Editorial standards & sources
Fur Forecast publishes free tools and breed guides to help owners plan — what insuring a breed tends to cost, how much to feed, and the true lifetime cost of ownership. We are not a veterinary practice or an insurance company; every number we show is a modeled estimate for planning and comparison — never a quote or medical advice.
Who reviews this
Our tools, estimates and breed pages are reviewed by Kevyn A. Johnson, Founder & Trustee, against the sources below before publishing. Kevyn started Fur Forecast to give pet owners straight, ad-light answers, and reviews every estimate against published veterinary, breed-registry and pet-insurance data before it ships.
Our sources
Every source we rely on is linked here so you can check our work rather than take it on trust.
- Breed facts (weight, size, life expectancy, group, predispositions): American Kennel Club breed standards, CFA and TICA for cats, and breed-club health surveys.
- Health predispositions: the Merck Veterinary Manual, VCA Animal Hospitals, and OFA/CHIC screening programmes.
- Insurance ranges: NAPHIA State of the Industry data and published insurer rate tables (2023–2026).
- Cost of ownership: the Synchrony Lifetime of Care study, Rover's cost report, and ASPCA/APPA data.
- Feeding: the standard veterinary RER/MER energy model, as set out in the WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines.
The full method, including every factor and multiplier, is on how we estimate.
How we keep it current
Every tool and breed page carries a “last reviewed” date. We refresh the cost and insurance figures as new annual industry data is published, and re-date the pages when we do.
Corrections
Found something wrong or out of date? Email hello@furforecast.com — we especially welcome corrections from veterinarians, breeders and insurance professionals, and we update promptly.
Advertising independence
Fur Forecast is reader-supported through clearly-labeled ads and affiliate links. Commissions never change the numbers. Every premium, cost and feeding figure — and the breed cost ranking — is computed from the published data and the models on how we estimate, with no commercial input.
What commission does affect is which insurers we can list. Our insurer comparison covers the four providers we hold affiliate relationships with (Lemonade, Healthy Paws, Embrace and Pets Best); it is not a survey of the whole US market, and a plan that suits you better may not appear. The “best fit” flag within that table is derived from the breed’s risk tier and documented conditions, not from what any insurer pays. Always compare against quotes you gather yourself.
