation.
⚠️ Tag behavioural warnings early. If a pet is aggressive or anxious, add the tag immediately. Tags surface in appointment details so the vet and nurse know what to expect before the consultation starts.
The Pet Profile
After saving, the pet's profile becomes the central place to manage everything about the patient (apart from the clinical timeline and AI summary, which are covered in ).
Header at a glance
Avatar, name and computed age (from DOB).
A summary line with species, breed, age, sex and current weight.
Verification badges (e.g. microchip, primary care) when applicable, plus any Deceased indicator.
Owner card — sits just below the header and links straight to the client. Shows the client's running balance.
Quick actions
The action area at the top of the profile contains a Create menu and direct buttons:
Action | What it does |
Edit Pet (pencil) | Opens the pet edit page. Archive, Merge and Transfer all live there. |
Book Appointment | Create an appointment with this pet pre-filled. |
Create Invoice | Create an invoice with this pet attached. |
Appointment Reminder | Create a one-off reminder for the owner. |
Insurance Claim / Pre-Auth | Start a claim or pre-authorisation for this pet. |
Preventive / Diagnosis / Note | Quick-add a vaccination, diagnosis or clinical note straight to the timeline. |
Diagnostic Test Order | Order lab work or diagnostics (vet stores only). |
Print Label | Generate and print a pet label. The label includes the pet's species, breed, age, sex, weight, microchip number (or N/A if not recorded), and Colour if one is set on the pet's profile. |
Profile sections
A sticky tab nav lets you jump between sections.
Tab | What it shows |
Details | The Pet Details panel — all basic info (name, species, breed, sex, DOB, microchip, passport, primary store, registered date), an Insurance subsection (insurer and policy with View Policy when VetSure is enabled), a Primary Vet subsection, a Weights panel with the chart and reading history, and Internal Pet Notes. Most editing happens here. |
Subscriptions | Health-plan enrolments and allowance status (visible if Health Plans is enabled). |
Medical Details | Allergies, parasites, ongoing diagnoses and clinical-status flags that follow the pet across visits. |
Documents | Uploaded files, signed consent forms and referral letters attached to the pet. |
Diagnostic Tests | Lab and imaging results returned from integrated providers. |
History | The complete clinical and administrative timeline — every appointment, prescription, note, transfer and merge in chronological order. Documented in . |
The owner appears as a card just under the page header (above the tabs), not as its own tab — click through to the owner's profile from there.
Editing, Archiving, Transferring and Merging
All four actions live on the Edit Pet page. Open the pet's profile and click Edit Pet to access them.
Edit a pet
From the pet's profile, click Edit Pet.
Update any fields.
Click Save in the bottom-right action bar. Only the changed fields are sent to the server.
Add a weight reading
From the pet's profile, scroll to the Weights section.
Click Add Weight.
Enter the value (kg or lbs depending on locale) and the date.
Save. The reading appears on the chart immediately.
Archive a pet
Use Archive when a pet is no longer at your practice but is still alive — for example, the owner has moved away.
From the pet's profile, click Edit Pet.
In the floating action bar at the bottom, click Archive.
Confirm. To restore, find the pet via the archived filter on the pets list, open the edit page, and click Unarchive.
Mark a pet as deceased
From the pet's profile, click Edit Pet.
Tick Deceased and enter the Deceased Date.
Save. Deceased pets are hidden from default views, and all health-plan subscriptions for the pet — including any that are paused or awaiting payment — are cancelled automatically. All clinical records are preserved.
Transfer a pet to a new owner
When ownership changes, transfer the pet rather than creating a duplicate.
From the pet's profile, click Edit Pet.
In the floating action bar at the bottom, click Transfer Pet.
Search for and select the new owner.
Confirm. The pet's complete history (appointments, prescriptions, diagnoses, lab results, clinical notes) moves to the new owner. A Client Transfer event is recorded on the timeline so the change is auditable.
⚠️ Transfer is blocked if both clients are mobile-app users. Lupa prevents this because the mobile-app profile linkage is one-to-one with the client record. Contact Lupa support if you need to make this change.
Merge duplicate pets
If you find two records for the same animal:
Open the duplicate pet (the one you want to archive) and click Edit Pet.
In the floating action bar at the bottom, click Merge Pet.
Search for the pet you want to merge into — only pets belonging to the same client are shown. The merge dialog then shows both records side by side. For each field (name, breed, DOB, microchip, etc.) choose which value to keep.
Confirm. Both pets' clinical histories are combined onto the surviving record, the source pet is archived, and a Pet Merge event is recorded on the timeline.
⚠️ Merging is one-way and final. Once you confirm, you can't un-merge. Review every field in the side-by-side view before clicking confirm — the values you don't pick are lost.
You can't merge or transfer a pet that's already archived; unarchive it first if you need to.
Common Scenarios
Registering a new puppy
From the owner's profile, click Create → Pet.
Name, Species: Dog, Breed (e.g. "Golden Retriever").
Sex: Male or Female, leave Neutered unticked, DOB: enter the age directly — type the number of weeks (e.g. 9) in the Weeks field and Lupa calculates the date of birth for you.
Add a Weight reading.
Skip Microchipped for now if not yet chipped — return to add it later.
Add the tag "Puppy" if your practice uses puppy-pack workflows.
Click Create. Book the first vaccination appointment from the new pet's profile.
Registering an exotic pet
Species: open the Exotic Pets, Reptile & Amphibian or Avian group as appropriate.
Breed: type free text — exotic breeds aren't in the autocomplete.
Sex: Unknown is acceptable for many exotic species.
Add weight (in grams entered as kg if very small) and DOB if known.
Registering a farm animal
Species: pick from the Livestock & Farm group.
Tick Large Animal.
Fill in Address / Location and Location Type.
Enter Height with the appropriate unit.
Tick Food Producing Animal if the animal enters the food chain. A confirmation dialog appears on save and lets you upload farm-assurance documents.
Tips
✅ Best practices from practices running Lupa:
Record a weight at every visit. Single readings show a number; a trend line tells a story.
Add the microchip number during registration — it saves time later when you need it for insurance claims or travel documentation.
Use tags to flag medical and behavioural conditions. They surface in appointment details so the whole team is prepared.
Keep internal notes practical: "Needs muzzle for blood draws" or "Owner stays in the room" saves the vet asking every time.
Create pets inline during client registration when both are new — one save instead of two.
Upload a pet photo. It helps reception recognise the patient on arrival.
Troubleshooting
Problem | Solution |
Age in weeks or months not saving correctly (e.g. "9 weeks" becomes a different value) | Make sure you are on the latest version of Lupa. Earlier versions capped the Weeks field at 4 and Months at 11 — this has been fixed. Enter the value, tab out of the field, and confirm the number shown matches what you typed before saving. |
"Male Neutered" / "Female Spayed" not in the Sex dropdown | Sex is the biological sex; neutering is captured separately. Pick Male or Female and tick Neutered below. |
Breed autocomplete doesn't include the breed I need | Type the breed name manually — free text is accepted for any species. |
Register with VetEnvoy button doesn't appear | The VetEnvoy integration must be enabled for your practice. Ask an administrator to set it up. |
VetSure Search Policy doesn't appear | The VetSure integration must be enabled, and VetSure must be selected as the insurer type. |
Weight chart not showing | You need at least two readings on different dates for a trend line. A single reading shows the value but no chart. |
Large-animal fields don't appear | Tick Large Animal in the form. The location and height fields are hidden until that's ticked. |
Transfer Pet is greyed out | The pet may be archived (unarchive first), or both clients may be mobile-app users (contact Lupa support). |
Pet still appears after marking as deceased | Default views hide deceased pets, but if a deceased filter is toggled on the list or owner card it shows them. Adjust the filter. |
Can't archive a pet — button missing | Archive lives on the Edit Pet page floating action bar, not on the profile. Click Edit Pet first. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a pet belong to more than one client?
Each pet has one active owner at a time. For shared ownership, register the pet under one client and add the other person as an alternative contact on the client record (with their own email so they can be CC'd on communications). Use Transfer Pet when ownership formally changes.
What happens to a pet's medical history when I transfer them?
Everything moves with the pet — appointments, prescriptions, diagnoses, lab results and clinical notes all transfer to the new owner. A "Client Transfer" event is added to the timeline so the change is auditable.
What's the difference between archiving and marking as deceased?
Deceased records that the animal has died — you set a deceased date and all health-plan subscriptions are cancelled automatically, including any that are paused or awaiting payment. Archive is for pets that are still alive but no longer active at your practice (e.g. the owner moved away). Both hide the pet from default views and preserve all records.
How do I find archived or deceased pets?
On the Pets list, toggle the relevant filter to include archived or deceased pets. You can also see them via the owner's profile by toggling the show-archived/deceased option in the Pets section.
How do I find a specific pet when a client has a large number of animals?
On the client's profile, the pets section includes a Search animals... box to find a pet by name. If the client has more than five pets, a species list also appears — pick a species to narrow the grid to just those animals, or select All species to show them all. Both filters work alongside the deceased/archived toggle.
Where do I record a pet's weight after the initial registration?
Use the Weights section on the pet's profile. Click Add Weight, enter the value and date, and save. The chart updates immediately.
Can Lupa generate a clinical summary for a pet?
Yes — the AI summary feature is covered in .
Can I import pets in bulk?
Bulk pet import happens during data migration when your practice first joins Lupa. There's no self-service bulk import — contact Lupa support if you need to import a batch.