Vet Visit Questions and Notes Sheet

Who this is for

One page to take into the consulting room. Write your questions before you go, then write the answers down while you are still there. Underneath, a table for the instructions exactly as the vet gave them, and a line for what happens next.

Anyone who gets home from the vet and cannot remember half of it, owners managing a long-running condition, and people taking someone else's animal to an appointment.

What this helps you track

• The questions you meant to ask, written down before you go in
• What the vet actually said, in their words and yours
• Instructions as they were given to you, not as you remembered them later
• What was done at the visit and what happens next
• When to go back, and what to watch for in the meantime

How to use it

1. Fill in the pet, the practice and the reason for the visit before you leave the house.
2. Write your questions in the first table the evening before, while you can still think of them.
3. In the room, write the answers as you are given them and tick the questions you asked, so nothing is left unsaid.
4. Use the second table for instructions exactly as the vet gives them — medicines as written on the label, what to feed, what to watch for, when to ring.
5. Read the instructions back to the vet before you leave and correct anything you have written down wrongly.
6. Keep the sheet with the medical record and take it with you next time, so the last visit is in front of you.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why write the questions down beforehand?

Because an appointment is short and it is easy to come away having asked none of them. Written down, they get asked and the answers get recorded.

Can I write the medicine instructions on here?

Write down exactly what your vet tells you and what the label says. Nothing on this sheet supplies a dose, a strength or an interval, and none of it is advice — it is a place to record theirs.

Is it a replacement for the practice's records?

No. The practice keeps the clinical record. This is your own copy of what was said, which is the part that usually goes missing between appointments.

What if someone else takes my pet to the vet?

Fill in the questions, hand the sheet over and ask them to bring it back written on. It also records who took the animal and who they saw.

Can I fill it in on screen?

Yes, and many people type the questions, print the sheet and write the answers by hand in the room. The browser version saves in your own browser.