The Add Pet button 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 the form expects.
Jump to:
- "Name can only contain letters and spaces"
- Breed or Pet colour won't open
- Other field messages
- The button 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 or Pet colour won't open
Both lists are species-specific, so they stay disabled until you've chosen a Species. Pick the species first and they'll unlock.
If you change the Species afterwards, your previously chosen Breed and Pet colour are cleared — just pick them again from the new list. Both pickers have a search box at the top to help you find yours quickly.
Other field messages
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Species is required" | Pick one of the nine species. |
| "Breed is required" | Pick a species first, then a breed. |
| "Gender is required" | Choose Male, Female or Unsure. |
| "Please select desexed status" | Choose Yes, No or Unsure. |
| "Pet color is required" | Pick from the species colour 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. |
| "Microchip number must be 15 characters or less" | Shorten it to 15 characters. |
Tip: weight must be at least 0.01 and can have up to two decimal places.
The button is still greyed out
- On Add Pet, the button only becomes tappable once every required field is filled and valid. Scroll the whole form and look for red text.
- On Edit Pet, Save Changes additionally stays disabled until you've actually changed something — a field or the photo.
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].
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