Pet care updates over iMessage: photos, voice notes and pickup texts

Who uses iMessage for pet care updates?

iMessage pet care updates suit vet clinics, groomers, doggy daycares and boarding kennels whose owners mostly carry iPhones. Their front desks field “is he ready?” and “how is she doing?” calls all day, and discharge instructions given at a busy counter are forgotten by the time the owner gets home. Practices with many Android owners, or that need video, should read when ZeroSettle is not a fit; other workflows are in 50 ways businesses use iMessage.

How iMessage for pet care updates works, step by step

The owner opens the thread at drop-off, staff post into it during the visit, and the pickup text closes it.

1. Drop-off. The owner scans the QR code on the check-in slip, which opens Messages with “Drop-off: Biscuit” filled in, and taps Send. Your webhook gets a signed message.received event about 1–2 seconds later, and your code matches the number to the pet. Owners who opt in on the intake form instead get a first text from you.
2. During the visit. Staff send a photo from the console (camera button, paste or drop), the dog mid-bath or the cat waking up after surgery, with the caption in the same bubble (photo limits).
3. Discharge. The vet records a 30-second summary and your code sends it with POST /api/imessage/send and audio_b64; the console sends text and photos only. It arrives as Messages' audio bubble with a waveform and the transcript the owner's phone generates. A voice bubble has no caption, so doses follow as a text.
4. Owner questions. Replies and incision photos show in the console and arrive as message.received, a photo with an image object for GET /api/imessage/messages/{id}/image. Only the first of several photos in one message is delivered, and a video arrives with no file, so ask for “one photo per text”.
5. Pickup. “Ready for pickup at 4:00” goes in the same thread; an owner's ❤️ arrives as reaction.received. The thread stays open for the next visit.

Example conversation: pet care updates

A Saturday groom at a fictional shop, as the front desk sees it in the ZeroSettle console:

Dana sent the first message, so the thread cost Wag Society nothing against its daily allowance.

Setup: console photos and API voice notes

Photo updates and pickup texts need no code: staff use the console. The discharge note and filing owners' photos follow the attachments and webhook docs.

The QR code encodes a prefilled sms: link (how to get customers to text you first): sms:+15555550100&body=Drop-off%3A%20Biscuit, printed on the check-in slip. The discharge note is one call, with the written version sent as a text after it:

BASE=https://portal.zerosettle.io   # export ZEROSETTLE_TOKEN=... in the environment, never in source
# 30 s of audio is too long for one command-line argument on Linux, so build the body in a file
AUDIO=$(base64 < mochi-discharge.m4a | tr -d '\n')   # same on macOS and Linux
printf '{"to":"+15555550147","audio_b64":"%s","audio_format":"m4a"}' "$AUDIO" > discharge.json
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZEROSETTLE_TOKEN" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary @discharge.json $BASE/api/imessage/send

Owners' photos go to a receiver that verifies ZeroSettle's signature and answers 2xx before filing, since ZeroSettle allows 10 seconds for an answer and then retries 3 more times, after 1, 5 and 20 seconds.

# owner_photos.py: run with  uvicorn owner_photos:app --port 8100
import hashlib, hmac, json, os, time
import requests
from fastapi import BackgroundTasks, FastAPI, Request, Response

BASE = "https://portal.zerosettle.io"
AUTH = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['ZEROSETTLE_TOKEN']}"}
SECRET = os.environ["ZEROSETTLE_WEBHOOK_SECRET"]
app, seen = FastAPI(), set()                   # keep seen ids in your database

def verify(secret: str, header: str, raw_body: bytes, tolerance: int = 300) -> bool:
    try:
        parts = dict(p.split("=", 1) for p in header.split(","))
        t, v1 = int(parts["t"]), parts["v1"]
    except Exception:
        return False
    if abs(time.time() - t) > tolerance:
        return False
    expected = hmac.new(secret.encode(), f"{t}.".encode() + raw_body, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()
    return hmac.compare_digest(expected, v1)

def add_to_chart(handle: str, name: str, data: bytes) -> None: ...  # your practice software

def file_photo(m: dict) -> None:
    img = requests.get(BASE + m["image"]["url"], headers=AUTH, timeout=30)  # HEIC arrives as JPEG
    img.raise_for_status()
    ext = m["image"]["content_type"].split("/")[-1]
    add_to_chart(m["handle"], f"owner-photo-{m['id']}.{ext}", img.content)

@app.post("/webhook")
async def webhook(req: Request, tasks: BackgroundTasks):
    raw = await req.body()
    if not verify(SECRET, req.headers.get("X-ZeroSettle-Signature", ""), raw):
        return Response(status_code=401)
    ev = json.loads(raw)
    m = ev.get("message") or {}
    if ev["event"] == "message.received" and m.get("kind") == "image" and m.get("image"):
        if m["id"] not in seen:                # retries carry the same id
            seen.add(m["id"])
            tasks.add_task(file_photo, m)
    return {"ok": True}

Register the receiver with PUT /api/imessage/webhook and store the signing secret; it is shown only once.

Limits and consent for pet care updates

Pet care threads rarely touch ZeroSettle's new-contact limit: an owner who texts at drop-off is never counted, and your first text after an intake opt-in counts once per owner. The limits cover the console too.

Source: ZeroSettle iMessage API docs, “Errors, limits, and compliance” and “Attachments”. The docs put a minute of speech well under 1 MB.

The limit math for a busy Saturday

Take a groomer with 40 dogs booked: 26 regulars with an existing thread and 14 first-timers.

• Regulars, and first-timers who scan the QR code: never counted.
• If all 14 first-timers opt in on the intake form instead and you text each one during the 8:00–8:15 check-in: Pro allows 5 new contacts a day per number, so the 6th returns 429 new_contact_limit with retry_after_s. Growth allows 50 a day but only 3 per 15 minutes per number. Hand those owners the QR code, which costs nothing against either limit, or space the welcome texts out. Photos and voice notes to them wait until they reply.
• A week of boarding with a daily photo: one ongoing thread. On either plan the third update to a silent owner returns 403 awaiting_reply until they send anything, a ❤️ included. Updates within 5 minutes count as one, so send each day's photos together.

A post-op trap: any text with the word STOP, or a clear request like “take me off your list”, opts the owner out, so “he won't stop licking his stitches” does too. Sends to them then return 403 recipient_opted_out from every number on your account (how STOP works). Their texts still reach you, so call them, and if they still want updates, ask them to text START.

Keep card numbers and billing details out of the thread: ZeroSettle's terms say content sent through the service “may not be encrypted”.

When ZeroSettle is not a fit for pet care updates

ZeroSettle is the wrong tool for pet care updates in these cases:

• You need to send video of the pet. Photos and voice messages are the only attachments.
• You would run promotions in the same thread without a separate yes. ZeroSettle's docs warn against automated marketing in a support thread: “It is a different consent, and it is how support lines get reported as spam.”
• Many owners use Android. There is no SMS fallback: iMessage reaches Apple devices, and other phones get SMS or RCS, as Apple explains. On Android the drop-off QR code opens the SMS app, so keep a phone call or email for those owners. You can check whether a number is on iMessage first; the check sends nothing.
• You want updates inside your practice-management software but have no developer. There is no built-in integration; without code, the console covers text and photos.
• You need proof the owner heard the discharge note. The API reports message.sent and message.failed, not read status.

Recheck and vaccine reminders are a separate flow: appointment reminders customers confirm with a tapback.

How much does iMessage for pet care updates cost?

Pet care updates cost the plan price: ZeroSettle charges no per-message fees, and messages are unlimited (counted).

Both carry a 30-day money-back guarantee on the subscription; this flow uses no AI credits. See ZeroSettle pricing, get a number, or read the API docs.