I couldn’t find an ideal pet app, so I used Notion instead

A whole lot of issues have been throwing in the towel as I cope with work and life, together with my chores, plans to make scheduled appointments, and different normal duties I want to finish in my each day life. I even almost misplaced my cellphone variety of 20 years.

However as my backyard turns to shambles and that cabinet stays unsorted and overflowing, one factor that I don’t wish to compromise on is my pets’ well being. I’ve two cats that I completely adore, so once I overestimated how a lot time was left till their subsequent vaccination appointments, I made a decision I wanted a extra sturdy system in place for reminders and recording related notes about their well being.

I attempted out quite a lot of Android apps aimed toward that goal, however finally settled on Notion as the precise answer for me.

There are fairly a couple of pet care apps obtainable on the Google Play Retailer, however lots of them have restricted options. The one which appeared to have probably the most complete options I used to be on the lookout for, PetDesk, isn’t obtainable in my area. Different apps had good options, however have been both buggy, didn’t permit me so as to add a number of pet profiles, or lacked a number of the extra options I wished.

I’ve been dabbling in self-hosting for the previous few months, however I didn’t go for a self-hosted answer as a result of I need the app to be simply accessible from outdoors my dwelling community. I’m not snug with exposing my NAS to the web simply but.

Then I noticed I already had entry to a free app that I may entry from anyplace: Notion. Whereas it’s largely often known as a productiveness app, Notion additionally supplies loads of templates which you can customise for area of interest makes use of. I already use it to maintain monitor of my drugs and former therapies. Plus, it has a reminders function and it really works on each my PC and Android cellphone. I even have the choice to publish a web page on Notion if I wish to share it with others.

I share bills for my cats with my ex, so having an bills desk was one thing I additionally wished to make use of. Since Notion has highly effective databases, I can document and visualize this info in numerous methods.

However most of all, the power to obtain reminders and make detailed notes about well being incidents was important. At her final vet appointment, my cat was recognized with Stage 2 Persistent Kidney illness, that means that I’ve to observe the situation and any adjustments in her conduct. That is along with her hairball administration and arthritis therapy.

I don’t need something throwing in the towel that would jeopardize her well being. My different cat can be nearly 10 years previous, so it is going to even be important to maintain monitor of his conduct and any well being incidents as he ages. So I settled on Notion as the easiest way to do that.

Reasonably than establishing my web page from scratch, I made a decision to check out a couple of Notion templates to see which one would finest go well with my wants. I finally determined to go together with the Pet Care Planner template by Notion Octopus for my place to begin.

I then proceeded to delete the demo information and sections that I didn’t want. For instance, since I largely wish to use the template to maintain monitor of health-related info and pet bills, I eliminated the meals menu part of the template to streamline it a bit. I additionally removed the strolling route part, since I’m utilizing the planner for my two cats, who don’t depart my residential advanced.

After this, I arrange the profiles for my two cats: Black Velvet (BV) and Loxi. This included including photos for his or her profiles, including BV’s remedy and dosage, and including notes from their newest vet visits.

I then adjusted numerous filters and views to showcase the data that’s most vital for me. I needed to tweak the forex for the bills database and I additionally eliminated the classes view. I added a brand new database for bills that focuses on showcasing an inventory of transactions for every month. Since I already used a Google Sheet to maintain monitor of this info, it was straightforward to maneuver to Notion.

I additionally included my cat’s upcoming follow-up appointment later this month and added a reminder for Notion to ship me a notification the day earlier than.

After including their most up-to-date vaccinations and the deliberate date for his or her subsequent ones, I created an extra part to point out all upcoming and future appointments and vaccinations. One view focuses on appointments within the subsequent few weeks, whereas the longer term part showcases all the pieces for the next yr. Few! That’s loads of adjustments, however lastly it’s arrange good.

Notion is extraordinarily highly effective software program, however there are limitations to remember. Since I’m on the free plan, I couldn’t arrange sure automations that weren’t within the template, and I’ve a restrict on the variety of charts I can use throughout my account.

I additionally needed to streamline the template to make it simpler to view on my cellphone. I’m presently utilizing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 whereas I’ve it in for evaluate, however even with the broader internal show, the template nonetheless isn’t completely optimized for a cellular format. That is most obvious with tables with a number of columns.

However in the case of an important duties, equivalent to utilizing shortcuts so as to add notes and reminders, Notion works effectively on my smartphone — even when utilizing a cellphone with a single show.

I’ve been utilizing Notion to document my pets’ well being info and add notes about well being incidents for the previous few weeks, and to date it’s going effectively. When Loxi bought sick within the early hours of the morning a couple of days in the past, I used to be in a position to document the incident with no need to change on my PC. After he felt higher, I may return to sleep. Beforehand, I must set myself a reminder to jot down the incident down or depend on my reminiscence.

The answer isn’t excellent, but it surely works for me, and I’ve discovered consolation in realizing that I’m conserving monitor of my cats’ well being extra reliably. I plan to increase the template additional over time, equivalent to including pet-related chores that I want to finish at sure intervals.

So if you happen to can’t discover an app that fits your wants, I might recommend trying out Notion to see what its templates and databases can do for you. There are a number of how you need to use Notion to arrange your life.