Method
How Elcroc chooses a source
The promise is simple: if the evidence cannot be opened, the advice does not go in. This page is the filter.
What gets in
We prefer documents a veterinarian would recognise: professional-association guidelines and peer-reviewed papers. For dogs and cats that includes AAHA, WSAVA, AVMA, AAFP and FEDIAF.
For other species the map changes. Birds: Association of Avian Veterinarians. Small mammals: Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians. Reptiles: Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians and the professional Merck Veterinary Manual (reviewed fact). Fish: the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association and Merck’s aquatic-systems chapter, written by University of Florida veterinarians.
The hierarchy
We do use good-quality evidence that is not a paper. An association guide, a consensus, the VOHC seal or a faculty text can come in — if the method can be seen.
The filter is not “is it a paper?”. It is: can you see how the claim was reached? If that path will not open, the advice stays out.
The types we use are paper, guide, consensus or reviewed fact. A brochure is not a trial. A paid webinar is not an open review.
The first pass is paper and guide. Everything else comes in only if the method holds: it can be seen, it can be cited, and it does not ask for a leap of faith.
What stays out
We do not invent authors, years, journals, DOIs or URLs. We do not cite “studies” we could not open. We do not treat forums, influencers or food packaging as evidence. A brand study, an influencer or “it works in my clinic” do not pass, even when they sound sure. A marketing word — premium, holistic, natural — is not a nutrition criterion. WSAVA says so plainly for dogs and cats.
When the evidence is thin
Aquarium fish and many exotic species have fewer clinical trials than dogs. That does not license us to fill the gap. If the evidence is husbandry (water quality, temperature, hay) rather than a longevity trial, we write it that way. If a famous number is not in a serious source we have read, we cut it.
Dogs are not cats, and a rabbit is not a guinea pig
When the evidence diverges, we name it. Cats have their own life stages (AAHA/AAFP). Guinea pigs cannot synthesise vitamin C; rabbits can — both still need hay. Reptiles depend on a thermal gradient and, for many diurnal species, UVB. Fish live inside their “air”: the water.
Soft launch: the site is live. It is still not a veterinary consultation.