What Furwise is for
My first month with a cat, I was anxious almost every day. He ate a little less today, is something wrong? I never catch him drinking, is he getting enough water? His stool's a bit soft, does that matter? He sleeps all day and barely moves, and then at midnight he's suddenly tearing around the apartment. Every little thing sent me searching for ages before I could relax.
Even after all that searching, I was still unsure. Search "cat vomiting" and everything that comes up sounds reasonable, but a lot of it is content farms copying each other. What I really needed back then was good, plain-language health information, someone who could explain it in a way I could actually follow, so I'd know what was fine to watch and wait on, what meant taking him to the vet, and could stop second-guessing myself.
Furwise is what I built for that earlier version of myself. Every article starts from veterinary research and clinical guidelines, plus what I see firsthand at the clinic. The app turns all of that into a guide you can keep up with, there the moment you need it, so you spend less time searching and more time with your cat.
About me
I came from engineering. Ten years writing software, at Microsoft, Pinkoi, and TrendMicro, and I built the Furwise app myself. When it comes to cat health, I don't go on my own gut. Every claim has to trace back to a proper source, and when I can't find one, I just say there's no clear answer yet.
On top of that, I work part-time as an assistant at an animal hospital in Taipei. Being there every day, I get to see what owners are really going through, what they worry about, where they get stuck. I bring those observations into Furwise, to help you take better care of your cat at home.
Rewind to 2025, when Hennessy (阿軒) was diagnosed with feline lower urinary tract disease. At first I completely panicked. But after a proper conversation with the vet, a lot of reading at home to understand feline urinary problems, and getting clear on exactly what was going on with him, I slowly worked out how to help him through it, and felt far steadier than when it started. Those weeks taught me something: with enough knowledge, and a record of what's actually happening, you know how to handle whatever comes up. That's where Furwise came from.
So every time I sit down to write an article or work on the app, I picture the person on the other side of the screen, probably feeling exactly the way I did back then.
How an article gets written, and where I stop
Before I write anything, I do the homework. Each piece starts from clinical guidelines or peer-reviewed research, with places like Cornell Feline Health Center, ISFM / iCatCare, WSAVA, AAFP, and ACVS as common starting points. Every claim gets checked against at least two independent sources, and when they disagree, I put both views in and mark where they part ways. A lot of feline medicine simply isn't settled yet, and when that's the case, I write "no clear answer yet" rather than papering over it.
I'm not a veterinarian. Diagnosis and prescriptions are the vet's expertise, and they stay with the vet. Furwise is more about getting the before and after of a vet visit ready for you. Before you go, it keeps your day-to-day records and observations in one place and helps you understand the background, so you arrive knowing what to ask and your vet has real notes to work from. After you get home, it helps you make sense of what the vet said, so you know how to keep caring for your cat.
Veterinary research and recommendations keep moving, so I go back and update older articles to keep pace, adding what's missing and fixing what needs fixing, doing my best to keep what you read current. Every article shows the date it was last updated.
How the app helps you care for your cat
Furwise's Chinese name, 毛孩指南, literally means "a guide for your cat," and I want it to read like one written by someone who's been keeping cats for years. What I see at the clinic and what I've learned raising my own cat turn into the everyday things the app does for you. When vaccines, spay/neuter, deworming, or routine bloodwork are coming due, it reminds you. Symptoms, medication, and weight go in with a tap and are easy to pull back up later. If you have several cats, or several people helping out, you can share one account and keep the records up together. And behind every reminder is a sourced health article you can check.
Furwise is on the App Store.
Editorial commitments
Whether it's an article or the app, Furwise holds to these four rules.
Every medical claim must have a source
Peer-reviewed research and recognized clinical guidelines (Cornell Feline Health Center, WSAVA, iCatCare, ACVS, AAFP) are the only basis. No content lifted from pet-food brands. No SEO-built aggregator sites.
No money from pet food companies
Furwise doesn't accept payment from pet-food companies for editorial coverage of their products. This is a permanent commitment, not a temporary policy.
What I see at the clinic, shared with identities removed
When I see something at the animal hospital that's worth everyone knowing, I turn it into general guidance, but always de-identified, with nothing left that could point to a specific cat or owner.
Articles stay current
As new research emerges, older articles are revisited and updated. Every article carries its latest review date.
Contact
- LinkedIn: Chi-Yu Wu
- GitHub: @Hundao
- Email: [email protected]