PetGrit

Our experts & review process

Pet health is a 'your money or your life' topic, so we hold our health and money content to a higher bar than a typical blog. Here's exactly how we work — including what's still in progress.

Last updated June 2026

Where our numbers come from

PetGrit's tools aren't opinions — they're established veterinary formulas, implemented faithfully and cited:

  • Feeding calculator — Resting and Maintenance Energy formulas (RER = 70 × kg0.75; MER = RER × life-stage factor) from the Merck Veterinary Manual.
  • Vaccine schedule — the AAHA 2022 Canine Vaccination Guidelines (including the 2024 update making leptospirosis core) and the AAHA/AAFP 2020 Feline Vaccination Guidelines.
  • Dog age — the 2020 epigenetic-clock study published in Cell Systems; cat age — the AAHA/AAFP feline life-stage scale.
  • Puppy weight — standard growth-curve and milestone-multiplier methods used across veterinary and breeder references.

Our veterinary review standard

Any PetGrit content that touches an animal's health or a financial decision is held to this standard:

  • It must be traceable to a primary veterinary source or peer-reviewed research, named on the page.
  • It must state its limits plainly and defer to a practising veterinarian for individual cases.
  • Before our health and insurance guidance articles publish, they are reviewed by a licensed veterinarian for medical accuracy.

In the interest of honesty: we are currently onboarding the licensed veterinarians who will carry out and sign that review as our guidance library launches. Until a reviewer's name appears on a given article, treat that page as carefully-sourced general information, not individualized medical advice. We would rather tell you that than fake a credential — fabricated "expert reviewers" are exactly the dishonesty this site exists to avoid.

Accuracy & corrections

If something here is wrong, we want to fix it fast. Email hello@petgrit.com and we'll correct the page and note the change. Guidelines evolve — when AAHA, AAFP, or the underlying research updates, we update the tools to match.

The standing disclaimer

Nothing on PetGrit replaces a relationship with your own veterinarian, who knows your animal, your region's risks, and the law where you live. Our tools are an informed starting point for that conversation.