Pet Types is currently in beta with our Early Access Program. It will be released to all customers soon!
Pet types are now selected from a dropdown list of defined pet types instead of a free-text Type field.
This allows Time To Pet to:
Standardize pet data across your account
Power features like vaccinations by pet type
Improve reporting and organization
Make it easier for clients and staff to add pets correctly
Company Settings > Pet fields: Pet Type options can be added or removed/hidden
Check out our video on setting up Pet Types!
How Pet Types Work
When adding or editing a pet, clients and staff will select a Pet Type from a dropdown menu.
Common pet types include:
Dog (default)
Cat (default)
Bird
Fish
Reptile
Small Animal
When you add or edit a pet — whether as a client or admin/staff — the Pet Type field will appear as a dropdown.
This replaces the old system where the Type field was a free-form text input.
Using a dropdown ensures pets are categorized consistently.
Adding and Managing Pet Types
You can create and manage the pet types your business supports.
To add or edit pet types:
Go to Settings
Select Custom Pet Fields
Add or edit the pet types available for your account
You can create pet types that match the animals your business cares for.
Example:
Pet Type |
Dog |
Cat |
Bird |
Fish |
Reptile |
Once created, these types will appear in the Pet Type dropdown when pets are added or edited.
What Happens to Existing Pets
When Standardized Pet Types are enabled, Time To Pet will automatically convert existing pets.
The system looks at the current text value in the Type field and maps it as follows:
Existing Value | New Pet Type |
Dog | Dog |
Cat | Cat |
snake | Other |
kitty | Other |
pup | Other |
fish | Other |
If the system cannot confidently match a value to a standardized type, the pet will be placed under “Other” and the original value will be preserved.
Example:
Pet Type | Additional Text |
Other | kitty |
You can then clean up these values using the Bulk Pet Type Migration tool.
Best Practice for Existing Companies
If you already have pets in your system, we recommend the following process:
Create the standardized pet types you want to use
Review pets that were placed under “Other”
Use the Bulk Pet Type Migration tool to organize them
Using the Bulk Pet Type Migration Tool
The Bulk Pet Type Migration tool helps you convert existing Type values into standardized pet types.
This is especially helpful if you previously used variations like:
doggy
pup
kitty
kitten
You can migrate these values into the correct standardized pet type.
Check out our video on the Bulk Pet Type Migration Tool!
Where to Find the Tool
Go to Settings
Click Advanced
Select Bulk Pet Type Migration
This page will display all unique values currently stored in your old Type field.
Step 1 — Select Pet Types to Migrate
In the Select Pet Types to Migrate section, you will see a list of the existing values found in your Type field.
Example:
pup
doggy
kitty
fish
Select the values you want to migrate.
You can also use:
Select All
Select None
Example:
You might select:
pup
doggy
dog
to migrate them all to Dog.
Step 2 — Select the Destination Pet Type
Next, choose the standardized Pet Type from the dropdown.
Example:
Existing Values | Destination Pet Type |
pup | Dog |
doggy | Dog |
dog | Dog |
All pets with those values will be updated.
Step 3 — Review the Migration
Click Review Migration to confirm the changes.
Once confirmed, Time To Pet will update all pets using the selected values.
Running Multiple Migrations
You can repeat the migration process as many times as needed.
For example, you might migrate pup / doggy / dog to Dog, then kitty / kitten to Cat, and fish / beta / goldfish to Fish.
Standardized Pet Types also support vaccination tracking by pet type, allowing businesses to require and track different vaccinations depending on the type of animal. For more details, see our Vaccinations by Pet Type article. Each is a separate migration run.
Related Feature: Vaccinations by Pet Type