Trying to delete a pet and the delete button has vanished, or the option isn't there at all? Don't worry — there are only a couple of reasons this happens, and both are easy to sort out.
Jump to:
- The "Yes, delete" button is missing
- "Delete profile" isn't in the menu
- The pet has active QR tags
- "We couldn't delete this pet profile"
The "Yes, delete" button is missing
This pet still has a GPS tracker connected. The confirmation reads:
This pet has an active tracker. Please unbind it before deleting this pet.
If the pet also has QR tags, it reads:
This pet has an active tracker and QR tags. Please unbind the tracker and QR tags will be deactivated after deleting this pet.
Only Cancel is available until the tracker is disconnected.
The fix: disconnect (unbind) the tracker from the pet first, then delete the pet. Unbinding is covered in the GPS Tracker section of this help center.
If you somehow get past the confirmation with a tracker still attached, you'll see the message "This pet still has an active GPS tracker connected. Please disconnect the tracker first before deleting the pet." — same fix.
"Delete profile" isn't in the menu
Only the pet's owner can delete a pet. If this pet was shared with you by a family member, the Delete profile option is hidden entirely — even if you can otherwise view and edit the pet.
The fix: ask the pet's owner to delete it. The reliable way to tell is the "Shared by name" badge on the pet's profile — the family badge on a card only means the pet is shared inside a family, which also happens on your own pets once you share them. If you simply don't want to see it any more, ask the owner to stop sharing that pet with you.
The pet has active QR tags
QR tags never block deletion. You'll see "This pet has active QR tags. Deleting this pet will deactivate them." and you can go ahead.
When the pet is deleted, those tags are deactivated and reset to unused — so the physical tags can be activated again on a different pet later.
"We couldn't delete this pet profile"
The full message reads "We couldn't delete this pet profile. Please try again." The deletion didn't go through and the pet is restored in your list.
Check your internet connection, pull down on the pets list to refresh, and try again.
If it still doesn't work
If the tracker is disconnected but the delete button still doesn't appear, pull down to refresh your pets list and reopen the pet. If it persists, contact Ask A Vet support [CONFIRM: support contact channel or link].
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