Overview

Amazon enforces specific requirements for sellers listing veterinary diet products for dogs and cats. These specialized pet food items require veterinarian confirmation before they can be shipped to customers, adding an extra step to the fulfillment process that sellers must understand to avoid order issues and policy violations.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Veterinarian confirmation is mandatory — All veterinary diet products sold on Amazon must go through a verification process where the customer's veterinarian confirms the order before it can be shipped.
• Orders stay in pending status — Veterinary diet orders will remain in a pending state until Amazon completes the veterinarian confirmation, which delays normal shipping timelines.
• Unconfirmed orders get canceled — If Amazon cannot confirm the order with the customer's veterinarian, the order will be automatically canceled and the customer will be notified.
• US-only policy — This veterinarian confirmation process currently applies only to the US Amazon store.
• Listings must use existing catalog entries — Sellers must place their offers on pre-existing veterinary diet product listings rather than creating new ones.

How the Veterinarian Confirmation Process Works

When a customer purchases a veterinary diet product, Amazon collects information about their pet and their veterinarian during checkout. Amazon then reaches out to the veterinarian to confirm that the specific product is appropriate for the customer's pet. During this verification window, the order sits in a pending status and is not yet eligible for shipping. Once Amazon receives confirmation from the veterinarian, the order status updates and becomes eligible for shipping confirmation, at which point it appears in the seller's order report as ready to fulfill. This process exists because veterinary diets are formulated for animals with specific health conditions as diagnosed by a licensed veterinarian.

What Veterinary Diets Include

Veterinary diets are specialized dog and cat food products designed for the nutritional management of animals in various states of health. These products address specific medical conditions, illnesses, and related health issues that have been diagnosed by a veterinarian. Because these foods serve a medical purpose rather than being standard pet nutrition, Amazon requires that they be sold under the direction of a veterinarian. This policy ensures that pets receive appropriate nutrition for their diagnosed conditions and that sellers comply with industry standards for veterinary product distribution.