Who we are

Whisker & Wallet is a free website, based in Calgary, Alberta, for Alberta pet owners: finding a vet, emergency care, lost and found pets, events, the Stamp Rally and planning care costs. We follow Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and Canada's PIPEDA. Questions or requests: whiskerandwallet@gmail.com.

What we collect

Browsing: you can browse clinics, lost and found posts, events, cost ranges and tools without an account. We don't use advertising trackers or sell data.

Your account: your email address, and your name if you sign in with Google. Passwords are handled by Google's Firebase sign-in service; we never see them.

Prices you share: the city or town and area, service, pet size, price and month paid. We don't ask which clinic you went to. Prices only appear inside area-wide ranges, never with your name or email. They're linked to your account behind the scenes only so you can delete them, and so we can stop spam.

ER check-ins: which hospital and when you arrived and were seen, used to estimate wait times. Check-ins are deleted after about a week.

Pet profiles: the details you enter about your pets. These are private to you; other visitors can't see them.

Pet Community (optional): if you switch it on for a pet, its species, breed, home city and age range (young, adult or senior) appear on the public community page, plus its first name only if you choose. If you add a photo or description, they appear on your pet's public profile once we've checked them; photos are shrunk and stripped of hidden location data before upload. Removing the pet from the Pack, or deleting it or your account, deletes them. Nothing on that page links back to you or your account. Switch it off or delete the pet and it's removed.

Clinic listings: details a clinic enters, or that we add from the clinic's own public information (address, phone, hours, website, new patients, animals seen, services), are public. Listings never include prices.

Stamp Rally (optional): when you scan a partner's QR code we save which business stamped your card and when, and when you claim the reward. Only you and the site owner can see your stamps; partners only see what you show them on your screen.

Partner businesses: if you list a business, its listing (name, category, area, address, website, hours, logo and perk) is public once approved. The contact email you give stays private to you and Whisker & Wallet. In-store member codes are shown only to signed-in members.

Pet Passport: the vaccines, prevention and care schedule, microchip and licence numbers, care notes and emergency contact you add are private to you. Calendar reminders are files you add to your own calendar app; we don't send reminders. If you share a passport, we copy only the parts you pick to a separate page that anyone with the link or QR code can open until it expires or you stop sharing; then it's deleted. Only share an emergency contact's phone number if they're OK with it.

Pet cards: your pet's card is drawn on your own device from your pet profile. We only store the optional line you save for the card. The card never includes your name or contact details.

Trail and safety map: the hazard type, your note, a map spot rounded to about 100 m and the time. Reports are public without your name and are removed automatically after 3 to 14 days. If you tap "Use my location", your browser shares your position with the page only to place the pin; we don't keep it.

Birthdays and Gotcha Days: the month your pet was born and the date they came home, if you add them. They stay private in your account and are used to show celebration perks in your Pet Wallet.

New pet checklist: which items you've ticked, saved on your device and in your account if you're signed in.

Feedback and reports: the message you send us, visible only to you and the site owner.

On your device: we save small preferences (like your last search) in your browser, and Firebase keeps you signed in. We don't use advertising cookies.

Partner applications: if you apply to partner with us, we keep the details you send (business name, contact name, email, website and message) only to reply to you. Only the site owner can see them.

Visitor stats: we use Google Analytics (through Firebase) to count visits and see which pages are useful, such as how many people viewed the ER wait times page. It records general information like your approximate city, device type and pages viewed, not your name or email. We have turned off advertising features and ad personalization. You can block it with your browser's tracking protection or an ad blocker, and the site still works.

Please don't upload personal details

Don't put names, addresses, phone numbers or pet medical records in descriptions or posts, except the contact details you choose to add to a lost or found post. We remove personal details if we spot them.

Estimate requests

When you ask a clinic for an estimate, the clinic you chose and Whisker & Wallet can see your request and the contact details you gave, so the clinic can reply to you. No one else can. You can ask us to delete a request at any time.

Where your data is kept

Data is stored with Google Firebase in Toronto, Canada. Sign-in and visitor stats are provided by Google, which may store or process that data outside Canada (including the United States) under its own privacy terms, where it may be accessible under those countries' laws. Email us to ask about how our service providers outside Canada handle personal information. We use security rules so people can only change their own information.

Your choices

You can delete any price you shared under My pets. If you sign in with Google or Facebook, we receive only your name and email address from them, to create your account. We never post to your Google or Facebook account. You can delete your whole account at any time: tap your initial at the top of the page and choose Delete my account. This also removes the data we received from Google or Facebook; you can remove our access on Facebook under Settings › Apps and websites. This removes your sign-in, your pet profiles, your stamps and the prices you shared. You can also email us to see or correct what we hold about you.

Emails

We only send you emails you ask for (like sign-in links or alerts you switch on). Any newsletter or promotional email will only be sent with your permission and will always have an unsubscribe link.

Changes

If we change this policy we'll update the date at the top. Big changes will be announced on the site.

Prices are a guide

The amounts on this site are area-wide ranges built from what pet owners told us they paid. We don't show prices by clinic, and they aren't prices advertised, posted or quoted by clinics, and they may be out of date or differ for your pet, because cost depends on your pet's exam. Always ask the clinic for an estimate before treatment. Whisker & Wallet doesn't set or guarantee any price.

Not veterinary advice

Nothing on this site is medical advice. Emergency wait times are owner estimates. If your pet is in danger, call or go straight to an emergency hospital.

Sharing prices and posts

Share only what you actually paid, honestly and in good faith. Keep posts fair and respectful. No personal information, no abuse, no spam and no false reports. Clinic staff may not report prices for their own clinic. We may remove content or accounts that break these rules.

Clinic listings

Only staff authorized by a clinic may claim and manage its listing. Listings never show fees, prices, discounts or offers, and clinics answer estimate requests privately, only to the owner who asked. Until a clinic claims its listing, we fill it in from the clinic's own public information and show the date; a clinic can ask us to correct or remove anything at any time. We don't rank clinics by price or quality, and the "verified" check only means we've confirmed it's a licensed Alberta clinic. Clinics never pay us for referrals or estimate requests.

Birthday, Gotcha Day and flash perks

Birthday perks, Gotcha Day perks and flash perks are offered by participating businesses, not by Whisker & Wallet. They may be limited (for example one per pet per celebration, or while spots last), and a business may ask to see your pet's passport or pet card. Flash perks run for a few hours at most. Please be honest about your pet's dates.

Trail and safety map

Reports are shared by pet owners, aren't checked and aren't official warnings. Use your own judgment, follow posted signs and official advisories, and call 911 in an emergency. Don't post homes, people's names, contact details or false reports; we may remove any report.

Stamp Rally

The Stamp Rally is run by Whisker & Wallet with participating local pet businesses. Veterinary clinics don't take part. No purchase is needed to collect a stamp, and every person who completes the card can claim the stated reward: there's no draw or chance involved. Rewards and perks are provided by the participating businesses while supplies last, have no cash value and can't be exchanged. One stamp per business per person and one reward per person per rally. We may end or change a rally, and remove stamps collected by misuse (for example, sharing QR codes online).

Partner businesses and perks

Partner listings and perks are created by the businesses themselves and checked by us before they appear. Perks are offered and honoured by each business, under the terms shown with the perk; Whisker & Wallet doesn't sell anything and isn't responsible for a business's products or services. Partners must be real, non-veterinary pet businesses in Alberta, must honour perks as described, and can't offer prescription medications or prescription diets. We may remove any listing or perk.

Insurance and partners

We explain pet insurance in general terms and don't sell or recommend specific policies. If we ever earn a referral fee, we'll say so. Partners and sponsors never pay to change prices, rankings, ratings or reviews, and sponsored content is always labelled as sponsored.

Liability

The site is provided as is. To the extent the law allows, Whisker & Wallet isn't responsible for decisions made using information on the site.

Contact

Questions or concerns: whiskerandwallet@gmail.com. Read our privacy policy.