Hi, I’m Ellie Jameson!

Just a twenty-six-year-old Midwestern coffee addict who spends more time talking to her golden retriever, Sunny, than to most humans.

Sunny’s the reason you’re reading this: after she inhaled a handful of grapes at a family picnic (my Google search history that night was a roller-coaster of panic), I realized there wasn’t a single place that answered simple questions like “Can dogs eat strawberries?” or “Can cats eat bacon?” with both friendliness and solid science. Cue the birth of Foods To Avoid.

I’m not just a worried pet-parent with a keyboard, though.

I earned a B.S. in Animal Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, capped it off with the UC Davis Extension certificate in companion-animal nutrition, and keep my Fear Free® certification current because a relaxed pet learns better eating habits.

Before blogging, I crunched data as a health-analytics nerd, so peer-reviewed studies, AAFCO guidelines, and journal abstracts are my comfort reading.

Every article goes through the same routine: I translate the research into plain English, then our volunteer review board—two vets I bribed with lifelong blueberry dog-treat supplies—double-checks the medical bits before anything hits “publish.”

You’ll see time-stamps on each post showing when it was last fact-checked, because stale advice is about as useful as a squeaky toy with no squeak.

Day to day you’ll find me recipe-testing safe snacks (Sunny is currently lobbying for more frozen blueberries on the editorial calendar), answering reader emails that start with “Help, my cat just swallowed…,” and obsessively updating old posts when new research drops.

Twice a month I sit in on ASPCA poison-control webinars to stay sharp, and when something truly iffy crops up—think macadamia nuts or xylitol—I link straight to tele-vet services so you can get personalized help fast.

If hanging out here saves even one pet parent from a midnight emergency-vet visit, Sunny and I will call it a win. Grab a mug, dig into the articles, and if there’s a human food your fur-kid is begging for that I haven’t covered yet, shoot me a note at [email protected].

We’ll test it (safely!), research it, vet-review it, and add it to the list—because every “Can they eat it?” deserves a clear, trustworthy answer.