Animals & intake
Animal records
Every animal in Fosterling has its own record -- a single place for photos, medical history, behavioral notes, foster assignments, and adoption status. Here's how to find, read, and update them.
Finding an animal
Go to Animals in the left nav. By default you see all animals currently in your care. Use the filters at the top to narrow by:
- Status (in intake, foster, available, adopted, etc.)
- Species
- Foster home assignment
- Intake date range
You can also use the command palette (Cmd K on Mac, Ctrl K on Windows) to search by animal name or microchip number.
Animal record overview
An animal record is organized into tabs:
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | tab | Bio, traits, adopter matches, and microchip. Edit by clicking the pencil icon. |
| Medical | tab | Vet visits, vaccinations, spay/neuter status, medications, and health notes. |
| Behavior | tab | Behavioral notes and observations -- feeding quirks, anxiety triggers, house-training progress. |
| History | tab | Activity feed and placement history -- fosters, status changes, and other events over time. |
| Documents | tab | Photos, videos, and attachments -- vet records, surrender forms, transport paperwork. The primary photo appears in the adopter gallery. |
| Notes | tab | Intake details and intelligence, plus network status. |
| Outcome | tab | Where you close out the animal's case -- adoption, transfer, or other outcome. |
Status lifecycle
An animal's status reflects where it is in your pipeline. Statuses move forward automatically when you take actions (e.g. assigning a foster changes status to "In foster"), but you can also set status manually.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Intake | Just arrived, intake form completed, record created. |
| Medical hold | Veterinary care in progress -- not yet available for placement. |
| Available | Ready to be matched with an adopter, or currently posted as needing one. |
| Needs foster | Available and specifically looking for a foster placement. |
| Fostered | Assigned to a foster home. |
| Application hold | An adoption application on this animal is in review. |
| Adopted | Adoption complete, contract signed. |
| Transferred | Moved to another rescue or shelter. |
| Sanctuary | Permanent resident, not available for adoption. |
| Deceased | Memorial record, excluded from active counts. |
Adding medical records
Coordinators and vets can add medical records. From an animal's record:
- 1Click the Medical tab.
- 2Click Add record. Choose a type: Vet visit, Vaccination, Medication, or Note.
- 3Fill in the date, provider, and details. For vaccinations, enter the vaccine name and lot number if available.
- 4Click Save. The record appears in the timeline with a date stamp and the name of the team member who added it.
Uploading photos
Photos, along with videos and other attachments, live under the Documents tab -- there's no separate Photos tab.
- 1Open the animal's record and click Documents.
- 2Click Upload photo and select one or more images. JPG or PNG, max 10 MB each.
- 3To set a photo as the primary (the one shown in search results and the adopter gallery), click the star icon on that photo.
Editing animal details
From the Profile tab, click the pencil icon in the top-right of the details card. Coordinators and admins can edit most fields. Species and microchip require admin access after the initial save.
Logging behavioral notes
Use the Behavior tab to log anything your team should know -- feeding quirks, anxiety triggers, favorite toys, house-training progress. Fosters can also add notes from their portal if you have it enabled.
Behavior notes are timestamped and attributed to the team member who added them. They're visible to your whole team and, if you configure your foster portal to share notes, to the foster family.
- Can volunteers see all animal records?
- Volunteers can view records for animals they're assigned to or are fostering. Admins control visibility in Settings > Team.
- How do I mark an animal as adopted?
- Go to the Outcome tab on the animal's record and click 'Mark as adopted'. You can attach the signed contract here. The status updates automatically.
- Can I bulk-import animals from a spreadsheet?
- Not from a spreadsheet directly, but if the animals are already listed on a website you can paste the URL and Fosterling will import them with photos and AI-filled details, on qualifying plans. Look for the Import button next to AI intake.
- I need to delete an animal record. Who can do that?
- Only admins can delete records. Open the record, click the Settings menu (top right, three dots), and choose Delete. Deletions are permanent.
- Where do animals go after they're adopted? Can I still find them?
- Adopted animals stay in your system with a status of 'Adopted'. Filter by status 'Adopted' on the Animals page to find them, or search by name or microchip.