Reminder types are the templates that power Lupa's automated health reminders. Each reminder type defines a category of care — like "Annual Booster" or "Flea & Tick Treatment" — along with how often it recurs, when to notify clients, and what the email and SMS messages say. Once a reminder type is active, it can be linked to automations that set reminders on pets automatically whenever the relevant product or service is invoiced.

💡 In short: Create reminder types to define the timing, content, and notification rules for each category of preventive care, then connect them to automations so reminders are set on pets automatically.

Why Reminder Types Matter

⚠️ Create reminder types, don't rely on manual tracking. Without reminder types, staff need to remember which pets are due for what and when — leading to missed follow-ups, lost revenue, and gaps in preventive care. Reminder types automate the entire cycle.

Benefit	How it helps your practice
Consistent timing	Every pet gets reminded at exactly the right interval — no more guessing whether a booster was 12 months ago or 14
Automatic setup	Automations create reminders when treatments are invoiced, so staff don't need to do anything extra during a busy consult
Branded communications	Each reminder type has its own customisable email and SMS template, so the message is specific and professional
Visibility	Each reminder type card shows how many pets have active reminders and how many notifications were sent in the last 30 days

How to Create a Reminder Type — Step by Step

Step 1: Open the Reminders page

Navigate to Reminders from the top navigation bar (or Admin > Reminders for company-level access). Make sure the Reminder Types tab is selected. Click Create new reminder type.

Step 2: Fill in the Details (Step 1 of 2)

The creation dialog opens with a two-step wizard. The first step captures the core settings:

Field	What to enter
Name	A clear, client-facing name like "Annual Booster" or "Librela". This appears in reminder emails and SMS messages, so make it something the pet owner will understand.
Due	How often this reminder recurs — e.g. 12 months for an annual vaccine, 3 months for a flea treatment. Enter the number and select the unit (months or years).
Remind	How many days before the due date to send the notification. For example, 14 days gives the client two weeks to book an appointment before the treatment is due.

💡 The Remind value cannot exceed the interval. For a reminder due every 3 months, you can set at most ~90 days before due.

Click Next to proceed to Step 2.

Step 3: Customise the template (Step 2 of 2)

The second step lets you write the content that clients will receive. The tabs shown depend on which communication channels your practice has enabled.

Email tab:

Subject — Pre-filled with the reminder name and pet name placeholder (e.g. "Annual Booster for {{pet_name}}"). Edit as needed.
Body — A rich text editor with a default template including a greeting, the reminder message, a booking button, and your practice contact details. The booking button always links to your practice's booking page — if online booking is turned off, clients who click it will see your contact details instead. Customise the wording, add images, or restructure as needed.

SMS tab (if SMS reminders are enabled for your practice):

Message — A short text message (max 140 characters) with placeholders for personalisation. A live iPhone preview shows exactly what the client will receive.
Available placeholders — Click any placeholder tag to insert it into your message: \{\{pet_name\}\}, \{\{reminder_name\}\}, \{\{reminder_due\}\}, \{\{store_name\}\}, \{\{pet_dob\}\}, and more. The \{\{pet_dob\}\} placeholder inserts the pet's date of birth as a readable date (for example, 9 Nov 2017). If no date of birth is recorded for the pet, the placeholder is left blank.

WhatsApp tab (if WhatsApp reminders are enabled for your practice):

Search for and select one of your approved WhatsApp templates. The tab shows a preview of how the message will look, along with any placeholders the template uses and what values they will be filled with.
If the template requires a Header image, upload the file here — the same image is sent to every recipient.
Lupa checks the selected template before saving. If there is a problem — for example, the template uses a placeholder your practice cannot fill automatically, or it has a button whose link changes per recipient — a warning appears on the tab. Resolve the highlighted issues or choose a different template before saving.

Click Create Reminder Type to save. The new reminder type starts in Draft status.

💡 Draft reminder types do not send notifications. Change the status to Enabled when you are ready to go live.

Managing Reminder Type Status

Each reminder type has a status that controls whether it actively sends notifications:

Status	What it means
Draft	Newly created. The reminder type exists and can be assigned to pets, but no notifications will be sent. Use this while you are still configuring the template.
Enabled	Active and sending notifications. Pets with reminders of this type will receive emails and SMS messages according to the configured timing.
Archived	Deactivated. No new notifications will be sent. Existing pet reminders remain visible in the Reminders tab but will not trigger further communications. Use this to retire a reminder type you no longer need.

To change the status, click the status pill on the reminder type card and select the new status from the dropdown.

Editing a Reminder Type

Click the pencil icon on any reminder type card to open the edit dialog. You can update the name, interval, notification timing, and email/SMS templates.

⚠️ Changes to a reminder type affect all future notifications for pets with that reminder type. Notifications that have already been sent are not changed.

Converting Legacy Reminder Types

If your practice has older reminder types that were created before custom templates were available (e.g. pre-existing vaccination or anti-parasitic types), you will see a Convert to custom option on the email template step. Converting a legacy reminder type lets you edit the email content while keeping the existing reminder timing and automations intact.

Triggers and Automations

Each reminder type card has an expandable Triggers section that shows which automations are connected to it. Automations define the rules that automatically set reminders on pets when specific products or services are invoiced. Expanding the Triggers section shows:

Which products and services trigger the reminder — displayed as colour-coded badges (green for services, blue for products). Only items available at your currently selected site are shown; products or services set up at a different site in your group will not appear here.
What actions the automation performs — typically "Set Reminder" for the current type, but automations can also set other reminder types, update pet details (e.g. mark as neutered), or create a task (for example, to prompt a clinician to review lab results)

📍 Automations are configured in Admin > Settings > Automations. The Triggers section on the reminder type card is a read-only view — to create or edit automations, you need the Company Governance permission.

How automations work with reminders

A vet administers a vaccination and the receptionist invoices the product
Lupa checks if any automation rules match the invoiced product
If a matching automation exists, Lupa automatically sets the reminder's next due date on the pet based on the reminder type's interval
When the due date approaches, the pet's owner receives the reminder notification This cycle repeats automatically — each time the product is invoiced, the due date rolls forward by the interval.

Viewing Reminder Type Performance

Each reminder type card displays two key stats:

Active Reminders — How many pets currently have an active reminder of this type (e.g. "42 pets with reminders")
Notifications — How many email and SMS notifications were sent for this reminder type in the last 30 days (e.g. "15 notifications sent in the last 30 days") These figures update automatically and help you gauge whether your reminders are reaching clients effectively.

Tips

✅ Best practices for reminder types:

Name reminder types from the client's perspective — "Annual Vaccination" is clearer than "Vacc Primary"
Set the "Remind" days to at least 14 for annual reminders, giving clients time to book
Always connect reminder types to automations so they are set automatically — manual-only reminders are easy to forget
Review reminder type performance monthly — if notification counts are high but appointment bookings are low, consider adjusting the email template or timing
Start new reminder types in Draft status and preview the email template before switching to Enabled

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Reminder type is not sending notifications	Check the status — it may still be in Draft or Archived. Change it to Enabled using the status pill on the card.
No triggers showing on a reminder type	The reminder type is not connected to any automations yet. Go to Admin > Settings > Automations to create an automation that targets this reminder type.
The "Next" button is disabled on Step 1	All required fields must be filled: Name, Due (interval), and Remind (days before due). Check that the interval is valid and the remind days don't exceed the interval.
Cannot edit the email template for an older reminder type	Legacy reminder types (vaccination, anti-parasitic) use a standard template. Click Convert to custom on the email step to enable full editing.
SMS tab is not visible	SMS reminders must be enabled for your practice. Contact your practice administrator or Lupa support to enable this feature.
WhatsApp tab is not visible	WhatsApp reminders must be enabled for your practice. Contact your practice administrator or Lupa support to enable this feature.
Cannot save — warning about the WhatsApp template	The selected WhatsApp template has an issue that would prevent it sending — for example, it uses a placeholder Lupa cannot fill automatically, or it has a button whose link changes per recipient. Switch to the WhatsApp tab, read the highlighted warning, then either choose a different template or fix the issue before saving.
A trigger I set up is not showing on the reminder type card	If your practice has multiple sites, the Triggers panel only shows products and services available at your currently selected site. Switch to the site where the automation was configured to see its triggers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have multiple reminder types for the same treatment?

Yes. For example, you might have separate reminder types for "Primary Vaccination Course" (due at 8 weeks, 12 weeks) and "Annual Booster" (due every 12 months). Each has its own interval, timing, and communication template.

What happens if I archive a reminder type that has active reminders?

Existing pet reminders remain visible in the Reminders tab, but no further notifications will be sent for that type. If you re-enable the type later, notifications will resume for any reminders whose due dates are within the notification window.

Can two automations set the same reminder type?

Yes. Multiple automations can target the same reminder type — for example, both "Nobivac L4" and "Nobivac DHP" products could trigger the "Annual Booster" reminder. Each pet can only have one active reminder per type, so the due date will be updated to the most recent trigger.

How is the due date calculated?

When an automation fires, Lupa adds the reminder type's interval to the date the treatment was recorded against the billing item. If the item was added to a consultation on a different day from the final invoice date — for example, because it was consolidated onto a later invoice — Lupa uses the earlier treatment date, not the invoice date. If no separate treatment date is recorded, Lupa falls back to the invoice date. For example, if "Annual Booster" has a 12-month interval and the vaccine was administered on 1 March 2026, the next due date is set to 1 March 2027 regardless of when the invoice was finalised.

Can I preview the email before enabling a reminder type?

Yes. The email editor on Step 2 includes a Live Preview toggle that renders the email with sample data, so you can see exactly what clients will receive before going live.

Reminder types and automations