When we first launched Hospet, our focus was on helping pet owners navigate the emotional and medical complexities of end-of-life care. We offered two powerful tools: Quality of Life (QOL) Assessments and Daily Ratings. We didn’t invent these concepts — veterinarians have been recommending “good vs. bad days” as a quality-of-life metric for years, and various QOL frameworks already exist. What we did was create a way for pet owners to track and analyze these ideas more easily, with tools designed specifically for clarity, reflection, and compassionate decision-making. These features provided a strong foundation, but as we took a step back, we realized something important was missing.
We weren’t capturing the day-to-day in a detailed or specific way. While Daily Ratings offered a quick summary of how things were going, they didn’t give us insight into what was happening — the specific behaviors, symptoms, and routines that often tell the real story.
The “Aha” Moment
That gap became especially clear after we launched Signature Traits — a feature that lets owners document the little things that make their pet unique. These moments are deeply meaningful, and when they start to fade, they often signal bigger changes. We wanted to help users track those subtle shifts, not just reflect on them.
That led us to the idea of an Events system: something light, flexible, and detailed enough to fill in the gaps between QOL Assessments and Daily Ratings.
Designing for Flexibility and Speed
From the start, we built the Events system around custom event types. By starting with flexibility, we were able to create a foundation that let us build out 90+ predefined system events on top of it. Every event type is structured to be quick to log — because we know the more friction there is, the less likely someone is to use it consistently.
Some events are simple. Others, like seizures, have more detail. But each one was designed with support from Dr. Kendra, our in-house veterinarian (and, full disclosure, my wife), to ensure the right fields are there when it matters most. Whether you’re tracking vomiting frequency or logging a quick note about skipped stairs, it’s all about capturing the right data in the moment — not later, in the vet’s office, trying to remember.
We also intentionally leaned into verbosity. For example, you can track a bath as either “Bath” or “Grooming” — both exist. We heard from users that flexibility in language helps them feel more connected to what they’re logging, and makes it easier to search later.
Why Events Matter
With everything going on in our lives, it’s incredibly easy to miss patterns. One of our testers said, “Now I can put statistics to my cat’s vomit,” and as funny as that sounds, it’s the heart of what we’re building: clarity.
The Events system helps pet owners notice symptoms sooner, track behavior changes more accurately, capture data for their support team or vet, and better understand what’s changing.
It’s not just about logging an event — it’s about telling the story of your pet’s health in a way that doesn’t rely on memory alone.
It also gives owners a way to track the presence — or fading — of the little things that make their pet who they are. Custom Event Types can be used to log signature traits when they show up (“greeted me at the door”) or to notice when they’ve stopped (“hasn’t slept on the bed in a week”). For many of our users, that context is just as important as tracking a symptom. It gives emotional weight to the data, and helps validate the difficult decisions they may eventually need to make.
We’ve also heard from users that different people in their care circle — from spouses to housemates to pet sitters — use the Events system in different ways. Some log medical issues. Others log walks, meals, or routines. This kind of shared journaling helps everyone stay on the same page, and offers a more complete picture over time.
So what’s next?
In the short term, we’re working on ways for users to send events (or patterns of events) directly to their support team, helping bridge communication gaps between pet owners and their medical team.
Longer-term, we want the Events system to integrate with third-party data sources. Imagine managing a diabetic cat and having blood glucose readings automatically pulled into Hospet, visualized alongside weight and food intake. That’s the kind of cross-data insight we’re aiming for.
And one day? We want users to be able to build their own graphs and analytics dashboards, even using custom events. We know this will take a lot of careful design work — it has to be powerful enough for our data-driven users, but intuitive for anyone to use. But that’s where we’re headed.
A Tool That Grows With You
The Events system is more than a feature — it’s a reflection of our philosophy: that every detail matters, and that giving pet owners better tools leads to better outcomes and fewer regrets. And at the end of the day, that peace of mind was the whole reason we built this tool in the first place.
As always, we appreciate all of your support. This is a passion project for us and we hope that the passion we have towards helping you navigate every stage of your pet’s life shows in what we do. If you have questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at support@hospet.app.
Sincerely,
Mike Hodge
Companion Animal Doula / Founder
Hospet