Pet attributes are structured tags you assign to pets to record important information about their care needs, preferences, and characteristics. Unlike free-text notes that can be overlooked, attributes are colour-coded, searchable, and prominently displayed across the system.
What Are Pet Attributes?
Attributes provide a standardised way to capture and display critical pet information:
Allergies: Food allergies (chicken, beef), environmental sensitivities
Medical Conditions: Arthritis, seizures, heart conditions, medication requirements
Service preferences: blade and comb sizes (#4f, #7f and #10 blades, mm combs), hand stripping
Behavioural Traits: High energy, nervous, reactive
Care Instructions: Extra-special care requirements, special handling needs
Why Use Attributes Instead of Notes?
Notes Approach | Attributes Approach |
Free-text buried in a field | Structured tags with colour coding |
Easy to miss critical info | Prominently displayed on appointments |
Can't filter or search | Searchable and filterable |
Inconsistent formatting | Standardised across all pets |
Staff must read everything | Visual recognition at a glance |
Attribute Categories
Petboost includes over 1,600 pre-built attributes in 48 categories. The category sets the badge colour.
🔴 Major care (red)
Categories: Extra-special Care, Major Health Condition, Adverse Allergy, Disease and Major Behavioural Trait.
Frequent Grooming Required
Frequent Exercise Required
Arthritis, Seizures, Chicken Allergy, Beef Allergy
Reactive
Appearance: Red background, high visibility
🟠 Special care (amber)
Categories: Minor Health Condition, Minor Allergy and Minor Behavioural Trait.
High energy
Nervous
Appearance: Amber background
Neutral traits (blue)
Categories include Neutral Behavioural Trait, Test/Procedure, Size and Life Stage.
Friendly, Playful
Training Level 0: Untrained to Training Level 4: Elite
Appearance: Blue background
Service Preference (pink)
Blade, comb and technique attributes:
#4f blade, #5f blade, #7f blade, #10 blade and other blade sizes
Combs by length, from 1.6mm Comb to 50mm Comb, and by colour, such as Blue Comb
Hand Stripping
Appearance: Pink text on a light pink background. The coat categories (colour, length, density and characteristics) use the same pink
Additional Categories
Medication, Supplement and Vaccinations & Injections (green)
Care Advice, Eye Colour, Nose Colour, Breed Purpose, General Characteristic and Permitted Treats
Managing Pet Attributes
Adding attributes to a pet
Attributes save as soon as you select them. There is no separate Save step.
Open Customers & Pets and select the pet.
On the Petprint card, use one of these paths:
To fill a known category, tap Add on that row (or Not recorded if the row is empty), then search and select.
If you already know the name, tap Search attributes… in the Petprint header, type the name, and select it. Use the category chips to narrow the list.
The attribute appears on the pet as soon as you select it. Leave the popover open to add more.
Searching for attributes
Search from the Petprint header or from a row Add popover.
Search by name:
chicken,blade,nervous.On the header search, tap a category chip to narrow the list.
Attributes already on the pet stay in the list with a tick. Tap again to remove them.
Removing attributes
Open the pet on Customers & Pets.
On the Petprint card, tap the X on the attribute badge, or open the row / header search and tap the ticked attribute.
The attribute is removed immediately.
Custom attributes
The Custom row is always on the Petprint card.
If your role can manage custom attributes, open Search attributes… or the Custom row and tap Create custom attribute to add a new one to the business library and assign it to this pet.
Viewing Attributes
On Pet Profiles
Attributes display prominently on pet profiles with:
Category icon
Colour-coded background
Special care indicators (🔴 for extra-special, 🟠 for special care)
On Calendar Appointments
When viewing the calendar:
A red icon before the pet's name marks major care, and an amber icon marks special care
Cards do not list attribute names. Hover over a card to see the pet's attributes
During Appointment Creation
When creating an appointment:
Pet attributes display next to the pet name
Special care pets are flagged for attention
No need to open the pet profile separately
Customer Self-Service
Pet owners can add or remove shared library attributes on their pet's profile in the pet owner app, under Petprint ID > Attributes > Manage. They choose from the full library. Your business cannot limit which library attributes they choose.
Pet owners do not add attributes during online booking. The one exception is Coat Colour when a signed-in owner adds a new pet.
Pet owners can add or remove a custom attribute only when you set it to Pet Owner can edit. They do this on the Fields & Forms tab of their pet's profile.
Best Practices
Be Specific
Use "Chicken Allergy" rather than just "Allergy"
Use "#10 blade" rather than "Short cut"
Use Special Care Flags Appropriately
Extra-special care: Conditions that affect every appointment
Special care: Important information that should be noted
Keep Attributes Current
Review attributes periodically
Remove outdated conditions
Add new relevant attributes
Train Your Team
Ensure all staff understand attribute colour coding
Review attribute meanings during onboarding
Use consistent attribute selection across the team
Filtering and Reporting
Filter Pets by Attribute
Go to Customers & Pets
Select Filter, then choose attributes under Attributes in Filter Pets
View all pets with specific conditions
The Attributes list shows how many pets carry each attribute, counting pets with an appointment in the last 400 days or the next 90 days.
Use cases:
"Show all dogs with allergies"
"Find pets requiring medication"
"List pets with #10 blade preference"
Reports
Petboost has no attribute report. Use the Attributes counts under Filter instead.
Creating Custom Attributes
Petboost includes a shared library of over 1,600 care, health, behaviour and grooming attributes. Your business can also create private custom attributes for information specific to your team.
To create one:
Open Pet Attributes from the navigation
Select Add New (or Create Your First Attribute when the list is empty)
In Create Custom Attribute, enter the Attribute Name, choose an Icon, pick a Care Type and pick a Visibility
Select Create Attribute, then assign it from the pet's Petprint card. Use Search attributes… or the Custom row.
Care types
Each custom attribute has a care type that controls how it behaves and looks:
Major care - red styling, treated exactly like Petboost's extra-special-care attributes. Flags the pet for major care on the calendar, tooltips and Mission Control.
Minor care - amber styling, treated like Petboost's special-care attributes.
General - no forced care treatment. You choose the badge colour yourself (a readable background tint is generated automatically).
For Major and Minor the badge colour is locked to Petboost's red/amber care palette so it stays consistent with the built-in attributes. You keep your own Lucide icon for all three types.
Visibility
Each custom attribute has a visibility setting that controls whether pet owners see it:
Business Only (the default) - never shown in the pet owner portal. The attribute stays in the business app only (calendar, Mission Control, pet profiles for your team).
Pet Owner & Business - the pet owner sees the badge on their pet's profile for your business, but cannot add or remove it.
Pet Owner can edit - the pet owner can also add or remove the attribute themselves from their pet's profile.
Visibility and care type are independent: a Major care attribute set to Business Only still drives the Mission Control special-care columns without the client ever seeing it. Custom attributes created before this setting existed behave as Business Only.
Custom attributes:
Are available only within your business
Can be edited or archived by account owners and admins
Remain visible on pets already using them after archival
Drive major/minor care behaviour only when set to a Major or Minor care type; General attributes stay informational
Are shown to pet owners only when visibility is Pet Owner & Business or Pet Owner can edit
Search the shared library first for safety-related attributes. Shared attributes carry Petboost's standard care categories and severity behaviour.
Who can see attributes?
Kind | Who sees it |
Shared library attributes (the 1,600+ Petboost attributes) | Your team and the pet owner (profile, booking form, care notes) |
Custom attributes (created under Pet Attributes) | Controlled per attribute: Business Only (the default), Pet Owner & Business, or Pet Owner can edit |
Custom fields (Fields & Forms) | Controlled per field: Staff Only, Client Visible, or Client Editable - see Custom Fields |
Shared library attributes cannot be hidden from clients. If a library attribute records something clients must not see, recreate the concept as a Business Only custom attribute instead.
If you need a free-text behaviour note that clients must never see, use a Staff Only pet field under Fields & Forms - attributes are badges, not free text.
If you need a colour-coded badge for staff that clients cannot see, create a custom attribute and leave visibility as Business Only. Use Major care or Minor care when you want it in the Mission Control special-care columns; General stays informational and will not appear in those columns.
Troubleshooting
Attributes Not Displaying on Calendar
Appointment cards show care icons, not attribute names. Hover over a card to see the pet's attributes.
To colour the whole card for major and special care pets, open the view menu (the button showing Day, Week, Month or Timeline) and set Colour Major & Special Care Event Cards? to Always or Until checked in. The choice applies to that browser only.
Customer Can't See Attributes
Pet owners see shared library attributes assigned to their pet, plus any of your custom attributes set to Pet Owner & Business or Pet Owner can edit.
If a customer cannot see an attribute you expect:
Confirm it is assigned on the pet's Petprint card (not only noted in free text). Use Search attributes… or the matching row.
For a custom attribute, check its Visibility on the Pet Attributes page - Business Only attributes never appear for clients
Ask them to refresh or reopen the pet profile
Remember Business Only custom attributes and Staff Only custom fields will never appear for them - that is intentional
Custom attribute not in Mission Control special care
Mission Control special-care columns only include:
Shared library attributes whose category is special / extra-special care
Custom attributes with care type Major care or Minor care
A custom attribute set to General will show on the pet and as an icon where custom attributes are listed, but it will not land in the special-care column. Edit the attribute and switch the care type if you need that column.
Missing Attribute in Library
If an attribute doesn't exist:
Search thoroughly using different terms - it may be listed under a different name
Contact support to request it be added to the shared library
Related FAQs
Have questions about pet profiles and attributes? See these commonly asked questions:
Add booking properties
Booking Properties on Pet Attributes apply a price, duration, attendance, or eligibility rule to pets that carry the selected attributes.
Open Pet Attributes from the navigation, or open Customers & Pets, then the actions menu, then Manage Pet Attributes
In Booking Properties, click Add Booking Properties
Under Applies to attributes, search and select the attributes
Set Price adjustment: No price adjustment, Discount, or Surcharge. If you choose Discount or Surcharge, set Type to Percentage or Fixed amount, then enter Percentage (%) or Amount per service
Set Duration change: No duration change, Additional time, or Less time. If you choose Additional time or Less time, set Additional time per booking or Less time per booking
Set Attendance cap: No attendance cap, Business-wide maximum, or Per team member or resource. If you choose Business-wide maximum, set Maximum pets at a time
Optional: choose services under Required for these services and Blocked from these services
Click Add Booking Properties. When you edit an existing set, click Save Booking Properties
Click Cancel to close without saving. To remove a set, use Remove Booking Properties.
Using attributes as booking gates
Required and blocked badges on a service use the same attributes you assign on the pet's Petprint card. The pet must have every Required badge. Any Blocked badge refuses the booking. Business Only custom attributes still count.
Related Guides
Pet & Owner Profiles - Guide to the profile tabs