First, take a breath. Most pets are found close to home, and the app is built to help you cover ground quickly — here's the order we'd work through it in.
Jump to:
- First steps in the app
- While your pet is missing
- When your pet comes home
- What Ask A Vet does not do
First steps in the app
- Report your pet as lost. Open the pet, go to the Safety tab, and tap Report lost under Lost Mode. Fill in as much as you can — behaviour, microchip number, allergies and medications, your vet clinic, and where your pet was last seen. This is exactly what a stranger will read when they find your pet. Full walkthrough: How to report your pet as lost.
- Check your pet has an active QR tag. The lost profile lives on your pet's QR tag page, so an active tag is what makes the whole thing shareable. If your pet doesn't have one, tapping Report lost from the Safety tab shows you a QR Tag page first. See "Report lost" opens a QR Tag page instead of the form.
- Switch on what you want a finder to see. The Last located, Vital information, Vet clinic, Family contacts and Additional information sections are all hidden by default. Turn on the ones that will help someone get your pet home. The QR Tag section of this help center covers where these switches live.
- Share the link. From the Report review screen tap Share. Your phone opens a ready-made message — "Help me find {your pet's name}!" with the link. Send it to neighbours, local groups, your vet, and anyone walking a dog in your area. See How to share your pet's lost profile with finders.
While your pet is missing
Watch for scan alerts. While your pet is marked as lost, you get an alert every time somebody scans their tag — including the place the scan happened, if the finder chose to share their location. These alerts are only sent while the pet is marked as lost, which is another reason to report them lost first.
If your pet wears a GPS tracker, use the tracker map. Open the tracker map and work from your pet's last known position. LIVE tracking, the light and sound features and Radar mode are all covered in the tracker sections of this help center.
Please note: Marking your pet as lost does not change how the tracker behaves — it doesn't report more often on its own and it doesn't start LIVE tracking for you. Those stay under your control on the tracker map.
When your pet comes home
Tap Mark found on the Safety tab. See How to mark your pet as found.
What Ask A Vet does not do
Important: Reporting your pet as lost in Ask A Vet does not notify other Ask A Vet users, shelters, vets or any lost-pet database. It changes your pet's profile page and switches on your scan alerts. Please still contact your local shelters and your microchip registry directly.
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