If you have more than one cat, you already know the feeling: you're at the vet, the vet asks when your cat last had their feline herpesvirus booster, and your mind goes completely blank.
It's not a memory problem. It's a system problem. Most cat parents don't have a reliable way to track health information across multiple cats — so when they need it, it isn't there.
This guide covers exactly what to track, why each piece of information matters, and the simplest way to stay on top of it.
Why tracking matters more with multiple cats
With one cat, you can sometimes get away with relying on your memory and the vet's own records. With two, three, or more cats, the information multiplies quickly. Which cat had the blood test last year? Who is due for their next vaccination in April? Which one was on the antibiotic course in November?
Vets keep records too, but they may have gaps if you've changed clinics, if a cat was treated in an emergency, or if you're seeing a locum. Your own records are the one constant.
The six things worth tracking for every cat
1. Cat profile
The basics: full name, date of birth, breed, colour/markings (useful for distinguishing tabbies), microchip number, and insurance policy number. Add your vet's name, clinic, and phone number here too. This is the information you reach for in an emergency.
2. Vet visits
Date, the reason for the visit, what the vet found, treatment or prescription, and the date of the next appointment. Even routine check-ups are worth logging — they establish a baseline for what's normal for that cat.
3. Vaccinations
Record each vaccine by name, the date it was given, and when it's next due. Core vaccines (feline herpesvirus, calicivirus, panleukopenia) are typically annual or triennial depending on the product used. Non-core vaccines like FeLV depend on lifestyle. Keeping due dates visible is the only reliable way to avoid letting them lapse.
4. Medications
Any prescription medications: name, dosage, frequency, the prescribing vet, start date, and end date. This is especially important for cats on long-term medications like prednisolone, methimazole, or anti-anxiety treatments — where dosage changes are common and getting the history right matters.
5. Weight
Weight changes are one of the earliest signals of a health issue — hyperthyroidism, diabetes, kidney disease, and dental pain can all show up as weight loss before any other symptoms. A monthly weight log takes 30 seconds to update and gives you a trend line that's genuinely useful at every vet appointment.
6. Allergies and sensitivities
Known food sensitivities, environmental allergies, or adverse reactions to medications. Easy to forget until the moment a vet asks, and important to have accurate.
The Cat Health Tracker covers all six of these in one spreadsheet — works in Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice, and tracks up to 5 cats at once.
Paper vs digital: what actually works
Both have a place. A digital spreadsheet is searchable, always with you on your phone, and auto-calculates vaccine due dates. A printed record is useful to bring to the vet (some clinics still prefer paper), to leave with a cat sitter, or simply for cat parents who prefer writing things down.
The best approach is often a combination: a digital tracker as your primary record, and a printed summary to bring to appointments or keep in a physical folder.
When to update it
The hardest part of any tracking system is actually using it. The simplest rule: update it the same day as a vet visit, a new prescription, or a monthly weigh-in. If you wait, you forget details.
Set a phone reminder on the first of every month for weight checks. Keep the spreadsheet bookmarked. And print a fresh copy before every vet visit — it takes 60 seconds and makes the appointment noticeably smoother.
Starting is the hard part
If you have multiple cats and no current records, start with the profile page for each cat and fill in what you know. Then add the most recent vet visit and vaccination dates. You'll fill in the gaps over time.
A partial record is infinitely better than no record. And once it's set up, keeping it current takes less than five minutes a month.
The Cat Health Tracker Spreadsheet has all six tabs pre-built for up to 5 cats. Download it today and start filling it in — the first entry takes about 10 minutes per cat.
Filed under: Health