Medical alert tags for dogs and cats: what to put on them

• Epilepsy or seizures.
• Diabetes, or anything else that needs medication at set times.
• Addison's disease, heart conditions and other illnesses where missing a dose matters.
• Severe allergies, especially to food a well-meaning finder might offer.
• Deafness, or being blind or partially sighted.
• Confusion or dementia in an older pet.
• A nervous or reactive temperament, where a finder needs to go gently.

Keep the engraving short: a word or two that tells a finder to act, such as NEEDS MEDICATION, EPILEPTIC, DIABETIC or DEAF, and a phone number. Tags have very little room, and a long engraving ends up too small to read in the rain.

For dogs, UK law still wants your name and address on the collar or a tag attached to it whenever they're in a public place, so the alert goes alongside those details, not instead of them. Our UK dog tag law guide sets out exactly what's needed.

The detail is what changes: the name and dose of a medicine, when it's due, what a seizure looks like and what to do, your vet's number, and anything a finder shouldn't feed. That's too much for a tag, and it goes out of date the day the dose changes.

A QR code tag solves both problems. The finder scans it with their phone and sees the full instructions on your pet's page, and you change them from your own phone whenever you need to, with no new tag. Share only what helps someone care for your pet for a few hours.

A deaf dog won't come when called and can startle if touched from behind, so an alert tells a finder to approach from the front and let the dog see them first. A blind pet may bump into things and panic in a strange place, so it's better kept calm and contained than led around.

Older pets with dementia tend to wander and can't find their way back. A finder who knows that will keep them safe indoors rather than let them go on their way, assuming they live nearby.

A frightened dog that's chased runs further, which is how a lost dog ends up miles from home or on a road. An alert such as NERVOUS: PLEASE DON'T CHASE asks a finder to crouch, keep still and call you instead. It matters most for rescue dogs in their first months. Our guide to what to do when your dog goes missing explains why.

• Update the online details the day a medication or dose changes.
• Check the engraving is still readable every month or so: soft metals wear smooth. See why tags go blank or fall off.
• Keep your pet's microchip details up to date, so a vet can reach you too.