Meet the Vet Behind Ipromea, Dr Claire Stevens
- by Alexandria Mamo
When we set out to build Ipromea, we knew we needed more than just good science. We needed someone who understood pets inside and out. Someone who had spent years listening to worried pet parents, treating sick dogs and cats, and seeing first hand what works and what doesn't when it comes to gut health. That person is Dr Claire Stevens.
Claire is a practising Australian veterinarian, a published author, a familiar face in the media, and the proud mum of two young boys (plus a very spoiled Golden Retriever). She's the vet who endorses every product in the Ipromea range, and her fingerprints are all over the way we think about pet health.
Here's a bit more about the woman behind the white coat.
From Far North Queensland to the Consult Room
Claire grew up in Far North Queensland with a deep love of animals. That passion led her to veterinary science, and over the course of her career she has owned and operated three veterinary practices. That's not just treating animals. It's hiring staff, managing budgets, calming nervous pet owners at 10pm on a Tuesday, and making tough calls when things go wrong.
Those years on the clinic floor gave Claire a perspective that you simply can't get from a textbook. She has seen the real-world impact of diet on pet health, watched dogs recover from chronic digestive issues once their gut bacteria were properly supported, and heard the same worried questions from pet parents over and over again.
That hands-on experience is exactly what makes her partnership with Ipromea so valuable. When Claire looks at a product formulation, she's not thinking about it from a lab bench. She's thinking about whether it will actually help the dog sitting on her consult room table.
A Trusted Voice in Australian Pet Health
Outside the clinic, Claire has built a reputation as one of Australia's most trusted veterinary voices. She is a regular commentator across major Australian media outlets, contributing expert opinion to print, radio and television.
She's also a certified CPD (Continuing Professional Development) provider with the Australian Veterinary Association, which means she teaches other vets. Her course on Effective Consultation and Communication Skills helps veterinarians become better communicators, better practitioners, and ultimately better advocates for the animals they treat.
Why this matters for Ipromea: When we say our products are vet recommended, we mean recommended by a vet who has spent over a decade in clinical practice, who teaches other vets, and who has built her career on evidence-based animal care. That's a standard we take seriously.
Published Author and Educator
In 2020, Claire published her first book, Love Your Dog. It's a practical, no-nonsense guide for pet parents covering everything from diet and vaccinations to behaviour and common canine diseases. The book has been well received by readers across Australia and is available from Booktopia, Amazon, and bookstores nationwide.
More recently, she turned her attention to younger readers. Her children's book, Gross Things Animals Eat, takes a fun and slightly disgusting approach to science education for primary school kids. It transforms animal biology into something outrageous, funny, and educational, which is a pretty good summary of Claire herself.
She also runs The Ultimate Puppy Parent Course, an online program packed with tutorials, videos and checklists to help new puppy owners navigate those overwhelming first months without the guesswork.
Dr Claire Stevens and Brodie with Ipromea's probiotic pet health product 2-in-1 Oral and Gut Health Dog Chews for Large Dogs
Why Probiotics? Why Now?
The science behind pet gut health has come a long way in the last decade. We now know that the stomachs of domestic animals contain trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi, collectively known as the microbiome. Research has linked disruptions to this microbiome with a range of health issues in dogs and cats, from digestive upsets and skin conditions to weakened immunity and behavioural changes.
Claire was an early advocate for taking the microbiome seriously in veterinary practice. She saw the parallels with human health, where probiotics and gut health have become mainstream topics, and recognised that the same principles applied to our pets.
That conviction is what brought her to Ipromea. Our range of probiotic products, from the Probiotic Dog Treats (formerly Beg n' Bark) and 2-in-1 Oral and Get Chews (formerly Poochy Pegs) for large and small dogs to the Tummy Time Liquid Probiotics inner health broth, are all built on real science. Every product is manufactured at a TGA/cGMP facility in Australia and powered by our patented Zoonatant postbiotic technology. Claire's endorsement isn't a marketing arrangement. It's a genuine alignment of values between a vet who cares deeply about animal health and a company built to deliver on that promise.
A Mum, a Dog Lover, and a Golden Retriever Enthusiast
If you follow Claire on social media (and you should), you'll quickly notice two things. First, she really loves Golden Retrievers. Second, she brings the same warmth and honesty to her online presence as she does to her veterinary practice.
She's a mum of two young boys, a volunteer with Story Dogs Australia (a program that uses therapy dogs to help children build reading confidence), and someone who genuinely believes that pets make our lives better. She donates a portion of proceeds from her projects to support therapy dogs and literacy programs for Aussie kids.
That combination of clinical expertise, genuine compassion, and a refusal to take shortcuts is what makes Claire the perfect fit for Ipromea.
"We owe it to our animals to take great care of them."
— Dr Claire Stevens
What This Means for You
When you pick up a bag of Probiotic Dog Treats or pour some Tummy Time Liquid Probiotic broth over your dog's dinner, you're choosing a product that has been reviewed and endorsed by a vet with real clinical experience. Not a faceless lab coat, but a Gold Coast mum who has spent her career helping animals live healthier, happier lives.
That's the Ipromea difference. Science you can trust, recommended by a vet you can trust.
