iMessage for veterinary clinics

Vet practices have an unusual advantage: owners actively want the reminders. Nobody wants to be the person whose dog missed a vaccination. Recall messages here are useful information rather than marketing, and they get read.

Use the pet's name

It is not a gimmick. 'Milo is due for his booster' is processed instantly and emotionally in a way 'your pet is due for a vaccination' is not. You already have the name in your practice management system, and using it is the single biggest lift available in your templates.

export const clinic = {
  vaccineDue: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.clinic}: ${c.petName} is due for ${c.vaccineType} this month. ` +
    `Book here: ${c.link} or call ${c.phone}.`,
 
  postOp: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.clinic}: how's ${c.petName} doing after yesterday? ` +
    `Reply here — ${c.vetName} will see it.`,
 
  refillDue: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.clinic}: ${c.petName}'s ${c.medication} is about to run out. ` +
    `Reply R and we'll have a refill ready.`,
};

Refills are the quiet revenue line

Owners on long-term medication routinely run out and then order from whichever online pharmacy appears first. A reminder timed a week before the supply ends, with a one-letter reply to order, keeps that revenue in the practice and keeps the animal on treatment without a gap.

Handle the hard messages carefully

This is a practice where some conversations are grief. Never automate anything touching end-of-life care, and make sure your recall system suppresses reminders for deceased patients — a vaccination reminder for a pet that died last month is a genuinely painful failure, and it happens more often than practices realise.

// Check this before every automated send, not just at import time.
export function canSendRecall(patient: Patient) {
  if (patient.status === "deceased") return false;
  if (patient.status === "transferred") return false;
  if (patient.owner.consent.status !== "opted_in") return false;
  return true;
}

One more: keep marketing separate. A recall is treatment; a promotion on dental cleaning month is marketing and needs the corresponding consent. Consent scopes.