Independent pet reference

Pet care answers that show their sources.

OpenPetGuide is a new, independent reference for people who keep animals. We're building clear guides to breeds, feeding, housing, costs, and the gear worth buying, with every fact tied to a source you can open. Free to read.

Start here Choose your pet

A smiling woman holds her dog up to face her. — Photo: Nenad Stojkovic, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped and converted to black and white.

Start with your species

Here's what each section will cover as it opens. We start with day-one care and work outward to breeds, feeding, costs, and what to buy.

Dogs

Breed profiles, size and temperament, the real cost of ownership, feeding, and gear that fits your dog's size.

Cats

Breed profiles, indoor setup, litter and feeding basics, costs, and which foods and plants are unsafe.

Small pets

Rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and rats: enclosure sizes, diets, safe handling, and first-month costs.

Birds

Cage requirements, diets beyond seed, enrichment, and what a bird really costs to keep.

Reptiles

Heat, humidity and UVB by species, plus enclosure setups that hold their numbers.

Fish

Cycling a tank, stocking that works, water parameters, and a first-tank shopping list.

Also covering: amphibians, horses and ponies, backyard poultry, and invertebrates such as tarantulas and isopods.

How these pages are made

Pet advice is easy to publish and hard to trust. Our method is written down so you can see exactly how every page is made.

Editorial policy

Sources you can open

Facts come from veterinary bodies, regulators, breed registries and published research, and every page lists the sources behind it.

Checked against the source

We re-open each source to confirm every quoted figure before a page goes live, and we review every page template and a sample of every release.

Corrections in public

Tell us something is wrong and we'll check it against the source, fix it, and note the change on the page.

Pet poisoning emergency?

If you think your pet has eaten something toxic, call your veterinarian or one of these animal poison control centers right away. Both answer 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (888) 426-4435 A consultation fee may apply. Official page
Pet Poison Helpline (855) 764-7661 A per-incident fee applies. Official page

OpenPetGuide isn't affiliated with either service. Fees are set by the services themselves, so check their official pages for current details.

Reference information. Not veterinary advice.

If your animal is unwell or injured, call a vet. If a page here is wrong, tell us and we'll correct it.

Report a correction