The fine print · editorial & medical policy

How this site is written, sourced and corrected.

Who writes it, what it’s qualified to tell you, where the voice stops, and the standing offer to fix anything wrong.

Who writes this

Scott Evens, Chicago. One author. No staff.

His qualification is narrow: he owns a cat who had a urethral obstruction, watched him recover over three nights in hospital, then read a great deal of veterinary literature. Expertise in an experience. Not a veterinary degree, and the site never claims one.

The medical position

Nothing here is veterinary advice. It has not been reviewed by a veterinarian. It cannot examine your cat. Every guide says when to stop reading and call a professional. If your cat is straining to urinate and producing nothing, that moment is now.

The voice, and its one rule

Most of the site uses a deliberate voice: dry, deadpan, a little mid-century. It exists because people keep reading what holds their attention, and the facts only help those who reach them.

One rule, no exceptions: the voice stops where the danger starts. Emergency instructions are plain type, short sentences, no jokes, labeled “Plain text.” Humor is aimed at the apparatus — camera, laptop, author — never at the disease, the animals, or their people.

Sourcing

  • Primary and institutional sources. Peer-reviewed veterinary journals, the Cornell Feline Health Center, the Merck Veterinary Manual, AAFP and ISFM guidelines. Not aggregator blogs.
  • Works cited on every guide, linked, so you can check rather than trust.
  • Ranges, not headlines. Where studies disagree, the guide gives the range.
  • Weak evidence labeled weak, even for popular interventions.
  • Personal experience labeled personal. Nigel is one cat. He illustrates; he doesn’t generalize.
  • Allusions are decoration. A philosopher holds your attention; he never supports a medical claim.

AI tools

AI writing tools help draft, edit and condense the text and help build the site. They are not a source. No claim rests on a tool’s say-so. Medical and factual claims are checked by a person against the cited sources before publication. Responsibility rests with the author.

Corrections

If something is wrong, write to [email protected]. Medical corrections come first. Substantive fixes update the guide’s revision date; nothing is quietly erased. Veterinary professionals are answered first.

Advertising and independence

  • Advertisers have no input. None sees a guide before publication.
  • Ads are labeled and kept apart from editorial.
  • The network picks the ads. Presence isn’t endorsement. Report a dubious veterinary ad and it will be blocked.
  • No affiliate links in medical advice. Guides name categories, not paid brands. Any change will be disclosed at the top of the guide.
  • No sponsored content. If that changes, it will say so in the headline.

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