I get asked this question probably more than anything else is—how do you know what their quality of life is? And I think the best way I can answer it is, does your cat still do the things that they've always enjoyed doing? Does your cat still do the things that made them your cat, for lack of a better way to put it? It's different for every animal. Some cats enjoy eating, some enjoy chasing toys, some enjoy chasing a laser, and some like to sit at a window and wish they could chase the sparrows and squirrels outside. Whatever it is, can your animals still enjoy the day-to-day routines that are its life? Do they still behave the same way? Do they still get excited about the same things? If those things happen, then I would say that animal probably still has a fair quality of life. There are variations with everything, of course, but that's probably the most tangible message that I try to convey to people. They're going to lose weight as they age. They're perhaps not going to eat as much. Maybe they drink a little more. Those are all factors as well, but at the end of the day when we're making an end-of-life decision, it’s about whether they can still do the things that they've always enjoyed doing.

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.