Editorial standards

Pet health information should be accurate, honest about its limits and easy to act on. These are the rules our editorial team writes by.

1. 1

   Safety first

   Every health article leads with the signs that need a vet straight away. When guidance is uncertain, we choose the more cautious option.

2. 2

   No diagnosis, no doses

   We explain what conditions are and how vets approach them, but we never diagnose your pet or give medication names or doses — those decisions belong to a vet who has examined your pet.

3. 3

   Plain, original writing

   Everything is written in our own words in plain English. We don't copy breed standards or other sites.

4. 4

   No invented facts

   We don't publish made-up statistics, studies or quotes. Where reliable information is limited — for some rare breeds, for example — we say so instead of guessing.

5. 5

   Clear limits

   Numbers such as water or calorie needs are starting points for healthy adult pets, based on common published guidelines, and we show how they're worked out.

6. 6

   Kept up to date

   Each article shows when it was last updated, and we revise content when guidance changes or readers point out a problem.

See also: about Petopedia and our privacy policy.