How TreatCheck Works

Step 1: Create a Pet Profile

Everything starts with your pet's profile. When you add a pet to TreatCheck, you provide key information: the animal's species (we support 12 species including dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, birds, and more), breed, approximate age, weight, whether they are neutered, and any known allergies or diagnosed health conditions.

This profile is what makes TreatCheck's safety checks personalised. A 12-year-old Labrador with kidney disease will receive very different guidance about certain foods than a healthy 2-year-old Border Collie. A cat that is known to be sensitive to certain proteins will have that sensitivity flagged when relevant foods are checked.

Step 2: Check a Food

Once your pet's profile is set up, you can check any food in three ways. The simplest method is to type the food name — for example, 'avocado', 'mango chutney', or 'peanut butter'. TreatCheck analyses the food against current veterinary and nutritional guidance for your pet's species and profile.

The second method is barcode scanning: point your device's camera at the barcode on any packaged product — commercial pet treats, human foods, or any branded item — and TreatCheck will look up the product and check its ingredient list. This is particularly useful when reviewing product labels.

The third method is the Food Fingerprint Scanner, which lets you photograph a meal, dish, or ingredient and uses image recognition to identify what is in the photo. This is helpful for checking leftovers, restaurant food, or any situation where you don't have a specific product name.

How Safety Levels Are Determined

TreatCheck uses a combination of species-specific veterinary knowledge, nutritional research, and your pet's individual profile to produce a safety rating for each food checked. The result is presented as one of three safety levels: Safe (the food is appropriate for your pet in normal quantities), Caution (the food is not toxic but should be limited or monitored — perhaps because it is high in fat, sugar, or sodium, or because it may interact with a health condition), or Unsafe (the food poses a genuine toxic risk to your pet and should not be given).

Alongside the safety level, you'll see a Paw Score from 1 to 10, a summary of key nutritional information, any specific warnings relevant to your pet's profile, and a recommended treat size or portion guidance where applicable.

Caching and Efficiency

Common food checks are cached so that responses are delivered quickly. If a food has been checked before for a given species, the result is retrieved from TreatCheck's database rather than being generated fresh each time, making the service both faster and more resource-efficient. Personalised factors from your pet's specific profile (such as health conditions and allergies) are layered on top of the cached result to ensure your guidance is always relevant to your individual animal.

Additional Tools

Beyond food checking, TreatCheck offers a range of tools to support responsible pet ownership. The Food Diary lets you log every meal and treat your pet eats, track enjoyment ratings, and maintain a detailed record of their diet. The Reaction Tracker allows you to log any symptoms or adverse reactions your pet shows after eating, helping to identify patterns and potential sensitivities over time.

The Danger Zone provides species-specific hazard information including always-dangerous items, seasonal risks, toxic plants, and regional wildlife hazards — complete with photos and first aid guidance. The Vet Report tool generates a clean, printable summary of your pet's food history and any reactions, which you can share with your veterinarian at appointments.

Pro subscribers also have access to breed-specific intelligence, AI-powered health predictions, personalised 7-day meal plans, and shareable pet profiles for family or veterinary sharing.