Help & troubleshooting

No. Core emergency guides, pet profiles, and incident history work without creating an account. Your data stays on your device by default.

Open the Guides tab, choose the situation that best matches what you are seeing, and follow the step-by-step questions. You can start a guide without adding a pet first, though a pet profile helps tailor guidance.

• Guides — structured emergency flows and urgency guidance
• Pets — pet profiles, incident history, and quick emergency contacts
• Find a Vet — search for nearby emergency veterinary hospitals
• Settings — data backup, security, privacy, and support

Core emergency guides are designed to work without an internet connection. Finding nearby vets and some clinic details require an active connection.

No. Paw Navigator provides educational emergency guidance only. It is not a veterinarian, veterinary clinic, telemedicine provider, or diagnosis tool. Always consult a licensed veterinarian for medical advice about your pet.

After you answer the guide questions, the app shows an educational urgency category — such as seeking emergency care, scheduling a vet visit, or monitoring closely at home. This is decision-support based on limited information you provide, not a veterinary examination or treatment plan.

When you finish a guide, use the share option on the results screen to generate a summary of symptoms and timeline. This helps your veterinarian understand what happened — it is not a diagnosis.

Contact a licensed veterinarian or an animal poison control helpline immediately. The app may show poison helpline options during relevant ingestion flows. These are independent third-party services and may charge a fee.

Open the Find a Vet tab. Allow location access when prompted, or enter an address manually. Results show nearby emergency veterinary hospitals within your chosen search radius.

1. Check that you have an active internet connection.
2. Confirm location permission: iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Paw Navigator → While Using the App.
3. Try entering a city or ZIP code manually instead of GPS.
4. Increase the search radius if options are limited in your area.

Yes. When editing a pet profile, you can search for and attach a preferred veterinary clinic. This makes it easier to call or get directions during an emergency.

Listings are provided for convenience. Always confirm hours, services, and availability directly with the clinic before traveling, especially for after-hours emergencies.

Go to the Pets tab and tap to add a new pet or open an existing profile. You can enter species, weight, breed, and other details that help tailor emergency guidance.

In the pet profile editor, tap the photo area to choose an image from your photo library. If photos do not appear, check iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos → Paw Navigator and allow access.

While in a guide, use the pet selector at the top of the flow to choose which pet the guidance applies to. If no pet is selected, guidance uses general defaults.

Incident history appears on each pet's profile and in the Pets tab. Completed guides are saved locally on your device so you can review what happened later.

The app is local-first. Pet profiles, guided-flow answers, and incident history stay on your device by default. Paw Navigator does not upload your pet or incident data to the cloud.

1. Open Settings in the app.
2. Go to Data & Storage.
3. Tap “Back up now.”
4. Save the exported file through the iOS share sheet (for example, to Files or iCloud Drive).

Backups stay on your device or wherever you save them — Paw Navigator does not upload them to our servers.

The app currently supports exporting data only. Automatic restore from a backup file is not available yet. Keep your backup file safe if you switch devices or reinstall the app.

In Settings → Data & Storage, tap “Clear cache” to remove temporary cached data. To delete pet profiles or incident history, go to Settings → Advanced.

Deletions are permanent on your device and cannot be undone from within the app. If you previously exported a backup, keep that file — restore support may be added in a future update.

Go to Settings → Security. Enable app lock and follow the prompts to set a PIN. If your device supports Face ID or Touch ID, you can use biometrics to unlock the app after setting a PIN.

This optional setting asks for your PIN or biometrics before viewing or editing pet profiles and incident history — even when the app is already unlocked. Turn it on in Settings → Security.

Open Settings → Privacy & Analytics to turn anonymous usage analytics (PostHog) and crash reports (Sentry) on or off. Both are on by default after you accept the first-launch legal disclosure — the disclosure text explains this; there are no separate toggles on that screen. You can also read our full Privacy Policy on the web.

1. Force-quit the app and reopen it.
2. Restart your iPhone.
3. Check the App Store for an update — install the latest version of Paw Navigator.

1. Confirm biometrics are enabled in Settings → Security inside the app.
2. Check iOS Settings → Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID) to ensure Paw Navigator is allowed.
3. Use your PIN to unlock if biometrics fail.

This usually means a network issue. Connect to Wi‑Fi or cellular data, wait a moment, and try again. If the problem continues, email us with your iOS version and a brief description of what you were doing.

Email support@pawnavigator.com with what you expected, what happened instead, and your iOS version. Screenshots help us reproduce the issue faster.

Open Settings → About Paw Navigator in the app, or visit these pages on the web:

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Disclaimer

Paw Navigator is currently available for iPhone. Learn more about the app and future platforms on our iOS app page.