USE CASES
Make sure your pet’s care is covered while you travel.
A trip changes more than who’s in charge of dinner time. When you’re out of town, your sitter may not be able to get an immediate answer from you.
You may be on a flight, in a different time zone, somewhere without service, or too far away to come home if plans change.
Your pet may have a different routine, stay in an unfamiliar place, or depend on someone who doesn’t know what’s changed since the last time you went away.
Cotl helps you prepare Care Notes with the information your sitter may need while you are away..
CAPTURE WHAT MAKES YOUR PET SPECIAL
Build it once. Use it whenever you head out of town.
Keep what matters about your pet in one current profile, then use it to create Care Notes for each person or travel situation.
You don’t have to start over each time, and you do not have to share everything with everyone.
Prepare for the questions that may come up while you’re gone
When you are nearby, it is easy to answer a text, explain where something is, or come home if there is a problem.
Travel makes that harder. Your sitter may need to know whether a change in appetite is normal, what to do if your pet won’t take its medication, which vet to call, or whom to contact if they can’t reach you.
Putting that information together before you leave helps your sitter make better decisions to keep your pet safe and comfortable.
Give your sitter enough information to handle the unexpected
Make sure the sitter has the current routine, feeding, medication, health, and bathroom information they need for the full time you will be away.
Explain how your pet responds when you travel, including changes in appetite, sleep, behavior, or anxiety.
Include a backup contact, vet information, and clear guidance about whom the sitter should contact if your pet needs help and you are unavailable.
Consider what the sitter should do if your return is delayed, medication or supplies run low, or your pet gets sick or hurt.
Prepare clear, organized Care Notes for the whole trip
Keep your pet’s routines, health information, behavior, contacts, and other important details in their Cotl profile.
From that profile, create separate Care Notes for the people helping during your trip and any of your backup contacts.
Each person sees the information you include in their Care Notes, not your pet’s entire profile.
Keep the information current
Your pet’s medication, routine, or health may change shortly before you leave. Or you might think of something last minute that you want the sitter to know.
Update the information in Cotl and use it in the Care Notes you share. If you send a live link, your sitter can see the current information included in those Care Notes. If you send a PDF, download and share the updated version.
The next time you travel, you can return to the same pet profile instead of putting everything together again from memory.
Questions about using Cotl to prepare pet care before travel
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A Google Doc gives you a blank page, or basic instructions you’ve revised over and over again for different situations.
Cotl helps you think through what another person may need to know, keeps those details with your pet’s profile, and lets you create different Care Notes for different people and situations.
You do not have to start over each time, and you do not have to share everything with everyone. If you’re heading out of town for the weekend, you might share some simple essentials. If you’re traveling out of the country, or somewhere with limited cell service, you might want to share clear instructions about what to do if there’s an emergency while you’re away.
If something changes, update your pet’s information instead of tracking down and rewriting every set of instructions.
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When you travel, you may be harder to reach and unable to return home quickly. Your sitter may need more complete health, veterinary, contact, and backup information than they would need for a short visit.
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Share your pet’s current routine, feeding, medication, health needs, behavior, comfort needs, veterinary information, and emergency contacts.
Because you may not be immediately available, also explain what is normal for your pet, when the sitter should be concerned, whom to contact if you cannot be reached, and what to do if your return is delayed.
We’ll also help you think through more proactive planning, like putting pet information on file with your vet’s office and naming someone who can make emergency decisions if you’re unreachable.
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No. You can download the Care Notes as a PDF or share them through a live link that your pet sitter can access on their computer or their phone’s web browser. Your sitter does not need a Cotl account to read them.
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Your sitter sees the information you choose to include in their Care Notes, not your pet’s entire profile. You can share the routines, medications, behaviors, contacts, and other details relevant to that sitter and stay.
With our Cotl Core premium plan, you can also share live links that make sure you sitter sees up-to-date information, and you can control when the sitter has access to that information.
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You can download the Care Notes as a PDF and send the file yourself. Premium members can also share Care Notes through a live link.
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Update the information in your Cotl Pet Profile. If you shared a live link, your sitter can see the current information included in those Care Notes. If you shared a PDF, download and send the updated version.
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No. People receiving Care Notes can view what you shared, but they cannot edit your Pet Profile.
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Yes. You can create Care Notes with the information relevant to that sitter and the time you will be away.
START WHERE YOU ARE
Prepare for the question you may not be available to answer
Think of one situation in which your sitter might need more information from you. We’ll guide you through the rest.
