ANOMALY DATABASE
All 16 documented tells — searchable by detection method
Animal Hospital has 16 anomaly tells documented on the community wiki: 6 appearance anomalies visible at the check-in window (like Mismatched Eyes & Sharp Teeth or Three Eyes), 2 photo anomalies that only show in a polaroid, and 8 security-camera anomalies that only show on CCTV (like the "boneless" Unnatural Body). 3 appearance tells also guarantee a distorted voice. Check all three layers before admitting anyone — a patient can carry more than one tell.
Every Documented Tell
SHOWING 16 OF 16 DOCUMENTED TELLS
The Rules Every Night-Shifter Should Know
Straight from the wiki's Anomalies page — the tips-and-strategies layer on top of the tells above.
Anomalies cannot faint by any method, not even fire — if a "patient" won't go down, that's your answer. (Exception per the wiki's June 26, 2026 note: a static-photo-only anomaly faints when shot, marking it as a normal patient-class case.)
Tasing an anomaly gives you +2 sanity (shooting it with the gun gives none). Tasing a normal patient costs you 15 sanity — be sure before you fire.
Anomalies can be killed by admitting them and giving the wrong treatment on purpose, or by tasing/shooting them — though sometimes they get up and run out screaming instead. It's faster, but the shift summary pays out less.
If every patient is treated but the shift summary never appears (or "The doctor is coming" never shows), one of the "patients" left in the hospital is an anomaly.
Cursed photos cost 10 sanity if you pick them up before they finish processing — always let a photo develop first. Regular anomalous photos no longer drain sanity per the current wiki.
The Head Banger is not a normal anomaly: asking it to leave costs 20 sanity, and tasing it can cost ~15 (as if it were a normal patient — the wiki flags this as possibly a bug). Hold a coffee when asking it to leave instead — it drinks it and goes. (You can take up to 2 sips first and still keep the trick working.) Or just wait for it to break the window; it leaves on its own with no sanity loss.
Per Dr. Harlow, anomalies hate having their photo taken — and, strangely, they crave coffee. Some window anomalies can be given coffee.
A healed anomaly sometimes says "I'm Hungry." and either leaves without attacking or attacks another patient.
ANOMALOUS PHOTOS
Per the wiki, every anomalous photo — one showing a photo tell — drains 10 sanity from any player who looks at it. The photo camera is your best confirmation tool, but treat each polaroid like evidence: confirm the tell, then stop looking. Anomalies reportedly hate having their photo taken, per Dr. Harlow.
CURSED PHOTOS
Separate from patient photos, several varieties of cursed photos exist in the game. Picking one up costs 10 sanity on the spot. The wiki also documents a bug where a patient with an anomalous face photographs as normal — and the photo still counts as cursed, draining sanity anyway.
Anomaly Database FAQ
All answers derive from the same wiki-verified data file as the table above. Where the wiki doesn't document something, we say so explicitly rather than guess.
Q01How many anomalies are in Animal Hospital?
The community wiki's Anomalies page documents 16 distinct tells in our latest snapshot: 6 appearance anomalies you can spot with the naked eye, 2 photo anomalies that only show in the camera polaroid, and 8 security-camera anomalies that only show on CCTV. A single patient can exhibit more than one tell at a time, and the wiki is actively updated as players document new ones.
Q02How do you tell if a patient is an anomaly in Animal Hospital?
Check all three detection layers before opening the door: look at them (Crooked Face (Mismatched Eyes & Sharp Teeth), Three Eyes, Unnatural Facial Appearance (Smiling / X-rayed variants), Staring, Hollow Face, Twitching), photograph them (any changed eyes/ears/mouth in the photo is always an anomaly, per the wiki's Mechanics page), and check the security cameras (Black Eyes, Unnatural Body ("Boneless"), Staring at Cameras, Void / Black, Camera Twitching, Disguised Mimic (formerly Disguised Shapeshifter), Mismatching Ears, Mismatching Face). 3 of the appearance tells also guarantee a low-pitched, distorted voice.
Q03Does a static photo always mean the patient is an anomaly?
Not on its own. Per the wiki's June 26, 2026 note, a static photo with no other tells does not guarantee a Mimic — shooting a static-only patient makes it faint like a normal animal. But the wiki still classifies it as an anomaly: admitting one starts a death ritual during its recovery. The recommended play is to close the shutter on it rather than tase or shoot.
Q04How do you get rid of an anomaly?
Three documented ways: reject it at the window by closing the shutter (the standard play), tase or shoot it (tasing an anomaly gives +2 sanity — but tasing a real patient costs 15), or admit it and deliberately give the wrong treatment, which kills it without a death penalty but lowers your shift payout. Remember: anomalies cannot faint, so a "patient" that won't go down has answered the question for you.
Q05What happens if you let an anomaly into the hospital?
Per the wiki, admitted anomalies typically cause a death ritual on a recovering patient, a monster emerging mid-treatment, or transform into a Mimic (the entity formerly called the Shapeshifter) that eats patients and attacks players. The Hollow Face anomaly is a special case — the wiki says it guarantees a death ritual during its recovery stage, so if you admit one, stay in the room with it.
Q06What is the Head Banger and why won't the shutters close?
The Head Banger is a hollow-eyed entity that bangs on the check-in window — and while it's there, the shutters cannot close ("something is blocking the shutters..."). Don't tase, shoot, or ask it to leave: each costs 20 sanity. Per the wiki, hold a coffee when asking it to leave and it will drink it and go — you can even take up to two sips first and keep the trick working. Or just wait: it leaves on its own when the window breaks.