Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers about who we are, what our tools can and can't do, and how we make money. If your question isn't here, ask us — a real person reads every message.

If something is wrong with your pet right now, stop reading and call your vet. Nothing on this site is veterinary advice, and no calculator can examine your animal. If your pet is in distress, or has eaten something it shouldn't have, call your veterinarian or your nearest emergency animal hospital immediately. In the US you can also reach the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. A consultation fee may apply. We are not affiliated with them and we earn nothing from this — they are simply the right people to call.

What is Petstore.com?

We're a pet-care resource, not a pet shop. We do two things: we publish plain-English care guides across dogs, cats, birds, fish, small pets, reptiles and horses, and we build free tools that answer the specific, awkward, hard-to-Google questions owners actually have at 11pm.

How much should I actually be feeding him? Is that plant on the windowsill going to hurt the cat? What is this puppy really going to cost me over fifteen years? That's the gap we're trying to fill.

Are the tools really free?

Yes. Every tool on the site is free, with no account, no trial and no paywall. Here they all are:

• Calorie Calculator — how much to feed your dog or cat each day
• Food & Plant Toxicity Checker — is this safe for my pet to be near, or to eat?
• OTC Medication Dose Calculator — over-the-counter dosing by weight (read the section below before you use this one)
• Healthy Weight Checker — is your pet under, over, or about right?
• Water Intake Calculator — how much your pet should be drinking a day
• Vaccine & Wellness Schedule Generator — what's due, and roughly when
• Puppy & Kitten Growth Tracker — chart growth against where it should be
• Pet Age Calculator — dog and cat years, done properly rather than times seven
• Flea & Tick Treatment Finder — narrow down what suits your pet
• True Cost of Ownership Calculator — the lifetime number, not the adoption fee
• Pet Insurance Cost Estimator — ballpark what cover would run you
• Breed Selector Quiz — which pet actually fits your life

Is any of this veterinary advice?

No. None of it. Our guides and tools are educational. They can't examine your pet, take its temperature, or feel that lump — and they are not a substitute for a veterinarian who can.

Treat every number we give you as the start of a conversation with your vet, not a replacement for one. That goes double for two tools:

• The OTC Medication Dose Calculator works from published dosing ranges and your pet's weight. It knows nothing about your animal's age, kidneys, liver, pregnancy, or the other medication it's already on — all of which change what is safe. Several drugs that are perfectly ordinary for humans are dangerous or fatal for pets, and cats are not small dogs. Confirm any dose with your vet before you give it.
• The Food & Plant Toxicity Checker tells you whether something is a known hazard. It cannot tell you whether your pet, at its weight, having eaten that much, is in danger. If you think your pet has already eaten something toxic, don't check with us first — call your vet or ASPCA Animal Poison Control on (888) 426-4435 now. Minutes matter with some poisons.

Who writes this? Are you vets?

We'll be straight with you: we are not veterinarians, and no vet signs off on our content. We're writers and researchers who own pets and take the work seriously. We build our guides and tools on published veterinary and nutritional guidance rather than on opinion, we point you to that guidance where a claim actually matters, and where the evidence is genuinely unsettled we say so instead of picking whichever answer sounds tidiest.

That's a real limit, and we'd rather you hear it from us than discover it later. If something on this site looks wrong to you, tell us — we would much rather be corrected than be confidently wrong.

Do you sell pet food and supplies?

No. We don't sell products and we don't hold stock. When a guide or a tool points you toward something specific, we send you to a partner we've vetted rather than selling it to you ourselves. You can see the full list, and why each one is on it, on our Recommended Partners page.

Do you make money from those partner links?

Yes, and here's exactly how. Some links to partners on this site — pet insurance, online vet care, DNA testing, food and supplies — are affiliate links. If you click one and sign up or buy something, we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. You never pay more for having come through us.

What that commission does not buy is a recommendation. We pick partners on one test — would we send our own animals to them? — and we tell you plainly wherever a link could earn us money. If we ever can't say something honest about a partner, we'd rather have an empty slot on the page than a paid one.

What do you do with my email address?

If you give us your email — through a tool, a guide, or the contact form — we use it to send you the thing you asked for, and, if you opted in, the occasional genuinely useful pet-care email. We don't sell it. We don't rent it. We don't hand it to a partner so they can market at you.

Every email we send has a one-click unsubscribe, and it works the first time. The full detail is in our Privacy Policy.

Can I use your tools or guides on my own site?

The tools, yes — they're built to be embedded and we're pleased when people use them. A visible link back to Petstore.com is all we ask. Republishing our written guides wholesale isn't OK, though a short quote with a link always is. If you want to do something more involved, just ask — the answer is usually yes.

How do I reach a human?

The contact form, or sales@petstore.com. Both land in the same place, both are read by a person, and we answer most messages within two business days.

One exception, and we mean it: if your pet needs help now, don't write to us — call your vet. We are not fast enough to be your emergency service, and we'd never want you waiting on our reply while an animal is suffering.