06/09/2026
If a veterinarian tells you: โI recommend this product.โ Most pet parents hear more than a product recommendation. They hear professional authority. And that matters, because a veterinary title changes how a recommendation is received.
If the exact same product recommendation comes from a salesperson and a veterinarian, most of us will give the veterinarianโs words more weight.
So what happens when the person making the recommendation also: sells the product, earns commission from it, owns the business selling it, works with the company behind it, or has another commercial relationship with the brand? Does that automatically make the recommendation bad?
No.
A vet can have a commercial relationship with a company and still genuinely believe in the product. A publication can have advertisers and still publish responsible information. A creator can receive a product and still honestly like it. A commercial interest is not automatically evidence of biased advice. But it is still relevant context.
There is a difference between saying: โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐โ and: โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ.โ
The recommendation may be exactly the same. But now the audience has the full picture. That is the part I think matters. Because the issue is not necessarily the relationship. The issue is whether the audience knows about it. When professional authority is involved, transparency becomes even more important. Not because every commercial relationship creates a conflict. But because people should be able to evaluate advice with all the relevant information in front of them.
And if weโre going to ask this of veterinary professionals, we have to be willing to apply exactly the same standard to ourselves. We Love Pets SA is also a commercial pet platform. We work with advertisers. We sometimes receive products. There are products and services from which we may earn commission. So the principle has to be the same: ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ.
Transparency doesnโt weaken a recommendation. I think it strengthens it. Because trust isnโt built by pretending commercial relationships donโt exist. Itโs built by being open about them.
๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒโ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐?
