How to Switch Vets Without Losing Your Pet's History
People switch vets for all kinds of reasons: a move to a new city, a clinic closing, a vet retiring, a change in what's covered by pet insurance, or simply a preference for a different approach to care. Whatever the reason, the transition is worth handling deliberately. A new vet starting with no history on a pet with chronic conditions has to make decisions in a vacuum, and that can mean repeated tests, missed context, or gaps in ongoing treatment.
Switching vets is straightforward when you approach it as a records transfer, not just a change of appointment location.
Request your records before you leave
In most jurisdictions, you have the right to a copy of your pet's veterinary records. Your vet owns the original record, but you are entitled to a copy. The standard way to request this is to call or email the clinic and ask for a complete copy of your pet's medical records. Many clinics now have patient portals where you can download records yourself.
Request records before you have an urgent need for them. If you know you are moving or switching, request the records while the clinic is still your active provider. Clinics can sometimes be slow to respond to record requests, and if there is a gap between leaving one clinic and establishing at another, you want the records in hand already.
Ask for lab results separately. The general medical record often summarises bloodwork without including the actual panel results. If your pet has had blood panels, urinalysis, or imaging, ask for those reports specifically. They contain reference ranges and trending data that a new vet will find useful.
What to request
| Record type | Why it matters at a new clinic |
|---|---|
| Vaccination history | Establishes what's current and what's due; avoids unnecessary repeat vaccines |
| Visit summaries / SOAP notes | Full clinical picture of each visit; diagnoses, assessments, and treatment plans |
| Lab results (blood panels, urinalysis) | Baseline values for comparison; important for chronic conditions |
| Imaging reports (X-rays, ultrasound) | Contextual history; especially important for musculoskeletal or cardiac conditions |
| Surgical and anaesthesia records | Documents any reactions and what anaesthetic protocols were used safely |
| Prescription history | Establishes what has been tried, what worked, and what caused adverse effects |
Preparing for the first appointment
A new vet has a full appointment to build a picture of your pet. Coming in with organised records makes that 15 to 20 minutes go much further than arriving with a stack of paper documents to flip through.
Before the first visit, put together a brief summary covering:
- Your pet's age, breed, and weight history
- Any chronic conditions and when they were diagnosed
- Current medications with doses and the prescribing vet
- Any known allergies or adverse reactions to medications
- Significant procedures (surgeries, dental cleanings, specialist referrals)
- Outstanding concerns you want to discuss
Some pet health apps let you generate a shareable summary from your stored records. Emailing this to the new clinic before the first appointment means they can review it in advance and come to the visit prepared.
What the new vet will likely do at the first visit
Even with complete records, a new vet will typically do a full physical examination to establish their own baseline. They may recommend baseline bloodwork if your pet hasn't had it recently or if the previous results are more than a year old. This is standard practice, not redundancy; a vet establishing a new patient relationship wants their own baseline to compare against in future.
If you have a pet with a complex chronic condition, it is worth calling ahead to flag this before booking. Some clinics offer extended first appointments for complex cases, which gives the vet more time to review history and ask detailed questions rather than feeling rushed.
Keeping your own records as the constant
Clinic records live in the clinic's system. When you leave, you get a copy at the point of leaving, but that copy doesn't update if you request one six months later. Your own record of your pet's health history, maintained independently of any clinic, is the one thing that follows your pet through every vet relationship and every move.
Building that record doesn't require much. After each visit, note the date, clinic, reason for the visit, what was found, and what was prescribed or recommended. Over a few years this adds up to a coherent health history that no single clinic holds but that you carry with you.
- Request complete records from current vet before switching
- Request lab results and imaging reports separately
- Prepare a brief summary of chronic conditions, medications, and allergies
- Send records to new clinic before the first appointment if possible
- Inform new vet of any complex conditions or upcoming medication refills
- Add the first visit notes to your own records the same day
Your pet's history, independent of any clinic
Keep your own complete record in Pett so switching vets never means starting from scratch. Free to download.