A file transfer only helps the new practice if it arrives complete, and completeness is exactly what a vague request loses. Asking for “her records” often produces a short summary of recent visits, while the consultation notes, results and history that explain how she got here stay behind in the old system. Name what you want, item by item, and the transfer becomes a document you can check rather than a favour you hope was done properly.
Ask for the Whole Clinical History
Request the consultation notes for every visit, not a selection, together with test and laboratory results, imaging such as X-rays and ultrasound reports, and her vaccination and prevention records. Ask for her weights over time as recorded at appointments — a run of weights is clinical information in itself. Include dental charts and surgical reports where they exist, and any referral letters or specialist reports the practice holds, since those often contain the reasoning behind a diagnosis that the brief notes only name.
The Details That Most Often Go Missing
Reactions and anaesthetic history are the items owners forget and new vets need most: a drug that caused vomiting or collapse, a difficult intubation, a slow recovery from sedation. Ask specifically for notes of any adverse reaction, however minor it seemed at the time. The same applies to behaviour notes — a cat recorded as needing gentle handling or a towel wrap arrives less stressed when the new team knows before they open the carrier. If she has been seen at an emergency clinic as well, say so and ask whether those visits sit in the same file or need a separate request.
Check the Transfer Actually Lands
Confirm whether the old practice sends the file to you, to the new practice, or to both, and then ask the new practice to confirm arrival before your first appointment; transfers do go astray, and discovering that in the consulting room wastes the visit. Read your own copy when it comes: you are looking for gaps — a year with no entries in a cat who was definitely seen, results mentioned in notes but not attached. Chase a gap once, politely, while the old practice can still find the missing piece easily.
File your own copy of everything the old practice sends, and let KinsLe's Transferrable Profiles hold that history ready — should she ever be rehomed, whoever takes her on receives the full record rather than a blank start.