PetCare Companion

One-liner: A pet-care app built for non-technical pet owners — medical records, breed reference, weight tracking, and a printable vet report, all in one clean PWA.

Origin (the Build Loop)

Because I have dogs and wanted one place for their medical records, weight logs, and breed info, I kept hitting the fact that most pet apps are either toys (cute photos only) or veterinary EMRs (too specialized, ugly, locked behind logins), so I built a dead-simple PWA that the actual pet owner in the house can use without explanation, that does medical records, breed reference, weight tracking, and prints a vet-ready summary from any device. It taught me that “for non-technical users” means every UI decision is a UX test — if the label doesn’t say exactly what it does, it’s wrong.

The problem

Pet owners need to track vaccinations, vet visits, weights, and medications — but the tools are either fluffy toy apps or clinical EMRs designed for vets. There’s nothing in the middle that a normal person can open, enter “12.4 lbs,” and walk away. I wanted an app that my partner could use without a tutorial — and that could hand a vet a clean record summary at a glance.

What it does

• Medical records — log vaccinations, vet visits, medications, allergies, and surgeries per pet.
• 123 AKC-sourced breed reference — browse official breed standards, traits, sizes, and temperaments.
• Weight trend chart — log weights and see a long-term trend line, not just the latest number.
• Printable vet report — one-button export of all medical records formatted for a vet visit.
• Symptom checker — basic triage guidance for common pet symptoms.
• Nutrition tracking — log food, treats, and supplements.

How it’s built

• Stack: Python, FastAPI, SQLite, Tailwind, PWA (offline-capable manifest + service worker)
• Notable engineering:
  • 123 AKC breed data — the complete American Kennel Club breed standard dataset sourced and normalized into structured form. This is the only complete AKC breed reference available outside the AKC’s own site.
  • Zero-clarity UI — every label and action is in plain English, no jargon, no icons without text, no hidden gestures. Designed to be usable by someone who doesn’t know what a “hamburger menu” is.
  • PWA-first — installable on any device, works offline, no App Store required.
  • Auth added without friction — passwordless or simple-pin flow so the least-technical user doesn’t hit a login wall.
• Architecture: FastAPI backend → SQLite → PWA frontend. 31 API routes. Single uvicorn process.

Proof points

• 123 AKC breed profiles sourced and structured — the most complete open pet-breed reference outside the AKC’s own portal.
• MVP + Phase 2 shipped — auth, weight chart, vet report, symptom checker, nutrition tracking.
• Clean UX validated by a non-technical user — the primary design goal.
• 31 API routes covering every feature module.

What to show

• Demo: Deploy to a public URL (repo is public). The per-pet dashboard showing records + weight chart is the hero.
• Visuals needed: the pet dashboard with medical summary + weight trend chart; the breed browser with AKC-standard details; the vet report output.

Cross-links

• Shares the PWA + FastAPI + SQLite pattern with the live-dj-copilot and k9-overwatch.
• The non-technical-user design discipline is the opposite of most portfolio projects, which is what makes it a good range signal.

Case-study angle

PetCare Companion shows Alex can build something that his partner can actually use — not another dev-tool-facing project. The complete AKC breed dataset is genuinely valuable data work, and the clean PWA delivery means it works for the one person who actually needs it. It’s a range-broadener: domain expertise isn’t always weightlifting and weddings.