Find a vet: saved numbers and a nearby search

How do I set it up?

Open Me, then Clinic and vets. Save the name and number of your vet and of an emergency clinic. Do it on a calm day, since you will not want to hunt for numbers later.

1. Open Me.
2. Tap Clinic and vets.
3. Enter your vet and an emergency vet.
4. Open Find a vet from Today or Care.

What does the screen offer?

Call buttons for each saved clinic, which work offline, and a Find a vet nearby button that opens an Apple Maps search for veterinarians. One line reminds you: if you are worried about your dog, contact a veterinarian.

What it does not do

There are no symptom lists, urgency levels, hotlines or advice. Okaypup deliberately leaves judgment to a veterinarian. The screen is a set of phone buttons and a map search, so it cannot tell you whether your dog needs care. A person at a clinic can, and the buttons exist to get you there faster.

Why set it up before you need it?

Numbers saved on a calm day save minutes on a bad one. Put in the clinic that knows your dog and a 24-hour emergency clinic if one is near you. Check the numbers on the clinic websites, since opening hours and phone lines change.

Share the same numbers with anyone who looks after your dog. The visit summary and the records wallet are the other two things worth having ready.

What can I save?

The Clinic and vets screen has three slots. Your vet takes a clinic name, phone number and address. The emergency vet takes the same details. An emergency contact takes the name and number of a person, such as a family member who can pick up your dog.

Everything stays on your iPhone. The same entries fill the vet contact lines in your dog's passport, so you type them once.

What happens when I tap a call button?

The button opens the phone dialer with that number, and you confirm the call. Saved numbers appear without an internet connection. A phone call itself still needs cell service, so the offline claim covers the screen and not the network.

How does the nearby search work?

The Find a vet nearby button opens Apple Maps with a search for veterinarians. Maps needs a connection to load results. Okaypup does not ask for location permission of its own, since the permission requests in the app cover only the camera and photos.

When is it useful?

Think of three moments: a trip to a new city, a sitter who needs a number at 10 p.m., and the first week after a move when you have not picked a clinic. In each case a labeled, one-tap screen beats scrolling through contacts.

Tips for filling it in

• Confirm on the clinic's website that the emergency clinic is open when you need it, since hours change.
• Use the clinic's after-hours line as the number, if it has a separate one.
• Add a human emergency contact who knows your dog's routine.
• Test each call button once while you are calm.
• Show the screen to everyone who looks after your dog.

Where else do the saved contacts show up?

The vet and emergency details also appear in the passport you share with a sitter or daycare, where you choose whether to include the vet contact and the emergency contact. Editing a number in Clinic and vets updates it in both places, so there is one list to keep current.

What should I do if I am worried right now?

Call your veterinarian or an emergency clinic. The screen exists to make that call quick and says so in one line, and it leaves every decision about what is wrong to the professional on the phone.

What does a good setup look like?

Say you live in a small town with one clinic and a 24-hour hospital an hour away. Save the local clinic as your vet and the hospital as the emergency vet. Add your sister, who lives nearby and has a key, as the emergency contact. Now a sitter who opens the screen has three labeled buttons and no questions.

If you travel with your dog, you can save the local clinic of your destination for the length of the trip, then put your usual vet back when you are home.

Who is it for?

New owners who have not yet built a routine around a clinic, families where several people look after the dog, and anyone who has stood in a parking lot trying to remember the name of the emergency hospital. Experienced owners like it as a single place that sitters can find without a phone call to you.