Pets and animal wellbeing
Wellbeing for the animals we care for.
Dogs, cats, horses and the people responsible for them. We cover environment, water, everyday care and living conditions. We do not cover treatment, and we will send you to a vet more often than anyone selling to you would.
Read this first
Never give an animal a supplement, remedy or product intended for humans because it works for you. Animals metabolise substances differently, and a great many things that are harmless to people are dangerous to dogs, cats and horses, sometimes at very small doses. Cats in particular lack liver enzymes that humans rely on. If you are considering giving your animal anything at all, ask a vet first.
Animals cannot tell you when something is wrong with it
That single fact should make this category more cautious than any other, and instead it has made it less. The pet wellness market has grown enormously and it is subject to lighter oversight than either human supplements or veterinary medicines, with claims to match.
The people buying are usually doing so out of love and worry, which is exactly the state in which people spend money on things they have not checked. We would rather be the ones telling you to ring the vet.
What we will happily talk about is the ordinary stuff: what animals drink, where they sleep, what they walk on, what gets used to clean around them, and how their living space is set up.
Six things you can look at without buying anything
Environment, hydration and everyday care. This is our territory. Treatment is not.
Water and bowls
Fresh water, bowls cleaned properly, and enough of them. Cats in particular often drink less than they should and are fussier about placement than owners expect. This is free and it matters.
Cleaning products
Animals walk on floors and then lick their feet. Several common household cleaners are genuinely unsuitable around pets, and rinsing and ventilating matters more than which brand you buy.
Living space
Temperature, ventilation, bedding, somewhere quiet to retreat to. For horses, stable ventilation and dust are among the better-evidenced welfare factors there are.
Skin, coat and grooming
Washing frequency, what is used, and how much is rinsed off. Over-washing is more common than under-washing and does more damage.
Weight and movement
Overweight pets are extremely common and it shortens and worsens their lives. Unglamorous, uncomfortable to hear, and the single biggest thing most owners could change.
Routine and company
Predictability, stimulation and time with their people. Behavioural wellbeing is wellbeing, and it is where a great deal of apparently physical trouble actually starts.
Understand the risks
01. Why human products are not scaled-down animal products
02. When to ring the vet rather than read a website
03. The pet wellness market, honestly
How we handle this subject
This is the narrowest territory on the site and deliberately so. An animal cannot tell you it feels worse, cannot refuse what you give it, and cannot seek a second opinion. That asymmetry means the bar for saying anything here has to be higher, not lower.
So we stay on environment, hydration, living conditions and everyday care. We make no veterinary claims of any kind. We never suggest a human product for an animal. And on anything touching illness, medication or supplementation, the answer is your vet, every time.
Read the Medistic StandardAsk about the environment, not the animal
Your Medistic Health consultant can talk through water, cleaning, bedding, stabling and living space with you. If the question is about your animal's health, they will tell you to ring your vet, and that is the right answer.
Speak with your consultantMedistic Health publishes education about everyday wellbeing. Nothing here is veterinary advice and nothing we publish is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition in any animal. Never give an animal a product intended for humans. Always consult a qualified veterinary surgeon about your animal's health, medication, diet or supplementation.
