DEAR READERS: The COVID-19 pandemic pales before the enormity of the issue of plastic pollution. Plastics are burned in many countries, releasing dioxins and other chemicals into the air, many of which can cause cancer and birth defects and/or damage the lungs and brain. These chemicals eventually settle on the crops we eat and the surface waters we ultimately drink.

Plastics in our oceans break down into microparticles that are then found in the fish we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe, along with toxic chemicals that adhere to these microparticles.

Scientists have linked ocean microplastics with declines in ocean phytoplankton. Phytoplankton, along with zooplankton, which are also harmed by microplastics, are the foundation of the marine food chain (the other end of which is threatened by over-fishing). Plankton are a major source of atmospheric oxygen and also absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide -- ecological services similar to what our declining forests provide.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the socioeconomic recovery that must follow, should not distract us from the urgency of addressing the global crisis of plastic pollution: a petrochemical product whose harmful consequences were never considered, but which we must all face. For documentation, see my report “From Mineral Oil and Multiple Sclerosis to Plastics and Nanoparticles,” posted on drfoxonehealth.com.

DEAR DR. FOX: I read your answer to the person whose son, who visits occasionally, is allergic to the cat sometimes allowed into their home. About a month ago, I purchased Purina Pro Plan LiveClear, a food that somehow cuts cat allergens, and it works! My granddaughter no longer sneezes when she’s in areas where my cats play, and she can even pet them before she goes to bed at night.

Thought you should know of this great product. I’m NOT an employee of Purina, just a cat lover. -- N.J., Winston-Salem, North Carolina

DEAR N.J.: I am glad to hear that the LiveClear food helped reduce your granddaughter’s sneezing when she is around your cats. My concern is for the cats, who should not be fed exclusively on such dry kibble. For details, see the book “Big Kibble” by Shawn Buckley and Dr. Oscar Chavez.

I would give your cats some wet cat food (canned or freeze-dried, ideally organic) or my home-prepared diet for at least one meal a day.

N.J. REPLIES: Absolutely agree on the wet food! I believe that neither dogs nor cats would eat only dry “stuff” in the wild, so I feed all of them some wet food. I just put the Purina kibble out as a snack, and the cats seem to like it a lot.

BOOK REVIEW: GOLDSTEIN’S ‘SPIRIT OF ANIMAL HEALING’

After reading this book -- full title, “The Spirit of Animal Healing: An Integrative Medicine Guide for a Higher State of Wellbeing” by Dr. Marty Goldstein, published 2021 -- I feel less alone as a veterinarian. Indeed, I have been called “the pariah of the profession,” but this book advocates much of what I have been doing to improve the health and well-being of our animal companions over the past 50 years.

Written in an engaging, personal style that explains complex issues in simple language, this book puts in place the cornerstones of keeping animals healthy: preventing and treating many illnesses with complementary and alternative therapeutic modalities. This book will inspire pet owners, veterinary students and practitioners to join the holistic One Health revolution. This movement challenges the conventional approach of relying on ever-more vaccinations, antibiotics and other pharmaceutical products while ignoring the role of nutrition and nutraceuticals.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: I know that many of my Animal Doctor columns can be upsetting and alarming, but I hope they are also informative -- and sometimes inspiring. Now for something amusing, if not bemusing: namely, the research study entitled “Not the Cat’s Meow? The Impact of Posing With Cats on Female Perceptions of Male Dateability.”

The study was written by Lori Kogan (of Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) and Shelly Volsche (of Boise State University’s Department of Anthropology), and was published last year in the journal Animals -- though it really gained media traction around Valentine’s Day this year.

The authors summarize the study as follows:

“People use dating sites to look for both long-term and short-term potential partners. Previous research suggests that the presence of a pet may add to women’s perceptions of male attractiveness and dateability. This study sought to understand to what degree, if any, the presence of a cat has on women’s perceptions of men.

“Women responded to an online survey and rated photos of men alone and men holding cats on measures of masculinity and personality. Men holding cats were viewed as less masculine; more neurotic, agreeable, and open; and less dateable. These results varied slightly depending whether the women self-identified as a ‘dog person’ or a ‘cat person.’ This study suggests that a closer look at the effects of different companion species on perceived masculinity and dateability is warranted.”

As a lover of cats and dogs, I would suggest a “closer look” is indeed called for. In my opinion, many dog owners are not so much “masculine” as controlling and domineering, which one cannot do with cats. So I would advise people scrolling through dating apps to beware of making assumptions, good or bad, based on pictures of pets. And remember that anyone pictured embracing a feline companion is doing so on the cat’s terms -- not the human’s!

DEAR DR. FOX: I’ve heard that when dogs eat dirt, it often reflects some kind of mineral deficiency. But then, I’ve also heard and read a variety of different reasons for this behavior. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. -- C.F., Larkspur, California

DEAR C.F.: Geophagia, or the eating of soil, is a self-medicating behavior seen in many species, including humans. I regard the word “dirt” as a derogatory term indicative of our “civilized” ignorance of soil’s life-giving and sustaining nature. Various soils can be a rich source of trace minerals, and also of bacteria that may help keep the gut microbiome healthy.

Often termed “pica” when evidently compulsive, geophagia could be indicative of a dietary deficiency in essential nutrients -- notably iron in cases of anemia. It could also mean intestinal irritation/inflammation or indicate some parasitic infestation or bacterial imbalance, which geophagia may actually rectify. Many species share such nutritional wisdom: For example, elephants visit particular riverbanks to consume soils containing the minerals they need.

Now, our agricultural soils and the foods grown from them are increasingly deficient in various minerals. Contaminants like synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides kill the life in the soil that nurtures the crops that we hope will nurture us. For one, the herbicide glyphosate actually inhibits crops’ uptake of manganese and other essential nutrients. For this reason, part of achieving “Certified Organic” status is regenerating the quality of the soil on land previously used to produce conventional crops.

Until all farming methods are organically certified and our soil quality, health and productivity are restored, I believe in consuming fresh, whole, minimally processed foods, and in taking some synthetic vitamin and mineral supplements. I apply this same principle to feeding my dog. Some minerals are better absorbed than others -- calcium and magnesium citrate are superior to calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide, for example. The same is true for vitamins: Those in fresh fruits and vegetables are more digestible than synthetic vitamins, the overconsumption of which could cause health problems.

Some soils also contain considerable soluble fiber from decayed vegetation, which serves as a prebiotic. This is essential for the growth and sustenance of bacteria in the gut microbiome of animals, including us. This is why a high-fiber diet -- sourced from the soluble fiber in cereals, which the gut bacteria convert into beneficial short-chain fatty acids -- is good for us and our dogs.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I’m working with a former USDA veterinarian, who oversaw USDA inspection operations at one of the biggest hog slaughterhouses in the country, to document the fact that hogs are arriving at the slaughterhouse frozen solid. These animals are being transported in trucks moving at 70 mph at minus 40-degree temperatures.

I obtained a lot of documents from the USDA on numbers of antemortem-condemned hogs at numerous Midwestern plants -- but, not surprisingly, the agency doesn’t keep a record of those that were condemned because they froze to death. If you have any ideas, please let me know. We have to stop this. -- Gail Eisnitz, Humane Farming Association, San Rafael, California

DEAR G.E.: How terrible for the poor pigs. This is a chronic issue, as is the heat-stress/hyperthermia issue of our ever-hotter summers.

Decentralization of pig processing facilities was urged decades ago when there was vertical, corporate integration in the industry, so that the animals would be subjected to less travel (and associated stress) to the slaughterhouses. But that initiative went nowhere. Pigs dying en route are now written off -- recycled into pet foods and farm animal feed, as the industry’s economy of scale allows for such abuse and loss of life. Beef cattle, spent dairy cows and poultry fare little better in how they are handled and the distances and weather conditions they are often transported in.

It is surely up to the government to initiate retrofitting of livestock and poultry trucks to provide supplemental heat or cooling, as needed seasonally, and to ensure the animals -- already stressed by being packed tight and sometimes crushed and suffocated -- do not have the added stressors of cold exposure or high heat and humidity.

I applaud all the work you have done in this area, and urge all to read your well-documented book, “Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry.”

DEAR DR. FOX: My 11-month-old female Rottweiler puppy was diagnosed as being incontinent. She has no infection, and has been peeing in her sleep on and off. She was put on Proin, but it is upsetting her stomach, so I don’t want to continue.

I feed her your dog food recipe, and was wondering if there was anything I could add to her food to help control the incontinence. I really do not want her to be on meds her entire life. Looking for a holistic approach if possible! -- L.B., Tulsa, Oklahoma

DEAR L.B.: The problem of incontinence in young dogs like yours is all too common, and is most likely due to the hormonal deficiency caused by having her ovaries removed, which weakens the urinary bladder sphincter control.

Many dogs do not do well on the usual prescription of Proin offered by most veterinarians. All too often, it is of no benefit. There is no food additive that may help, to my knowledge.

One of our dogs, Tanza, developed this post-spay incontinence. The obvious solution was hormone-replacement medication, and a local compounding pharmacist provided what we needed (DES, short for diethylstilbestrol). Some veterinarians may throw up their hands and say this will cause cancer, but the dose is very low. We dosed her once weekly for four weeks, then once monthly for four months before tapering off to zero. Her incontinence never returned.

Check ahvma.org, the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, for a list of practitioners in your area who may be able to help you and your dog.

LOOK OUT FOR PET-SALE SCAMMERS

Scammers are using photos and testimonials from legitimate websites to create phony sites “selling” fictitious pets. The number of pet scams reported to the Better Business Bureau has risen from 884 in 2017 to an estimated 4,300 last year. Many of the scam sites collect payments using Western Union or money transfer apps. Unfortunately, says Jack Whittaker, co-administrator of Petscams.com, authorities don’t have much motivation to track down the scammers. (Full story: WCBD-TV, Charleston, South Carolina, Feb. 5)

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)