Veterinary Discharge Instructions Templates

The parts of a discharge sheet, in the order owners read them:

• What we did today: the reason for the visit and what was done, in plain words.
• Medications: each one with how much, how often, for how long and with or without food, plus a reminder to finish the course.
• Food and activity: what to feed tonight and in the coming days, and how much rest.
• What to watch for: what is normal after this visit and the signs that mean call now.
• When to call: your number during office hours and the emergency clinic's name, address and number after hours.
• Recheck: when to come back, as a date, not only an interval.

After surgery or anesthesia, add incision checks, the cone or recovery suit, the rest period and suture removal. After a dental, add the soft food period when teeth came out and home dental care. Written go-home instructions matter because checkout is busy, and the sheet is what the owner rereads at 10pm.

• Written to the owner. Plain words, short paragraphs and the pet's name, never the record's abbreviations. The owner should be able to follow it alone at home.
• The pet's name where it counts. The name sits in the opening line and the closing thank-you. Swap "your pet" for the name in the paragraphs you edit most, and the sheet reads like it was written for this family.
• Your doctors' instructions. Every medical line is a default your clinic sets once and your doctor changes for this patient. The template holds the wording, never the medical decision.
• Paragraphs that switch on. The sutures paragraph and the extractions paragraph appear only when you tick them, so no owner reads instructions that do not apply.
• The recheck as a date. Pick 1 week after a September 23 visit and the sheet says September 30, 2026. Check it against your schedule before the owner leaves.
• Text you can still edit. The sheet lands as ordinary text in the email, the PIMS or the text message, so you can change anything before you send or print it. In a rich-text field such as Gmail the headings stay bold. In a plain-text field they land as plain lines.

If your PIMS has discharge templates you like, keep them. This pack reaches the places they do not: the email to the owner, the texting platform, the follow-up message two days later, and the paragraphs you add to any discharge, including the ones your PIMS writes.

If you already draft discharges with an AI tool, the templates work next to it. The monitoring paragraphs and your clinic's phone and emergency lines are the parts that should read the same every time, word for word.

Inside the pop-up

Patient, owner and date sit in a small table at the top. The pet's name fills the opening line and the closing thank-you. Paragraph fields hold what we did today, the medications, food and activity, and what to watch for, each starting with your clinic's usual wording. Your number, the emergency clinic's name, address and number are saved once. The recheck menu (3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month) writes the date from the visit date.

Filled in for a fictional patient, the sheet reads:

Patient: Bella · Owner: Alice Smith · Date: 2026-09-23
What we did today
Bella was seen today for three days of vomiting and a poor appetite. We examined Bella, ran bloodwork and a fecal test, and gave fluids under the skin to top her up. Her bloodwork was normal and the fecal test was negative.
Medications to give at home
Give the anti-nausea tablet we sent home (the name and strength are on the label) once daily in the morning, with a small amount of food, for 3 days.
Food and activity
Feed the bland diet for the next 3 days, in four small meals rather than two large ones. Fresh water at all times. Quiet at home tonight, no dog park this week.
What to watch for
Call us if Bella vomits more than twice, will not drink, passes blood, or becomes weak or hides away.
When to call
During office hours call us at 555-0100. After hours, go to Riverside Veterinary Emergency at 200 Mill Road, 555-0199.
Recheck
Please book a recheck in 1 week (September 30, 2026), or sooner if anything changes.
Thank you for bringing Bella in today.

The headings, the phone numbers, the emergency clinic, the recheck date and the closing line were already there. The rest is this visit.

The other discharge sheets

• /dcspay, the spay or neuter post-op sheet: a procedure menu, tonight's care, incision checks, a cone or recovery suit menu, a 10 or 14 day rest menu, pain medication, and a sutures paragraph that appears only when you tick it.
• /dcdental, the dental cleaning (COHAT) discharge: tonight's care after anesthesia, an extractions paragraph with the number of teeth and a soft food menu, pain medication and home dental care.

Paragraphs you add to any discharge

• /vaxmon, the vaccine reaction monitoring paragraph for every vaccine visit.
• /genmon, what to watch at home after any sick visit.
• /erinfo, your hours and your after-hours emergency clinic in one block.
• /bland, bland diet instructions with the amount per meal as a field.
• /vdhome, home care for an uncomplicated vomiting and diarrhea case.
• /preanes, the night-before instructions with the food cutoff and drop-off time as fields.
• /cone, the incision and cone reminder for any surgical discharge.
• /recheck, one recheck sentence with an interval menu.

Put each medication on its own line in the medications field, with the drug name, strength, dose and timing. For a Spanish version, duplicate a sheet, translate it once and give it its own shortcut. With two locations, keep one /erinfo per clinic.

These also make good veterinary client handouts on their own: paste /bland or /vdhome into an email and the owner has the instructions in writing.