diff --git a/src/__tests__/helpers/prisma-mock.ts b/src/__tests__/helpers/prisma-mock.ts
index 4297e5e..bc9b296 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/helpers/prisma-mock.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/helpers/prisma-mock.ts
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ interface MockPostClient {
   create: MockFn;
   findMany: MockFn;
   findUnique: MockFn;
+  findFirst: MockFn;
   update: MockFn;
   delete: MockFn;
   count: MockFn;
@@ -355,6 +356,7 @@ export function createMockPrisma(): MockPrismaClient {
       create: vi.fn(),
       findMany: vi.fn(),
       findUnique: vi.fn(),
+      findFirst: vi.fn(),
       update: vi.fn(),
       delete: vi.fn(),
       count: vi.fn(),
diff --git a/src/__tests__/posts.test.ts b/src/__tests__/posts.test.ts
index 0fa8ab4..72027ef 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/posts.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/posts.test.ts
@@ -225,3 +225,41 @@ describe("posts.delete", () => {
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe("posts.getById", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("returns the post when found and visible", async () => {
+    const { caller, mockPrisma } = createCaller();
+
+    const post = {
+      id: "post-1",
+      petId: "pet-1",
+      caption: "hi",
+      pet: { id: "pet-1", name: "Rex", avatarKey: null },
+      images: [],
+      milestone: null,
+      videoPost: null,
+      repost: null,
+    };
+    mockPrisma.post.findFirst.mockResolvedValue(post);
+
+    const result = await caller.getById({ postId: "post-1" });
+
+    expect(result).toEqual(post);
+    expect(mockPrisma.post.findFirst).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        where: expect.objectContaining({ id: "post-1", hiddenAt: null }),
+      })
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("throws NOT_FOUND when the post doesn't exist or isn't visible", async () => {
+    const { caller, mockPrisma } = createCaller();
+    mockPrisma.post.findFirst.mockResolvedValue(null);
+
+    await expect(caller.getById({ postId: "missing" })).rejects.toThrow(TRPCError);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/app/(app)/notifications/page.tsx b/src/app/(app)/notifications/page.tsx
index 5a8e5d3..d91ed6f 100644
--- a/src/app/(app)/notifications/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(app)/notifications/page.tsx
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ export default function NotificationsPage() {
       case "COMMENT":
       case "MENTION":
       case "PAW_BACK":
-        return notif.post?.petId ? `/pets/${notif.post.petId}` : null;
+        return notif.post?.petId
+          ? `/pets/${notif.post.petId}?post=${notif.post.id}`
+          : null;
       case "MESSAGE":
         return null;
       case "BIRTHDAY":
diff --git a/src/components/profile/ProfileTabs.tsx b/src/components/profile/ProfileTabs.tsx
index ab5f2cd..ccb8b63 100644
--- a/src/components/profile/ProfileTabs.tsx
+++ b/src/components/profile/ProfileTabs.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 "use client";
 
-import { useState, useCallback } from "react";
+import { useState, useCallback, useEffect } from "react";
+import { useRouter, useSearchParams } from "next/navigation";
 import { Layers2, Play } from "lucide-react";
 import { useQuery } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { useTranslations } from "next-intl";
@@ -26,6 +27,8 @@ interface ProfileTabsProps {
 export function ProfileTabs({ petId }: ProfileTabsProps) {
   const t = useTranslations("ProfileTabs");
   const trpc = useTRPC();
+  const router = useRouter();
+  const searchParams = useSearchParams();
   const [_activeTab, setActiveTab] = useState("posts");
   const [selectedPost, setSelectedPost] = useState<PostCardPost | null>(null);
 
@@ -40,10 +43,37 @@ export function ProfileTabs({ petId }: ProfileTabsProps) {
   const posts = postsData?.posts ?? [];
   const milestones = (milestonesData ?? []) as PostCardPost[];
 
+  // Deep link from a notification (?post=<id>) — open the dialog directly,
+  // falling back to a dedicated fetch when the post isn't among the ones
+  // already loaded (e.g. older than the most recent 30).
+  const deepLinkPostId = searchParams.get("post");
+  const deepLinkPost = deepLinkPostId
+    ? (posts.find((p) => p.id === deepLinkPostId) ?? null)
+    : null;
+
+  const { data: fetchedDeepLinkPost } = useQuery({
+    ...trpc.posts.getById.queryOptions({ postId: deepLinkPostId ?? "" }),
+    enabled: !!deepLinkPostId && !deepLinkPost,
+  });
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!deepLinkPostId) return;
+    const post = deepLinkPost ?? (fetchedDeepLinkPost as PostCardPost | undefined) ?? null;
+    if (post) setSelectedPost(post);
+    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+  }, [deepLinkPostId, deepLinkPost, fetchedDeepLinkPost]);
+
   const handleTabChange = useCallback((tab: string) => {
     setActiveTab(tab);
   }, []);
 
+  const handleCloseDialog = useCallback(() => {
+    setSelectedPost(null);
+    if (searchParams.get("post")) {
+      router.replace(`/pets/${petId}`, { scroll: false });
+    }
+  }, [petId, router, searchParams]);
+
   return (
     <>
       <Tabs defaultValue="posts" onValueChange={handleTabChange}>
@@ -134,8 +164,8 @@ export function ProfileTabs({ petId }: ProfileTabsProps) {
       <PostDetailDialog
         post={selectedPost}
         open={!!selectedPost}
-        onClose={() => setSelectedPost(null)}
-        onDeleted={() => setSelectedPost(null)}
+        onClose={handleCloseDialog}
+        onDeleted={handleCloseDialog}
       />
     </>
   );
diff --git a/src/trpc/routers/posts.ts b/src/trpc/routers/posts.ts
index 37f8024..15c1645 100644
--- a/src/trpc/routers/posts.ts
+++ b/src/trpc/routers/posts.ts
@@ -274,4 +274,42 @@ export const postsRouter = router({
 
       return { posts: items, nextCursor };
     }),
+
+  /**
+   * Fetch a single post by id, for deep-linking (e.g. notifications) into the
+   * detail dialog without requiring the post to be among the pet's most
+   * recently loaded posts. Same visibility rule as byPetId.
+   */
+  getById: protectedProcedure
+    .input(z.object({ postId: z.string().min(1) }))
+    .query(async ({ ctx, input }) => {
+      const post = await ctx.prisma.post.findFirst({
+        where: {
+          id: input.postId,
+          hiddenAt: null,
+          pet: { OR: [{ ownerId: ctx.userId }, { owner: { shadowban: null } }] },
+        },
+        include: {
+          images: { orderBy: { position: "asc" } },
+          pet: { select: { id: true, name: true, avatarKey: true } },
+          milestone: true,
+          videoPost: { select: { status: true, muxPlaybackId: true } },
+          repost: {
+            include: {
+              originalPost: {
+                include: {
+                  pet: { select: { id: true, name: true, avatarKey: true } },
+                  images: { orderBy: { position: "asc" } },
+                  milestone: true,
+                },
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      });
+
+      if (!post) throw new TRPCError({ code: "NOT_FOUND" });
+
+      return post;
+    }),
 });