Pet advice is "Your Money or Your Life" content — the wrong recommendation can hurt an animal or cost a family thousands. We hold ourselves to the same standard Google holds us to: real research, real experts, real transparency.

Our promise to you 🐾

Zookie exists to help Australian pet owners make confident decisions — choosing a breed, feeding it well, insuring it properly and loving it for life. Every guide we publish follows three rules:

  • Accuracy before speed. We would rather update a guide late than publish a guess.
  • Readers before partners. Affiliate commissions never decide our rankings, scores or recommendations.
  • Australian context, always. Prices in AUD, rules by state, breeds and products actually available here.

How we research every guide 🔬

Each article follows the same five-step process:

  • 1 · Primary sources first. Insurance guides start from the actual Product Disclosure Statements (PDS), not marketing pages. Health guides start from veterinary literature and poison databases.
  • 2 · Real numbers. We pull sample quotes across metro and regional postcodes, and cross-check treatment costs against real claims data — principally the PetSure Australian Pet Health Monitor, drawn from one of Australia's largest pet health databases (700,000+ insured pets).
  • 3 · Lived experience. Our writers are owners of the breeds they cover — the quirks we describe are the ones we live with.
  • 4 · Expert review. Health and insurance content is reviewed by a registered Australian veterinarian before publication (see below).
  • 5 · Scheduled re-review. Money pages are re-checked quarterly; everything else at least annually. The "Updated" date at the top of each guide shows the last check.

Veterinary review process 🩺

Articles covering animal health, toxic foods, insurance conditions or treatment costs carry a "Reviewed by" byline naming the veterinarian who checked the medical claims. Our reviewers verify that:

  • Conditions attributed to a breed are genuinely over-represented in that breed.
  • Cost ranges reflect realistic Australian clinic pricing.
  • Nothing in the guide could delay an owner seeking proper veterinary care.

A vet review confirms accuracy at the time of review — it is not a substitute for advice from your own vet, who knows your individual pet. Always consult your vet for diagnosis and treatment.

Sources we trust 📚

We cite primary, authoritative Australian sources. The organisations we rely on most:

Wherever possible, individual guides link directly to the sources used for that article in a "Sources & further reading" module at the bottom of the page.

How we make money 💛

Zookie is reader-supported. When you click a partner link marked "sponsored" and buy a policy or product, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. In plain terms:

  • Partners cannot pay for a better ranking, a higher score, or a kinder write-up.
  • Sponsored placements are labelled in the comparison table itself — look for the note above each table.
  • Our writers are not paid bonuses tied to which partner you choose.
  • If we wouldn't recommend it to our own mums, we don't recommend it to you — partner or not.

Corrections policy 🛠️

We fix mistakes fast and openly. If you spot an error — a price that's changed, a rule that's been updated, a condition we've mischaracterised:

  • Email us via the contact page with the page URL and what's wrong.
  • We verify against primary sources, correct the article, and update the "Updated" date.
  • Significant corrections are noted at the foot of the article.

How we review products 🛒

Products in the Zookie shop are assessed against a fixed scorecard: materials and safety, suitability for Australian conditions (heat, UV, beach life), value for money, ease of cleaning, and real feedback from Australian owners. We don't list products we wouldn't use with our own pets.

The short version ✅

  • ✓Every guide: primary sources → real quotes → vet review → scheduled re-check.
  • ✓Affiliate money never buys rankings. Sponsored links are always labelled.
  • ✓Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.

Want to know who we are? Meet the Zookie team and our vet reviewers, or browse our author profiles: Emma Riley, Jack Thompson, Priya Sharma.