Forty bowls and a whiteboard
Morning feed in August. Forty-odd dogs across three blocks and a cattery full of cats. Some are on your house food, some on the owner's own kibble in labelled bags, some on raw food that lives in the freezer, a few on wet food with a topping. One spaniel gets half a portion because his owner is watching his weight, one terrier cannot have chicken, and the elderly Collie in block C needs her food softened with warm water.
All of that was written on a booking form, then copied onto a card clipped to each run and onto the kitchen whiteboard. On Tuesday the terrier's owner rang to say he could have a little more. The person who took the call told the afternoon shift. The morning shift on Wednesday did not know.
Copying is where it goes wrong
Feeding instructions start accurate. They go wrong in transcription and in changes.
- The owner tells the desk, the desk writes the booking form, someone copies it to a run card and the kitchen board.
- Handwriting on cards gets smudged or is simply hard to read in a hurry.
- Changes during a stay are passed on verbally or on a sticky note.
- The kitchen board shows what to feed, not what each dog actually ate.
- Owner's food running low is spotted when the bag is empty.
Paper run cards also stay with the run, not the pet, so a dog moved to a different run can end up with the wrong card for a meal or two.
Where the cost shows up
Most of the time nothing dramatic happens. A dog gets a slightly different portion, or the owner's food runs out a day early and he has a day on your house food. But owners notice. The first question at collection is often "has he been eating?" and a vague answer undermines everything else you have done well.
Then there are the pets with dietary restrictions the owner has told you about. Getting those wrong is the kind of mistake that ends a customer relationship and, depending on the pet, can mean a vet visit. Staff know this, which is why feed rounds take so long: everyone double checks the board because they do not trust it.
Feeding records that travel with the pet
We build the feeding side from the booking record, so the instructions are typed once and used everywhere.
- At booking or drop-off, feeding details are entered in a structured form: food type and brand, whose food, portion per meal, number of meals, preparation notes and anything the pet must not have.
- Each shift gets a feed round list grouped by block and run, showing today's pets with their current instructions. It prints for the kitchen or opens on a tablet.
- Any change during the stay is entered once, with who asked for it and when, and it appears on the next round's list.
- Staff record what was eaten with a tap: all, some, none, plus a note if needed. Pets that have not eaten for a set number of meals appear on a list for a senior member of staff to look at.
- Owner's food stock is estimated from portions and bag size, so staff get a warning before it runs out.
| Paper today | With the new records |
|---|---|
| Instructions copied to cards and boards | Typed once, shown on every list |
| Changes passed on by word of mouth | Changes logged with who and when |
| No record of what was eaten | Eaten, some or none recorded per meal |
| Food runs out without warning | Low stock flagged ahead |
What counts as a concern, and what staff should do about a pet that is not eating, stays with your own procedures and your vet. The system records and flags. It does not give advice.
Feed rounds without the double checking
The morning shift picks up a tablet and sees block A's feed list. The terrier's increase from yesterday afternoon is already on it. They tick through the round, and anything left in a bowl gets a quick tap. By nine, the owner of the elderly Collie could be told exactly how much she ate at each meal, if they rang.
At collection, the desk can print or text a short summary: what the dog ate, any changes, anything the owner should know. It is a small thing that owners remember.
Signs your feed round needs this
- Feeding instructions are copied by hand onto run cards or a whiteboard.
- Changes during a stay are passed on verbally.
- You cannot say exactly what a pet ate yesterday.
- Owner's food has run out before the end of a stay.
- Staff double check every bowl because they do not trust the board.