Blog

Word of mouth has always been the strongest driver of growth. And now is no different, except that recommendations, trust and the perception of value and convenience are all garnered digitally.

The so-called “pandemic pet boom” has now matured into something very different: a senior pet wave. [Recent data shows](https://www.rvc.ac.uk/small-animal-vet/news/lasting-lockdown-love-rvc-research-identifies-that-problem-behaviours-are-damaging-the-owner-dog-relationship-as-pandemic-puppies-reach-young-adulthood "Pandemic Pets") that around 50% of dogs in the UK and USA are now over 7 years old, while puppies under one year old make up just 3.6% of the UK dog population, down from 23% during lockdown. In the US, puppies now represent only 7–8% of the dog population, compared to around 11% in 2018. In short, the puppy boom has ended and veterinary practices are now managing a growing population of older, higher-need pets with more complex health requirements. Yet at the same time, many clinics are seeing something unexpected: lower-than-normal visit frequency and a rise in lapsed compliance.

*"Do well, by doing good!"* It’s a phrase that feels instinctively right in veterinary medicine. It reflects why many people entered the profession in the first place. It suggests that clinical excellence and commercial success are not in conflict, but fundamentally aligned. The problem is that, left unexamined, it becomes a comforting half-truth. Because sometimes you can do good and not do well. And sometimes you can do well without doing much good at all. If veterinary leaders fail to acknowledge that tension, they don’t have a strategy—they have a belief.

You've heard of doom scrolling - something the current media climate leads us into doing far too much. Well the truth is, reading veterinary reviews (despite the news coverage you see) is often more like delight scrolling. For every 1 star review we see a practice receive, we see 51 five star reviews for them on PetsApp. People are generally more likely to leave a review after a negative experience, and yet only 1.4% of all reviews clinics receive on PetsApp are 1 star reviews. So negative reviews are rare, and yet think of the mind space they tend to occupy. So, what actually generates 5 star reviews for veterinary clinics? We've created a 10 step guide with additional learning tools for you to see how to generate tomorrow's WOW.

In the world of animal health and welfare, one common factor is that there’s no such thing as a “straight-line” career for most veterinary professionals. And so as I'm sat having a coffee and catch up with Human Behaviour Change for Life (HBCL) cofounders Jo White and Suzanne Rogers it's wonderful to hear how they have blended the world of human and animal behaviour to strip back their teaching into the most digestible forms.

Discover how to optimise the veterinary client journey and turn every visit into a five-star experience. By making your team’s expertise visible and communicating clearly before, during, and after appointments, you can build trust, loyalty, and stronger client relationships. Simple, thoughtful communication transforms care into memorable moments.

What if your most powerful marketing strategy isn’t a campaign, but the culture you create? # Marketing Mindset: Culture Versus Campaigns Prior to entering the world of Marketing I spent almost 20 years in Retail, managing teams and crafting client journeys for the likes of Selfridges and co. Despite claiming to offer very customer centric experiences the truth was that the culture of retail is purely transactional. And as veterinary clinic debt surges across the UK and much of the world, there are some real dangers both culturally and ethically for veterinary businesses turning to retail to mimic it's transactional marketing template.

Christmas with pets can be chaotic. Curious cats hunting down tinsel, kids stealing and sharing chocolate, and ham-loving pups plotting their next illegal feast. Every December, veterinary teams quietly brace for the inevitable surge of holiday emergencies. But this year, the PetsApp pack has a festive solution that’s equal parts education and entertainment.

Sustainable growth in practice isn’t about dramatic reinvention but about practical changes that make every day work smoother, more efficient and more fulfilling. This blog on building blocks for sustainable growth with practical strategies for veterinary teams to action straight away. With best practices for supporting excellent care, improving workflows and strengthening the wellbeing of both your clients and your colleagues.

PetsApp, the leading digital platform for veterinary practices, today announced a series of enhancements designed to improve communication, transparency, and compliance for veterinary teams and the pets they support in line with the latest Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommendations.

By helping Sanderson Vet streamline communication and reduce administrative burdens, PetsApp allowed staff to focus on what they do best: delivering exceptional care to their clients and patients. This focus on quality and efficiency clearly paid off, contributing to the clinic’s award-winning formula. __Dr. Richard Sanderson summed it up perfectly:__ *“PetsApp is not just a tool, it’s the backbone of how we run now. If you want happier staff, more loyal clients, and a stronger bottom line — this is where you start.”*

Veterinary professionals have always prioritised transparency, trust, and the wellbeing of their clients and patients. However, the latest CMA remedies have introduced additional layers of documentation and communication that can add to the daily administrative workload. At PetsApp, we believe vets deserve tools that make compliance easier - without adding extra pressure. So, the pack has put together their 5 top tips for helping to ease the administrative burden of the latest CMA remedies. This guide has been designed to give you quick time saving hacks, to reduce stress, and support seamless client communication - all achievable through PetsApp or your existing Practice Management System (PMS).

Delegates from up and down the UK attended this year’s VetCPD conference and were treated to an unusually candid session from Dr. Richard Sanderson of Sanderson Vets, the clinic that has repeatedly been crowned the UK’s Best Practice. In what attendees described as 'well worth attending' Dr. Sanderson pulled back the curtain on how his team has managed not only to grow year-on-year, but also to retain staff in an industry plagued by burnout and shortages.

Send automated reminders for appointments, vaccinations, and medications. Communicate with clients via chat, SMS/text, and WhatsApp. Offer appointments, loyalty plans, and CRM campaigns in one streamlined platform. Manage conversations internally with unique features like group chat view and chat hand-off between staff.

Push Notifications Just Got Smarter 🚀 At PetsApp, our pack are always working to make communication between veterinary clinics and pet owners simpler, clearer, and more effective. That’s why we’re excited to announce a major improvement to our push notification reporting — open rates are now more accurate than ever before.

In recent month's as our PetsApp Together community have worked closely with the pack to build what we feel to be the most veterinary specific offering on the market; one key nuiance that we've seen highlighted again and again and something in all honesty was not something we had planned into the mix, is the fact that PetsApp Scribe and its suite of features go along way in helping veterinary teams become more compliant in line with the recent recommendations made by the recent Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA). PetsApp Scribe with it's easily reviewed pet owner and team documentation, set templates for maintaining an agenda and being sure all areas of concordance are followed, lends itself well to the CMA report's emphasis on transparency, accurate record-keeping, and client understanding.

In a move to bring this silent struggle into the spotlight, UK Vet, Cofounder of veterinary communication platform PetsApp (and once a young Gorilla enthusiast - Gorillas are still his 2nd favourite animal, he's just not so young these days), Dr. Thom Jenkins has recently published a short children’s story titled: The Unicorn Vet

WeCARE is a simple, memorable structure to help veterinary professionals deliver more effective and empathetic consultations, without losing efficiency. __WeCARE = Welcome · Communicate · Anticipate & Ask · Respond · Expectations on Exit__ Whether you're managing back-to-back appointments or trying to make space for deeper conversations with your clients, WeCARE helps you stay grounded and consistent—even on your busiest days.

Missed billing in veterinary clinics can be a silent revenue leak. Think of the times a busy vet forgets to charge for a dispensed medication, or a diagnostic test gets left off the invoice – each instance seems minor, but collectively they add up. Every unbilled service or product is income left on the table, income that could otherwise fuel staff development, new equipment, or enhanced patient care. Over months and years, these small leaks quietly erode a clinic’s revenue and make it harder to reinvest in what truly matters.

PetsApp has just rolled out a powerful update to its website widget, aimed at helping veterinary clinics reduce missed chats, build stronger client relationships, and boost new registrations. The latest version of the widget now prompts pet owners to share their contact details—such as their name, phone number, or email—before they start a conversation. This small but significant shift marks the end of anonymous chats, giving veterinary teams valuable context from the very first message.

PetsApp AI Scribe uses real-time voice transcription and smart language generation to instantly produce: Professionally structured SOAP notes Clear, client-friendly summaries that avoid jargon Editable templates that learn and adapt based on vet preferences It’s the digital scribe every busy clinic wishes they had—available now, right in PetsApp.

Your website is often the first impression pet owners get. If it’s clunky, outdated or hard to navigate it’s time for a change. Clinics across the globe have transformed their online presence with PetsApp, have a look for yourself 👇 __ [Case Studies](https://petsapp.com/case-studies/how-petsapp-helped-pennard-vets-reduce-missed-calls-by-85percent)__ ✅Sleek, mobile-friendly design = easy access for your local pet owners, from anywhere, on the go! ✅ Faster load times + better User Experience (UX) = better navigation and onboarding of services ✅ Clear calls to action = more bookings, less admin

Let’s face it: in 2025, if your veterinary clinic isn’t building a presence on social, you’re already behind. The most forward-thinking practices are leveraging social platforms not just for promotion, but as an extension of their clinical culture, community presence, and brand identity. Social media isn’t fluff—it’s infrastructure. It’s how the next generation of pet owners chooses their vet, engages with services, and decides who they trust. With that said here are 5 engaging social media ideas for busy veterinary veams that go beyond the basics—designed for teams who want to move fast, think smart, and truly bond with their local pet parent community.

# Utilising AI Correctly Can Help Prevent Burn Out! But what if there was a way to do more, without burning out? What if you could multiply the number of hands you have on deck without hiring a full new team? This week, I discovered that it’s not just possible—it’s already happening. I taught AI to help me rebuild elements of our website. A project I’d been meaning to tick off for months was suddenly done in just a few hours, thanks to a small team of AI agents working under my direction. No more bottlenecks, no more backlogs.Imagine what that could mean for a veterinary receptionist: intelligent assistants handling repetitive admin tasks, triaging messages, scheduling appointments, responding to common queries—so the human on the front line can focus on the truly human moments.

So much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens It’s a short one and asks more questions than it answers really. But, read it again and then answer for me the following question: Who is the red wheelbarrow in your clinic? Take a minute to think about that carefully, honestly - who do you think it is? Well, let me give you a clue as to who I think it most often is…

Read the news and 21st-century expectations have never been more unpredictable. The last two decades have brought unprecedented technological advancements, global shifts, and evolving societal norms. The 2020s, in particular, have been marked by rapid transformations, reshaping industries, consumer behaviours, and everyday interactions. With the veterinary sector no stranger to significant change, and for many the relentless pace of change has left a trail of burn out in its wake. However, the truth is we knew this was coming, for far too long in fact we knew things had to change. PetsApp CEO and CoFounder Dr. Thom Jenkins set out on my mission to keep the local veterinary clinic at the heart of the pet care journey, almost a decade ago. The reality, he understood, even back then was that we’ve had just about all the time we’re going to get. We’ve needed every second of it, no doubt but, this now is the 11th hour. One moment’s more hesitation and it could already be too late. And this is not said for dramatuc effect, instead rather a reminder of our collective constraint as a veterinary community. Perhaps the greatest constraint of all. Time. Time waits for none of us. And that can be intimidating, frustrating, even paralysing. It needn’t be. Constraints can be empowering. Creativity happens best in the presence of constraints.

Much like post cards and leaflets through letter boxes, paid ads in print and posters in local corner shop windows, your digital endeavours are not so different. Except instead of letterbox fodder you have social media, instead of physical print you can use Search Engine Optimised blog posts and instead of a Filofax and postcard stack you can now utilise a whole host of tools from within one single [Client Relationship Management (CRM) dashboard.](https://petsapp.com/blog/customer-relationship-management-crm-for-veterinary-teams-introducing-your)

At PetsApp, our unwavering commitment is to act as the best data stewards for veterinary clinics. Unlike others in the industry, we have [resisted the temptation to simply repackage](https://petsapp.com/blog/whatsapp-for-veterinary-teams) platforms like WhatsApp. We believe veterinary clinics and their clients deserve far better. As a trusted, vet-led client communication platform, we remain [steadfast in our vigilance](https://petsapp.com/blog/cyber-essentials-plus-certification) regarding the sharing of client data. Within PetsApp, clinics are always their own data controllers while we act as their data processor. This ensures that the clinic retains full authority and ownership over their data.

Clientrax and PetsApp Join Forces to Revolutionize Veterinary Care with Seamless Integration. PetsApp, the leading client communication and digital payments platform for veterinary clinics, and Clientrax, a trusted practice management software provider, are thrilled to announce their latest integration designed to enhance efficiency, communication, and overall care in the veterinary industry. This collaboration brings together two industry leaders with a shared mission: empowering veterinary professionals to deliver exceptional care while optimizing clinic workflows. By combining Clientrax’s robust practice management capabilities with PetsApp’s intuitive client communication and payment tools, veterinary teams can now provide a more seamless and connected experience for pet owners.

We’re thrilled to announce that Dr. Donita McCants, the visionary founder of Veterinary Concierge, will be joining the PetsApp Pack at stand 4837 during this year’s VMX in Orlando! Dr. McCants, renowned for her innovative approach to veterinary care and practice management, will be offering free coaching sessions to delegates from 2 PM to 4 PM on January 26th, 27th, and 28th.