Stuck on a step because Continue (or Save) won't light up, or a red message appeared under a field? Don't worry — this is usually a quick fix. Here's what each message means and what each step expects.
Jump to:
- "Name can only contain letters and spaces"
- Breed and Coat colour depend on Species
- Other field messages
- Continue or Save is still greyed out
"Name can only contain letters and spaces"
Pet names accept letters and spaces only, between 1 and 50 characters. Numbers, hyphens, apostrophes and full stops are not accepted — so "Bella-Rose", "Max 2" and "O'Malley" will all be rejected. Try "Bella Rose", "Max" and "OMalley" instead.
Other name messages you might see:
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Pet name is required" / "Pet name cannot be empty" | Type something in. |
| "Name must be less than 50 characters" | Shorten it. |
Please note: names are tidied up automatically when saved. The first letter is capitalised and the rest is lowercased, so "MAX" becomes "Max" and "JoJo" becomes "Jojo". That's expected, not a bug.
Breed and Coat colour depend on Species
The Breed step (or section) and the Coat colour field on Age, weight & colour both use lists that are specific to your pet's Species — so if a breed or colour you're expecting isn't there, double-check the species you picked in step 2.
Changing the Species later — on the Species & breed section when editing — clears any Breed you'd already chosen, so you'll need to pick again. If you can't find the exact breed, the Purebred tab always has an Unknown option, and both the Purebred list and the Coat colour list have a search box to help you find yours quickly.
Other field messages
| What you might see | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Species is required" | Pick one of the nine species. |
| "Breed is required" | On the Purebred tab pick a breed (or Unknown); on Mixed breed, pick at least one breed. |
| Can't continue past Health details without a Sex chosen | Choose Male or Female. |
| "Please select desexed status" | Choose Yes, No or Unsure. |
| Can't continue without a Coat colour chosen | Pick one from the species-specific list. |
| "Weight is required" / "Weight must be a valid number" | Enter a plain number — no letters or symbols. |
| "Weight unit is required" | Choose g, kg or lb. |
| "Birthday is required" | Pick a date. |
| "Birthday cannot be in the future" | Pick today or earlier. |
| "Please enter a valid birthday" | The date is before 1 January 1900 — pick a later one. |
| "Profile color is required" | Pick one of the 30 profile colours. |
Tip: weight must be at least 0.01 and can have up to two decimal places. The microchip number is optional — if you do enter one, it's the 15-digit number from your pet's registration or vet records; leave it blank if you don't have it rather than guessing.
Continue or Save is still greyed out
- When you're adding a pet, each step's Continue button only lights up once that step's required detail is filled in and valid.
- When you're editing a pet, each section's Save button on the profile hub works the same way — fix whatever's flagged and it'll light up.
If it still doesn't work
If everything looks valid but saving fails with "We couldn't add your pet right now. Please try again.", check your internet connection and try once more. If it keeps happening, contact Ask A Vet support [CONFIRM: support contact channel or link].
Related articles
- How to add a pet
- How to edit your pet's details
- My pet's photo won't upload or won't show