Managing kennel occupancy on a whiteboard or spreadsheet alongside the medical appointment calendar, leading to double-bookings and last-minute phone calls to clients?
Clients calling to check on their pet mid-stay because there's no automated welfare update or way to share a photo from staff to client without a personal phone number?
Veterinary Boarding Software Development
Boarding operations run a hospitality business inside a medical practice -- managing unit occupancy, check-in and check-out dates, feeding schedules, and daily welfare logging alongside clinical records and medical appointments. Standard veterinary practice management systems were built for appointment-based clinical care, not for tracking which kennel suite is occupied tonight, when each guest was last fed, and whether the 8am medication for the dog in run 4 was given.
The result is that most boarding operations manage occupancy on a whiteboard or a spreadsheet that sits alongside the medical system -- creating a gap between the clinical record and the boarding stay that requires staff to manually coordinate across two different tools for every patient who has both medical history and an active boarding stay.
Kennel and suite occupancy management
Vaccination verification before check-in
Feeding and medication logging
Daily welfare updates to clients
RaftLabs builds custom veterinary boarding software for practices and standalone boarding operations that need kennel and suite occupancy management, vaccination verification before check-in, feeding and medication administration logging, daily welfare updates to clients with photos, grooming booking and service management, and itemised billing at check-out -- all in one system rather than split across a whiteboard, a spreadsheet, and a practice management tool not designed for overnight stays. Fixed cost, 12-14 week delivery cycles.
Medical + BoardingIn one system
·KennelOccupancy tracking
·FixedCost delivery
·12-14Week delivery cycles
Veterinary boarding software built for occupancy management, not just medical scheduling
A boarding operation manages availability across physical units -- kennel runs, suites, cat rooms -- and tracks occupancy by check-in date, check-out date, and species compatibility, not by appointment slot. A medical scheduling system is designed around time blocks assigned to vets and rooms, not around a grid of units with occupancy states and turnover workflows between stays. Trying to run boarding on top of a clinical appointment calendar produces workarounds: a separate spreadsheet for occupancy, handwritten feeding cards on kennel doors, and phone calls between the boarding and reception teams every time a patient with active prescriptions arrives for a stay.
Vaccination verification and medication administration during a boarding stay also require connection to the patient's clinical record. A practice managing both medical and boarding needs a system where the vaccination record is checked at reservation, expiry dates flag before check-in, and every medication administered during the stay is logged against the same patient record the vet uses -- not on a paper card that gets stapled to the booking form and filed separately afterwards.
What we build
Kennel and suite inventory management
Kennel unit configuration with type -- run, suite, cat room -- size, species compatibility, and current occupancy status. Availability calendar view showing occupancy across all units for any date range, so reception can see at a glance which units are free for an incoming reservation without checking a physical board. Unit cleaning and turnover status tracked between stays so the next reservation cannot be assigned to a unit that hasn't been cleared and marked ready. Capacity reporting by unit type and by date range gives management visibility into occupancy rates and peak periods for staffing and pricing decisions.
Boarding reservation and check-in workflow
Boarding reservation capturing check-in and check-out date, unit assignment, feeding instructions, medication schedule, special care notes, and emergency contact details. Vaccination verification against the patient record at the point of reservation -- required vaccines are checked, and any that are expired or due to expire before the stay ends are flagged so the owner can arrange vaccination before check-in rather than discovering the problem at the door. Check-in workflow confirms the unit assignment, reviews feeding and medication instructions with the owner at the desk, and records any deposit payment against the stay before the patient is handed over to boarding staff.
Feeding and medication administration logging
Structured feeding log per stay recording meal time, food type, quantity, and the staff member who completed the feed -- each entry timestamped and linked to the boarding stay record. Medication administration log linked to the patient's prescription record with dose, time, route, and administering staff recorded per administration event. Missed administration alerts for time-sensitive medications notify the shift supervisor when a scheduled dose has passed its administration window without being logged. Staff handover notes per unit support shift changes so the incoming team can see the day's feeding and medication history, any observations, and any upcoming scheduled care before they take over the unit.
Daily welfare and health monitoring
Daily welfare check entry per patient recording appetite, behaviour, elimination, and physical appearance against a structured form rather than a free-text note, so observations are consistent across staff and comparable across days. Abnormal observation flag that routes the entry to the supervising vet for clinical review -- the vet sees the welfare notes and can decide whether the patient needs a medical assessment without waiting for an end-of-shift verbal handover. Photo attachment per daily check for client sharing. Automatic welfare update message to the client at a configured time each day with the day's notes and a photo attached. Sick patient handoff to the medical team transfers the full boarding stay notes to the medical record so the clinical consultation starts with the context from the stay rather than from a verbal summary.
Grooming booking and service management
Grooming appointment scheduling in the same calendar as medical appointments and boarding check-ins and check-outs, so the grooming team's availability and the boarding schedule are visible to the whole front desk without switching between systems. Service type configuration with duration and price for each service offered: bath and dry, full groom, breed-specific styles, nail trim, teeth brushing. Grooming notes recording client preferences, coat condition at the appointment, and products used -- visible at the next grooming appointment so the groomer arrives with the relevant history rather than asking the client to repeat it. Grooming invoice generated at service completion and added to the boarding stay account for a single itemised bill at check-out.
Client communication and billing
Automated boarding confirmation sent at reservation with a pre-arrival checklist covering required vaccinations, what to bring, feeding instructions, and what to expect at check-in. Check-in and check-out notifications confirm the patient has arrived or been collected. Daily welfare updates sent at the configured time with the day's welfare notes and a photo so clients have contact from the practice without calling reception. Itemised invoice at check-out covering boarding nights, medication administration fees, grooming services, and any additional care provided during the stay. Online payment at check-out with a digital receipt. Post-stay follow-up message sent after check-out with any observations from the stay that the owner should be aware of.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. We build boarding and medical scheduling as separate but connected modules within the same system so the front desk has one view of both the clinical appointment calendar and the boarding occupancy grid. A patient arriving for a boarding stay and also due for a vaccination during that stay can have both managed from the same record without switching between tools. The boarding unit availability calendar and the medical appointment schedule are designed around different data structures -- units with occupancy states versus time blocks with vet and room assignment -- but both are accessible from the same patient and client record. Staff working across both functions don't need separate logins or separate systems.
Medication administration for a boarding patient is linked directly to the patient's prescription record in the clinical system. The boarding stay record pulls the active medication schedule from the patient record at check-in, so staff see the correct dose, timing, route, and any administration notes without transcribing them from a paper handout. Each administration event is logged by the staff member who completed it with a timestamp and the dose given. Missed administration alerts trigger for time-sensitive medications when a scheduled dose passes its window without a log entry, notifying the shift supervisor. The complete administration log for the stay transfers to the patient's medical record at check-out so the prescribing vet has a full record of what was administered during the stay.
Yes. The system sends an automated daily welfare update to the client at a configured time -- typically once per day -- with the day's welfare check notes and a photo attached. The update is sent by the configured channel, typically email or SMS, without requiring staff to manually compose a message or use a personal phone to share a photo. Clients who call reception asking for an update can be directed to the daily message if it has already been sent, or the front desk can send an on-demand update from the patient's boarding record. The welfare update is linked to the daily check form so the notes and photo are stored in the boarding record regardless of whether the client has read the message.
A focused boarding management system covering unit inventory, reservation and check-in workflow, feeding and medication logging, daily welfare updates, and itemised billing typically takes 12 to 14 weeks from requirements sign-off to go-live. Adding grooming booking and service management, client communication automation, and integration with an existing practice management system for shared patient records extends the timeline to 16 to 18 weeks depending on the existing system's data export capability. Cost is fixed and agreed before development starts based on the features scoped in discovery. We provide staff training for boarding, grooming, and reception teams before go-live.
Talk to us about your vet boarding software project.
Tell us how many boarding units you manage, how grooming fits into your operation, and what your current system can't do. We will scope a build around your workflow.
