Dogs can do so. I think there are one to two AAFCO-approved vegan dog diets on the market. However, my question is, why? Dogs are not vegans. I know that certainly some of us decide to adopt vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. I'm one of them. But I try not to impose those sorts of restrictions or views on my dog because that's just not the way their biology is set up. I'd encourage you to talk to your veterinarian if you're thinking about a vegan diet for your dog and really weigh the pros and cons in these situations.

As for the options at home, oftentimes those will be oral medications. We may give something injectable in the clinic or in the hospital, but to go home, we usually give oral medications.

Great question. Yes. All the dogs should be current on their vaccinations for that area in Maryland or wherever you are. It's going to be distemper and rabies and bordatella and sometimes canine influenza.

And, yes, they absolutely need to be on flea and tick control as well. We don't want to spread any fleas from one dog to the next. And when groomers require that, then every dog can go into a grooming facility safely and come back cleaner and brighter than when they went in.

The most common one is that wet food will actually cause harm to the cat's teeth or isn't good for their dental health. However, there's really no difference between your average dry food and your average canned food in terms of dental health effects. The only foods that are going to help with dental health in cats are specifically designed to help with dental health. Otherwise, most aspects of dental health are affected by genetics, so feeding canned food won't necessarily make things worse. It may not make things better, but it’s not something to worry about. Another myth related to this is that cats need to have dry food in their diet. And that's absolutely not true. Cats can live on a canned food diet only. And in some cats, that's an excellent option for maintaining weight and health.

Most of the time. There are very few cats that can handle the open buffet at all times, but just like the rest of us, having food out in front of you all the time is a recipe for becoming overweight. So it's best to meal feed, not only to keep them at a healthy weight but also because meal feeding allows us to add enrichment to their diet as we chatted about before.

Weight comes down to calories in versus calories out, so if we're feeding a full calorie count with cat food and then adding human foods on top, we will end up with an overweight kitty. However, if we're being aware of how many calories are going into our kitty each day, and maybe reducing some of the kibble when we want to give a little treat with some boiled chicken or something like that, that's fine. You just want to be aware that some foods are maybe not the best for cats. Limit the amount of dairy they take in because sometimes they're not tolerant of dairy. I would also not feed anything that's high salt or high fat, as that could cause stomach upset.