Front desk and clientsAI

Client messaging for vet clinics, in your clients' app

PetGrid's client messaging for vet clinics is a two-way chat between your team and pet owners, inside the free PetGrid app, with photos, short videos, texts and AI-suggested replies.

Owners write when it suits them; your team answers from one inbox, and fewer questions reach the phone.

Start the free trial See every clinic feature

Checked against the product on 8 October 2026

How it works

How it works, step by step

The owner writes
An owner writes from the free PetGrid app, adds a photo or a video if they want, or sends a text to your clinic's number.
Your team sees it
The message lands in the console's Chat inbox, and the team gets a notification; a text from a known client joins that client's thread.
Reply, with or without a draft
Type a reply, or press Suggest reply for an AI draft you edit first. Save any photo to the pet's documents.
Close the thread
The owner gets the answer in the app (or by text) and sees it was read. Close the thread when it is done.

What you can do

What you can do with it

Answer owners in one inbox, with Open and Closed tabs, from the threads they start in the free PetGrid app.
Receive photos and short videos from owners, up to four files at a time, and save them to the pet's documents in one click.
Reply to a text: an inbound text from a known client lands in that client's chat, and your reply goes back by text.
Respect quiet hours: text replies after 9 pm are held and sent the next morning, and STOP, START and HELP are handled for you.
Show owners your after-hours emergency clinic's name and phone, set once in Settings.
Notify owners by email and a phone notification that carries no clinical details.
Draft replies with AI and send them yourself.

The AI in it

How the AI helps, and who decides

Suggest reply drafts an answer your team edits and sends; quick answers (AI Front Desk add-on) reply to simple questions and hand everything medical to a person.

What the AI does

Suggest reply drafts an answer to the owner's message, in your clinic's voice, for staff to edit.
With the AI Front Desk add-on, automated quick answers reply to simple questions (opening hours, location, services, species seen, prices you allow, refill status) from your clinic memory, labelled as automated.
Messages about health, urgency or grief skip the AI entirely and wait for your team.

What you decide

Your team reads every suggested reply, edits it and presses Send; nothing goes to an owner on its own. You choose which topics the automated quick answers may cover, and anything medical, urgent or emotional always goes to a person.

How to switch it off

An admin switches all AI off for the practice in Settings, under AI features for this practice. An owner can ask for no AI on their pet, which stops suggested replies for that pet. Quick answers are part of the paid AI Front Desk add-on and have their own switch in Settings, under Owner chat.

Good to know

What it does not do (yet)

Owners start chat threads from their app, and staff can start a new chat with an owner from Chat or from the owner's page, for owners who use the PetGrid app.
Texts are part of the paid AI Front Desk add-on and need the owner's consent.
Quick answers are part of the paid AI Front Desk add-on; suggested replies are included in every plan.

Questions people ask

Can pet owners message our clinic through PetGrid?

Yes: owners message your clinic from the free PetGrid app, and your team answers from one inbox in the console. Owners can add photos and short videos, and see when their message has been read.

Does the AI send messages to owners by itself?

No, nothing is sent without a person. Suggest reply writes a draft that your team edits and sends; only the automated quick answers of the AI Front Desk add-on reply on their own, to simple questions you allow, and they are labelled as automated.

Does PetGrid handle text messages from clients?

Yes, when texts are switched on: an owner's text from a number you know arrives in their chat thread, and your reply goes back by text, starting with your clinic's name. Texts respect quiet hours and the STOP keyword.

Who starts a conversation?

Owners start a thread from the app; the inbox shows it to your whole front desk and clinical team, and you close it when it is done. To reach an owner first, start a chat from Chat or the owner's page if they use the PetGrid app, or use reminders or call them.

What happens when an owner writes after hours?

Owners see your after-hours emergency clinic, with its phone number, so they know where to go. The message waits for your team in the morning; quiet hours hold your text replies until then too.

Related features