Gentle, Fair & Responsible Pet Care

Product Safety

We do not support the use of products that present a poor or unfavorable risk-to-benefit ratio, especially when safer and equally effective alternatives exist.

Below are some of the criteria we use when evaluating products:

• FDA Warnings: Products for which the FDA has issued safety warnings regarding severe adverse reactions—including ataxia, tremors, seizures, death, or other serious reactions.

• Manufacturer Warnings: Products whose own manufacturers have issued warnings regarding severe adverse reactions being associated with the use of their products including neurological or systemic adverse reactions and death.

• FDA Letters to Veterinarians: Products the FDA has specifically cautioned veterinarians about due to significant risks, including seizures, death, or other severe side effects.

• Post-Marketing Reports: Products associated with large numbers of pet owner reports involving serious harm, suffering, or loss. We consider these real-world reports essential, as they reveal actual risk performance outside controlled studies. Some products are associated with 100,000’s++ / millions of pet owners reporting suffering and loss.

• Research & Studies: Scientific findings or independent research indicating an unreasonable risk of severe adverse reactions may exist or be associated with the use of a product.

• Negative Benefit-to-Risk Ratio: Products that offer limited benefit while presenting significant potential harm—particularly when safer or more effective alternatives exist.

• Class Action Law Suits: Products that have been associated with pet injury class action lawsuits may present a higher level of risk, as such legal actions often indicate elevated concerns about the product’s safety or potential to cause injury to pets.

• Unethical or Cruel Testing Practices: Products developed using unusually cruel or excessive animal testing, or companies that engage in or contract for such testing.

Veterinarians, as providers of pet-care services, must be able to request and use only safe, reliable products. Each veterinarian should be the party guiding manufacturers by specifying the products and standards required to deliver the highest quality of care and the product they will utilize. It is not appropriate for manufacturers—rather than pet-care professionals—to dictate which products are used in clinical settings.

In most industries, the service provider is the decision-maker regarding the products they use, while manufacturers serve as suppliers who meet those needs. For example, when you go to a restaurant, you choose what you want to eat—the restaurant does not dictate your order. Likewise, pet-care providers should select and only support the products that they feel are safe and useful and not use products they see unsafe or not useful.

Our collaboration is dedicated to continuously evaluating products on the market and monitoring their real-world performance to support the safest, most responsible choices for pet health.