Three clinics in two years usually means three partial stories: one practice holds the vaccination history, another holds the imaging, and the third holds the consultation notes that explain both. Merging them is less about collecting paper than about building a single chronology a new veterinarian can follow in one sitting, without hunting through duplicates or guessing at gaps. Start by requesting the complete record from each clinic, then assemble the file in date order and write the one-page summary that sits on top of it.
What a Complete File Actually Contains
The summary page does the heavy lifting. On it go current conditions, allergies and any past drug reactions, medicines with doses as prescribed, surgeries and anaesthesia notes a future clinician should see first, recent test results that can serve as baselines, and contact details for every practice and specialist involved. Behind it, file the underlying material in date order: consultation notes, laboratory reports, imaging files, specialist letters, and discharge instructions. Invoices alone are not a medical history; they show what was charged, not what was found. Where two clinics recorded the same episode, keep both versions and mark them as duplicates rather than deleting one — the new vet, not you, should decide which account is fuller.
Steps for Merging the Three Histories
Work through the merge in order, and do not rush the gap-hunting stage:
- Request the full clinical record from each practice, including images and referral letters
- Sort everything into one timeline, oldest first, across all three clinics
- Flag overlaps where two practices treated the same problem, and note them on the summary
- List the gaps honestly — missing months, a result mentioned but not attached — instead of papering over them
- Ask the new clinic to review the merged file with you and confirm what still needs chasing
A gap that is labelled is useful information; a gap that is hidden becomes a wrong assumption later. If a practice has closed or a record is genuinely unobtainable, write that on the summary too, with the dates it covers.
Keeping the Merged File Alive
A merged file decays quickly if nobody maintains it, so update the summary after every significant visit, not once a year from memory. Add new results while the paperwork is still on the kitchen table, replace the medicine list rather than scribbling over it, and keep the file for your dog's whole life: results from years ago become the baselines a vet compares against when something changes slowly. Kept in the Pet Passport on KinsLe, those records, dates, and notes travel as one packet whenever your dog sees a vet, boards, or changes hands.