Natural, organic, green, eco-friendly, holistic — most of these words sit on pet products with no regulation behind them. Here’s what each one actually means.
A forest of buzz words
“Made in USA.” “Natural.” “Organic.” “Eco-Friendly.” “Green.” Walk into any pet shop and the shelves are covered in this language. Most of it is doing more work as marketing than as description.
For owners trying to make a genuine choice — and for retailers trying to give straight answers — it’s worth knowing which words mean something and which are decoration.
Eco-friendly
A general claim that a product or process inflicts minimal damage on the environment. The US Environmental Protection Agency has called the term useless as a way of judging whether a product is genuinely green. There is no certifying body and no official emblem.
If you see “eco-friendly” on a label, treat it as marketing. Look at the actual ingredients and the actual packaging.
Natural
A loose definition: a chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism and found in nature. The catch is that a substance can still be called “natural” even if it was produced by total synthesis — built from scratch in a lab — provided the final molecule also exists in nature.
The term is unregulated. It exists to suggest serene forests and clean rivers; it does not certify anything.
Organic
Heavily regulated, in contrast. In the EU, UK, US, Canada, Japan and a long list of other countries, producers must hold specific certification to label a product organic.
Certified organic production avoids:
- Most synthetic chemicals — fertilisers, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives
- Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
- Irradiation
- The use of sewage sludge
Certified manufacturers are subject to periodic on-site inspections. When you see a certified organic mark, it means something concrete.
Locally manufactured
A feel-good phrase. It implies “made nearby,” but isn’t defined or regulated. In a genuine sense, local manufacture means a lower carbon footprint — no shipping fuel burned moving the product across continents. As a guarantee of anything else, it’s marketing.
Green
“Green” marketing started in Europe in the early 1980s, when specific products were found to be harming the atmosphere. The idea: bring out alternatives that did less damage. Recyclable packaging, biodegradable materials, energy-efficient operations, better pollution controls.
The important word is less. “Green” is a relative term. It does not mean no damage is done, and it isn’t regulated. Greenwashing — slapping green-sounding language on a product without the substance to support it — is widespread.
Holistic
A treatment approach, not a label that should be sitting on a product. Holistic means treating the body as a whole system. An itch on the skin might genuinely originate in the gut. A coat problem might be a thyroid issue. Holistic vets look for the underlying cause rather than treating each symptom in isolation.
Homeopathic
A specific school of alternative medicine. The principle: substances that produce symptoms of illness in a healthy animal can have a curative effect when given in very dilute quantities to a sick animal showing those same symptoms. Like the holistic approach, homeopathy is classed as alternative medicine.
Naturopathy
Also called natural medicine — an alternative veterinary practice that avoids antibiotics and routine vaccinations in favour of supporting the body’s own healing systems.
The market — and the caution
The natural products market is large and growing. Trade shows have dedicated natural-and-organic sections, and owners increasingly search online specifically for these terms before they buy. Manufacturers know it. The pressure to appear natural — whether or not the formula actually is — is significant.
The honest advice: read the ingredient list. Look for the organic certification mark, not just the word “natural.” Be sceptical of “eco-friendly” with no evidence behind it. Caveat emptor.
Where Dermagic sits
Steroids relieve symptoms in the short term and carry a cumulative cost if they become the long-term strategy. Dermagic was built around a different premise: formulate on plant oils, aloe and sulphur, keep the surface clean, support the barrier, and let the skin and coat rebuild.
This is the page where we should hold ourselves to the hardest version of our own standard, so here is what has been cut from this section.
It used to say the products are formulated with “only safe, natural and certified organic ingredients”. Not true across the range: the liquid shampoo and conditioner contain synthetic ingredients, including phenoxyethanol as a preservative, and anything with water in it has to. The bars are the part of the range where that claim holds, because they contain no water at all. We publish the full labels in our shampoo and conditioner guide.
It used to say they “genuinely relieve itching” and “fight fungal and bacterial infection”. Both withdrawn. We cannot show an anti-itch action, and we do not claim our products kill organisms — a product that did make that claim would be presenting itself as a veterinary medicine.
It used to say the products are “veterinarian-approved”. Withdrawn, and this was the worst of them: there is no body that approves pet skincare, no approval we can point you to, and a claim like that implies an endorsement that does not exist.
What is left is checkable. They are made in the USA. They are free of sulphates and parabens. The bars are water-free and therefore preservative-free. And the ingredient lists are published — which, on a page about what “natural” and “organic” actually mean, is rather the point.
Start the treatment
DERMagic Skin Rescue Lotion
Genuinely natural skincare — dermagic.eu →For specific guidance email customerservice@dermagic.eu or call +44 7425 388643.