Pet food marketing loves the phrase "clinically proven." Sometimes that phrase is backed by real, peer-reviewed research. Often it's backed by an internal manufacturer study of 20 dogs, published nowhere. Occasionally it's backed by nothing at all.

The Research Summaries project reads the actual studies underneath common claims and translates them into something you can use. Each summary answers the same four questions.

The four questions we ask of every study

  1. What did the study actually measure? Not what the press release says. What ended up in the methodology section.
  2. How big and how long? A 12-dog, 30-day study says very little about long-term diet effects. A 5,000-dog cohort over 5 years says a lot.
  3. Who funded it? Manufacturer-funded studies aren't automatically wrong, but they warrant a closer look at methodology.
  4. What's the practical takeaway? If you have a pet in front of you right now, does this study change what you do?

What we're prioritizing

First rounds of summaries focus on the areas where reader questions cluster and the research is meaningful:

  • The FDA DCM investigation and grain-free diets. What the 2018-2022 case reports actually showed, what changed in the FDA's 2023 update, and where the science currently sits.
  • Protein levels in aging dogs and cats. The long-held rule of "reduce protein for senior pets" has been re-examined. What the current geriatric nutrition literature says.
  • Novel proteins for allergic pets. How elimination diet trials work, why "novel" only stays novel for a few years, and what the hydrolyzed-protein research shows.
  • Omega-3 supplementation. Where the joint, skin, and cardiovascular benefits are well-established, and where they're overstated.
  • Kibble vs. wet vs. raw. What each format actually delivers nutritionally, and what the safety literature says about raw.

What research summaries won't do. They won't give you a definitive answer to "what should I feed my pet." That question depends on your pet, their history, your budget, and your vet's input. The summaries give you the evidence base for the conversation.

Suggest a topic

If there's a specific claim on a bag of pet food you'd like us to unpack — clinically proven joint support, supports urinary health, improves gut microbiome — email us and we'll add it to the queue.