Editorial Standards

How we research, write, review, and maintain every article on PetsCareWiki.

Pet health content has real-world consequences. A wrong answer about chocolate toxicity, xylitol, or grape poisoning can harm an animal. That is why PetsCareWiki follows a documented editorial process for every piece of content we publish, and why we revisit articles on a defined cadence rather than letting them drift out of date.

1. Sourcing

We build articles from primary veterinary and scientific sources. Our tier-one references are:

• American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) — official guidance on vaccination, disease, and clinical practice.
• American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) — published clinical guidelines.
• ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxicity data, case literature, and emergency thresholds.
• VCA Animal Hospitals and Merck Veterinary Manual — professional reference materials.
• Peer-reviewed journals — JAVMA, Journal of Small Animal Practice, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, and equivalent.
• Government agencies — FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, EPA, CDC, USDA.

Tier-two sources include university veterinary school publications (Cornell, UC Davis, Tufts, Colorado State) and established breed or specialty organizations. Consumer blogs, forums, and social media are never used as a factual basis for health claims.

Every health, toxicity, or dosage claim carries a citation. When sources disagree, we note the disagreement in the article rather than papering over it.

2. Fact-Checking

Every draft passes a two-stage fact-check before publication:

1. Source verification. A fact-checker independently pulls the source cited for every claim and confirms the claim reflects what the source actually says. Paraphrases are checked for accuracy; numbers are checked for units (e.g., mg/kg vs mg/lb).
2. Clinical review. Health and toxicity articles are read by a member of our veterinary advisory board, who flags anything that conflicts with current clinical practice, oversimplifies risk, or omits a red-flag scenario where readers should seek emergency care.

Articles cannot go live without both sign-offs recorded in our internal publishing log.

3. Reviewer Credentials

Our veterinary advisory board is composed of practicing veterinarians and veterinary nurses whose professional experience spans general practice, emergency and critical care, and small-animal nutrition. We describe our reviewers' areas of focus on the authors page and identify the reviewer on each article's byline. We do not use “reviewed by a veterinarian” as a generic label — every review is attributed by name.

Writers who produce drafts are professional content specialists trained on our house style and veterinary terminology. Writers do not self-publish: every article goes through review regardless of the writer's background.

4. Update Cadence

Health content decays. Guidelines change, new research overturns old assumptions, and drug approvals shift. We address this with a defined update schedule:

• Toxicity & emergency articles — reviewed at least every 12 months, and immediately when AVMA, ASPCA APCC, or FDA publish new guidance.
• Nutrition articles — reviewed every 18 months or when AAFCO or WSAVA update recommendations.
• Breed and behavior articles — reviewed every 24 months.
• News-linked articles — reviewed immediately on any related public recall, regulatory action, or outbreak.

Every article displays a Last reviewed date. When the date is older than the above targets, the article is flagged in our CMS and scheduled for review.

5. Correction Policy

We take corrections seriously. If an article contains a factual error:

1. Email editor@petscarewiki.com with the URL and a description of the error. A source link helps us act faster.
2. Corrections to health-critical content are evaluated within 2 business days. Non-urgent corrections are handled within 5 business days.
3. If we confirm the error, the article is updated and a dated correction note is added at the bottom explaining what changed. Material corrections to health content also trigger a refreshed Last reviewed date.
4. If we cannot confirm the error, we respond explaining our reasoning and the sources we relied on.

6. Conflicts of Interest & Independence

PetsCareWiki does not sell pet food, medication, or insurance. We do not accept payment for editorial coverage. We do not run sponsored content disguised as articles. Advertising (including Google AdSense) is contextual and does not influence editorial decisions.

If an article contains affiliate links, the article discloses this at the top. Reviewers with a commercial relationship to a product under discussion recuse themselves from that article.

7. AI Assistance

We use AI tools to assist with research, first-draft outlining, translation, and copy-editing. No article is published solely on AI output. Every AI-assisted draft goes through the same human research, fact-check, and clinical review described above. AI-generated claims without a citable source are removed.

8. User-Generated Content

PetsCareWiki does not host comments, forums, or user-submitted articles. This is a deliberate choice: unmoderated user content on health topics produces misinformation at scale. We welcome reader feedback through our contact page.

9. Accessibility & Plain Language

Our target reading level is approximately US grade 8. Clinical terms are defined on first use. We prefer concrete numbers ("more than 1 oz per 10 lb body weight") to vague language ("a lot"). Every article has a clear takeaway and, when relevant, a red-flag section telling the reader when to call a veterinarian.

10. Contact

Questions about this policy? Email editor@petscarewiki.com or use our contact page.