Shelter
Record bottle-baby care
The Neonatal / Bottle-Baby Care flowsheet tracks a neonate's daily weights, feeds, elimination and weaning for one intake. Use it for bottle babies in the shelter or in foster.
Anyone signed in can read the flowsheet. Recording entries needs the neonatal care permission; of the standard roles, the practice manager has it by default and the veterinarian doesn't.
Open the flowsheet
The flowsheet belongs to an intake. Open the animal's intake and select Neonatal care in the links at the top (see Record an intake).
At the top, Subject shows the animal, its intake and any Active foster placement. Entries recorded while the animal is in foster are linked to that placement automatically.
Read the care series
Care series lists every entry, newest first.
| Column | Shows |
|---|---|
| Weight (g) | Weight in grams |
| Δg/day | Grams gained per day since the previous weight |
| Age (d) | Estimated age in days |
| Feed and ml | Feeding method and amount |
| Elim. | Whether stimulated elimination happened |
| Weaning | Whether the animal is transitioning off the bottle |
| Concern | A CONCERN pill when staff flagged the entry |
Target growth for a neonate is roughly 7–14 g a day. Δg/day is there for context only: it never sets the concern flag on its own. Staff set the concern flag by hand on each entry.
Record a care entry
Fill in only what you did or measured. An entry needs at least one thing: a weight, a feed, elimination, a flag or a note.
- Enter the Weight (grams), and the Estimated age (days) if you know it.
- Choose the Feeding method: Bottle, Syringe, Tube, Nursing Dam, Weaning Gruel or Self Feeding.
- Enter the Amount (ml).
- Set Stimulated elimination to Yes or No, or leave it at — Not recorded —.
- If the animal is plateauing, losing weight, failing to gain or you're worried for any reason, tick Concern flag.
- Select Record entry.
Leave Recorded at (blank = now) empty to use the current time, or fill it in to log a feed you did earlier. Tick Weaning (transitioning off bottle) once weaning starts, and use Notes for anything else.
Entries can't be edited or deleted. If you get one wrong, record a new entry with a note.
Messages you might see
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| Record at least one observation (a weight, a feed, elimination, a flag, or a note). | The form was empty. Fill in at least one field. |
| Weight (grams) must be a non-negative number. | Check the weight. |
| Estimated age (days) must be a whole number. | Enter whole days, not weeks or decimals. |
| You do not hold 'neonatal.log' — this flowsheet is read-only for you. | Your role can read the flowsheet but not add to it. Ask your practice manager. |