I would recommend it unless there's some reason why not to do so in their history. It's always good to have that immunity on board, especially for our older patients if they can tolerate the vaccines. It’s beneficial for them to have that extra immunity against diseases.

Spaying or neutering can help because sometimes testosterone and estrogen can affect marking. However, if this is happening, I highly recommend that you bring your animal to the veterinarian because there can be some other medical conditions as well.

Maybe a male dog who is becoming territorial. So the answer to that question could possibly be yes. If you had an intact male dog that was urinating in your house, then absolutely I would recommend neutering him and see if that curbs that unwanted behavior. A female is a little less prone to do so based on territorial reasons. Usually you have either a bladder infection or just a not so well trained dog. So they can help is the short answer, but I wouldn't hang my hat on that for certain.

Possibly. There could be a medical issue with your pet. It could be a urinary infection. They could have bladder stones. There could be anxiety. There are many reasons that spaying or neutering would not help but, if they are marking, then yes, changing their hormones could be a big benefit for that. After a full medical workup, then we may recommend that as a way to fix it.

Well, that's one I actually hear quite a lot. There's really no health advantage to letting your dog have one litter. We like to keep looking like puppies and kittens. If you let them have litters, they're less puppy-like. There is a significant increase in the risk of mammary tumors in pets if you wait for them to have a heat cycle. The published rate goes from about 99 down to 95% as prevention of breast cancer if you wait for them to have the heat cycle.

I would recommend not doing that. Breeding animals can be complicated. Also, I used to work at a low-cost spay-neuter clinic as well, and so I've seen that we have a significant overpopulation of animals. I would recommend that, if you love your dog, spay her before her first litter so she has less of a risk to have breast cancer.

Yes, certainly the accommodations we were talking about to the environment—make it brighter, make it less slippery, and make fewer steps. Nutritionally, we're going to want to probably have foods with fewer calories in it and less protein so it’s safer for the kidneys. We’ll also probably want to add joint supplements to their foods so that the older and larger breed dogs get help with their arthritis. There's a lot we can do and adjustments we can make as they get older.

Yes, you certainly know that an older dog can still get Lyme disease. A tick is going to get on an older dog just as much as a younger dog. A mosquito can bite them the same, whether they're old or young. So they still need to be on heartworm prevention. They still need to be on flea and tick preventatives. They still need their vaccines. They need to be protected, even by law, against rabies. And particularly they need to have a physical exam every year so that we can identify problems like whether they can see and hear, and what their teeth look like, if their heart and lungs are normal, if they have a murmur, and if they’ve gained weight. So we can talk about these things together and make a plan so that they be healthier throughout their golden years.

No. Just in case that wasn't clear on tape, no. No. There's no evidence or proof that that is a positive thing. Look, I grew up with people telling me that my whole life. "Oh, I heard it's a good thing to let them have a litter," and the simple fact is, there's no truth to that. I will tell you that in recent years, certain research has come out that shows that large breed dogs may benefit from not being spayed or neutered until closer to that year of age. Okay? You can find plenty of information about that if you look, and I think there's some truth to it. What it implies is that dogs that are spayed or neutered at a later age have a less likely chance of developing hip dysplasia, or if they do develop it, they don't develop it as early. So that's very intriguing to me. I have to heed that and I do want to pay attention to that. At the same time, normally I will spay or neuter animals before their first heat cycle. Why? Because there are also studies that show that with every heat cycle that a female dog goes through, she is more likely to develop mammary cancer later in life. So which way do you go? It varies on personal opinion. It varies depending on the veterinarian that you use. But for the average case, usually before the first heat cycle is when it's done on females and about six to seven months or so on a male as well.

Absolutely is my answer to that one, although there are certain vaccinations that may be able to be slowed down or not given with as much frequency perhaps as the dog ages. For instance, I'm not really worried about Parvo in a 13-year-old Labrador as I would be in a 13-week-old Labrador. Your veterinarian will use their discretion to decide if those things are still necessary or not. Preventative care, absolutely. I consider preventative care to be things such as routine blood work, heartworm prevention, flea control, and other things like that.