Definitely one of the biggest ways would be to give flea and tick preventatives all year round.

I do believe so. Although we do have a lot of clients who say that there aren't any fleas and ticks at home that they can see, sometimes the fleas do kind of track on those shoes and when we come into our house, they can also be there. Some of our clients have dogs as well as cats. And even if their cats are indoors almost constantly, sometimes the dogs can bring in the fleas and ticks as well.

Let's talk about cancer. Testicular cancer in a male dog can't happen if he doesn't have testicles. Ovarian cancer in a female dog can't happen if you don't have ovaries. So those kinds of things are true. So the most common thing, and the most realistic thing that we do see is pyometra. Pyometra is the medical term for an infection of the uterus itself. And oftentimes it is a very large, distended pus-filled uterus that can become life threatening, especially if it's a closed pyometra. Closed means the cervix is closed, so the infection doesn't drain out. It just stays in the dog and they become very ill very quickly. That is serious. And it's not all that uncommon. After a female dog comes into heat, the cervix tends to relax or open, and it's much easier for bacteria to get in there and kind of wreak havoc. Spaying or neutering, can it fix that? Yes, because when we spay them, I'm sorry, it is an ovariohysterectomy, meaning we take the ovaries and the uterus. Everything from the cervix beyond is no longer there. So those dogs are now incapable of really developing a uterine pyometra beyond that point. Long answer to a good question, but hopefully that clears up a few things for you guys.

Hmm. That could also be for a variety of reasons. I mean, the first thing that comes to my mind is senility. I don't want to say Alzheimer's because that's not really a condition we document in dogs, but it certainly happens. It could be from being painful as well. If they're laying on a hard floor or hard surface and they're arthritic, there's not as much muscle there to provide cushion or support, so it could mean that they are in pain. It could simply be a dog that just misses you and doesn't want to be away from you at night, so it’s hard to say for sure. Definitely get the animal looked at and have some blood work run, so that way, if there is something underlying, you can catch it early and address it.