Inside the house
Our method
Bon Poil explains what your animal's test results measure and prepares you for your consultation. Here is how, and above all where what we do stops.
The line we draw, and why it is a sharp one
In the United Kingdom, diagnosis and prescription are reserved to veterinary surgeons registered with the RCVS, under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. That is not red tape: it is what protects animals from loose interpretation. Bon Poil translates, places a value, and prepares. It never tells you what your animal is suffering from, never recommends a treatment, and will never advise you to change or stop anything that has been prescribed.
| What we write | What we never write |
|---|---|
| Creatinine measures renal filtration | Your cat is in kidney failure |
| Your value is above your laboratory's range | Your animal is ill |
| Here are the questions to ask | Here is what you should give it |
Reference ranges
So-called normal values differ from one analyser and one laboratory to the next. That is why the Decoder works first from the range printed on your own report rather than applying a generic scale. Our own ranges are only a fallback, and only where a veterinary surgeon has signed them off, marker by marker.
Veterinary review
The principle is simple: a reviewed article is signed with the name of the veterinary surgeon and dated, and an article that has not been reviewed carries the note "veterinary review in progress" at the top of the page. As things stand, every article is a preliminary version and the review process is being put in place. In the UK market, almost no animal health site shows this at the level of the individual article, including those that claim a veterinary board.
How the content is written
We use artificial intelligence tools to prepare and structure the content from identified veterinary sources. Nothing is published without a check of the sources, a check against the rules on what we may and may not say, and then a human read-through. We say so because it is true and because most sites that work this way do not say it.
How we will make money
The Decoder has a free version and a paid full version. A range of grooming and skin care products is planned after that. We do not sell advertising space, we take no commission on products we might recommend, and we sell no data on. The day we sell our own products, they will be presented as such, in a clearly marked area, and never slipped into an advice article.
What we do not do
- No pet food rankings paid for by a brand.
- No comparison article written without testing the products.
- No health data stored: the decoding happens inside your browser.
- No content on training, behaviour or accessories that has nothing to do with health. That is not our trade.