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. Make a pet emergency plan too, so someone knows if you're ever taken ill.
• 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 collar and 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 That's too much for a tag, and it goes out of date the day the dose changes.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 without warning, so an alert tells a finder to move into the dog's line of sight before touching it, which is how Dogs Trust suggests getting a deaf dog's attention. Dogs Trust also says blind dogs can struggle in new and unfamiliar places, so a lost blind pet is better kept calm, on a lead and going slowly than led around a strange area.

PDSA lists confusion, wandering and getting lost in familiar places among the signs of dementia in older dogs. A finder who knows that will keep them safe indoors rather than let them go on their way, assuming they live nearby.

A stranger who sees a seizure won't know what to do, so put PDSA's first aid on your pet's online profile in a few lines:

• Stay calm, clear space around them, and keep the room quiet, dim and cool.
• Don't hold them down, and keep your hands away from their mouth, as they may bite without meaning to.
• Time the seizure, and film it if you can, for the vet.
• Call a vet straight away if it lasts longer than two minutes, or if it's not the first in 24 hours. Otherwise, call once they start to come round, and call the owner.

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.