DEAR DR. FOX: Without a computer keyboard, I must revert to an old-fashioned letter requesting information on your book, "Supercat." I read your column in my local paper.

I found three kittens in a window ledge four years ago. Their eyes were half open, so apparently they were just born. My wife and I fed them from a bottle. We have learned to love them. One was killed, so there are two remaining. The female loves me, and the male loves my wife -- I guess that's the way it should be.

We are looking forward to hearing from you and obtaining information pertaining to "Supercat." -- W.C.G., Cumberland, Md.

DEAR W.C.G.: You did well hand-feeding those orphaned kittens. Now you are enjoying the fruits of your compassion.

My "Animal Doctor" column reaches out to many parts of the U.S., and letters from readers give me hope that there are good, caring people out there looking out for the well-being of animals.

A number of my readers do not have computers to access the many books I've written concerning animals and nature. All you need to find my books is my name and the book title. Go to your local bookstore, and someone there can order you a copy from the publisher -- if it's not on the shelves.

It is very helpful for all prospective pet owners to read up about the basic needs and proper care of the animal they have in their homes, from cats and dogs to guinea pigs and goldfish. Everyone with an animal has a duty to provide proper care.

Real books are almost becoming a thing of the past as people surf the Internet for information and purchase e-books that they can read on their computer screen. Several of my own books (including the old best-sellers "Understanding Your Dog" and "Understanding Your Cat") are now available for a nominal fee in e-book format. This is the wave of the future -- and it does save trees!

DEAR DR. FOX: My 3-year-old female pug has had three urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the past six months. We finally seem to have gotten rid of the last one after a six-week round of antibiotics. However, after the antibiotics, she still had struvite crystals in her urine. Also, the antibiotics make her sick, so she vomits after most of her meals.

Her vet would like her to be on a prescription diet, but that contains ingredients that she doesn't do well on (chicken). I would also like to avoid the dry kibble if at all possible. I feed her a homemade diet. She gets a variety of meats; she gets acid reflux with poultry, but eats beef, buffalo, lamb and salmon. I alternate her veggies among broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans and squash. She gets either rice or oatmeal. She takes a multivitamin daily. Since she was having UTIs, I added cranberry powder to her diet.

A friend told me that I shouldn't give her rice or oatmeal. Is that a problem? Do you have any other advice? I tried the diet on your website and she likes it as long as I leave out the kelp. Should I be doing anything else? -- K.B., Alexandria, Va.

DEAR K.B.: Certain breeds seem to be more prone to develop struvite crystals and stones (uroliths) than others. But two main contributing factors are too much alkaline in the diet and the dog not drinking sufficient water. Those are easily fixable.

Give your dog a canned dog food and also a home-prepared diet minus any cereals or grains -- these tend to make the urine alkaline, which potentiates struvite crystal formulation. Cat and dog foods with high fiber contents -- often used to help reduce weight in obese pets -- may also promote struvite crystal formulation.

For more details about this common problem in dogs and cats, see my website, DrFoxVet.com. In the latest versions of my home-prepared foods, I have omitted the seaweed ingredient (kelp) because of concerns over heavy metal contamination and excess iodine affecting thyroid function.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 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 DrFoxVet.com.)

This July, an international consortium of behavioral and brain scientists at a Cambridge, England, conference wrote "The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness." This document asserts that animals -- mammals, birds and even insects and cephalopod mollusks (e.g., octopus) -- possess states of attentiveness and sleep; have decision-making abilities; can experience emotional states much as humans do; and, like us, are conscious beings possessing awareness and exhibiting deliberate, intentional behaviors. From my own doctoral research on behavior, development and the effects of domestication of dogs compared to wolves, coyotes and foxes, I can assert that wolves are fundamentally no different from our domesticated canine companions in terms of their awareness and capacity to establish enduring emotional bonds associated with empathy. They show devoted caregiving behavior to their young and to injured companions, and mourn their death. Just like the family dog, wolves show fear, anxiety, depression, joyful anticipation, affectionate greeting and playful invitation.

Millions of people who love their dogs have a natural affinity and respect for the wolf. Others reject "big, bad wolf" folklore because they know something about wolf intelligence and highly evolved cooperative pack society and social dynamics. In the words of naturalist Henry Breston, wolves, like other creatures, "are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."

Many Minnesotans who embrace such sentiment and ethics voiced opposition to proposed legislation to legalize the trapping and trophy hunting of wolves, knowing how these animals would suffer from such human predation. Nineteen days after Gov. Mark Dayton signed an omnibus bill approving this legislation, the state's Department of Natural Resources announced that it would accept public comments directed to its website, but that there would be no final public hearing. Some 5,809 people opposed and 1,542 supported what the governor had signed, though it was too late for any repeal or referendum.

Just because wolves are wild, why should they not enjoy the same protection under state animal welfare statutes as our dogs -- they are no less sentient and can suffer the same way. Wolves who are shot and not killed instantly suffer injuries leading to a slow death or become permanently disabled. Those caught in traps and snares will be in agony and terror before they escape by chewing off a paw or are killed by the trapper. The emotional loss and social strife to packmates losing leaders and relatives would be detrimental to pack integrity, hunting success and survival.

The law now recognizes that dogs can suffer physically and psychologically and are not mere objects of personal property but subjects of considerable emotional value, worthy of compensation in cases of neglect, cruelty and killing. Any person deliberately trapping or snaring dogs or shooting them for sport would be liable for prosecution. That wolves are now essentially state property, no longer protected by the government as an endangered or threatened species, does not erase the fact that the wolf is of great emotional, aesthetic and spiritual significance as a symbol of all that is wild and free. Wolves serve as a sacred totem to traditional Native Americans -- many of whom voiced opposition to Minnesota's wolf hunting and trapping legislation.

To ecologists and conservationists, the wolf is an indicator species of healthy ecosystems and one of the best wildlife managers, keeping deer herds healthy through population control. In Minnesota, this can mean competition with 250,000 deer hunters, so hungry wolves prey on livestock, for which farmers are compensated by the state. In 2011, almost 250 wolves were killed for preying on livestock and entering private land. Add this figure to the proposed hunting and trapping limit of 400 wolves out of a questionable, if not overestimated, population of 3,000 wolves in Minnesota, it is possible that one quarter of the Minnesota wolf population could be killed and injured in the 2012 hunting and trapping season.

With a reported 23,000 hunters and trappers paying $4 to enter the lottery for a wolf killing license to the Department of Natural Resources, wolves will help replenish state coffers. In-state residents -- 98 percent of those getting licenses -- will pay $30 if they win a license, and out-of-state winners will pay $250. "Wildlife must pay its own way," and "regulated hunting is the best conservation" are wildlife farming claims that amount to a death tax on the wolf, whose killing by sport hunters in Alaska is touted by outfitters as "helping with predator control."

Wolves are regarded as state property on public lands, but public trust is betrayed when the protection of wolf and wilderness is sacrificed for the pleasure and profit of an anarchistic minority whose ethically unexamined activities are sanctioned by the laws they enact to justify and protect what they deem culturally acceptable. Anarchism, the antithesis of democratic process, flourishes when policymakers dismiss public polls and referendums because of the demographic bias of larger urban versus rural populations. Wolves have been long vilified, persecuted and feared, often for understandable reasons in times past. They are a highly evolved species, far more ancient than we humans, with their own social rituals, affiliations and intelligent survival strategies. Surely we can evolve ourselves as a society and culture to put an end to killing them for sport and for their fur -- reasons legitimized not by science or ethics, but by the principles of power, profit and pleasure.

I like to believe that we, as a species and a nation, are not incapable of working toward peace and harmony with other nations and species. Our relationship with the wolf today may well predict our own future and fate of the Earth, which will be determined by the measure of our compassion, humility and respect for all beings, human and nonhuman, domestic and wild.

The politics of exploitation and extinction of species, ecosystems and cultures is the antithesis of a democracy of spirit and of laws that give equally fair consideration to protecting the rights and interests of all beings. Transcultural and transspecies democracy is altruism's enlightened self-interest, which translates into justice and freedom for all.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 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 www.twobitdog.com/DrFox.)

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DEAR DR. FOX: When he was 2 years old, my now 7-year-old Persian cat, Bootsie, had urethral bypass surgery after a month of overnight visits to the vet, catheter insertions and lots of pain. He came out of the surgery very well and was put on Royal Canin SO Urinary Diet, both dry and canned, which he devours. He is a large cat and weighs just under 15 pounds, with at least a pound of fur coat. (I count calories on his behalf.)

For the last two years or so, I have noticed that he scoots his bottom across the floor after leaving the litter box. I routinely check his anal glands and depress them when necessary, and he goes to the groomer and/or vet for sanitary clips. However, the hairs around his surgery-created opening for urination attract fecal matter and get stuck inside that opening. I try to keep that area clean, and clip and remove the hairs using a cotton swab and Vaseline, but it is an ongoing problem. The vet did tell me that when doing the surgery, the skin in that area was folded inward, and this probably is causing the problem.

Bootsie has survived five years since that surgery, and he is frisky, happy, affectionate and very loved. I suppose I shouldn't worry about this, but I can't help wondering if there is something else I should be doing for him. -- B.T., Reston, Va.

DEAR B.T.: You and your Persian cat have indeed been through the proverbial medical mill, with veterinary care needed in large part because of his genetic background. This can increase susceptibility to such health issues as urinary tract blockage, which in turn can be aggravated by dry cat foods, in particular, and the failure of many cats to drink enough water.

I am impressed that you and your cat can deal with the recurring anal gland problem. I would encourage you to purchase some good clippers and have the veterinarian show you how to do the sanitary clips. This would eliminate the stress and expense of taking your cat out for such maintenance care.

Daily cleaning with moist baby wipes impregnated with soothing aloe vera may prove beneficial. Squeezing the anal glands too frequently can cause inflammation and increased secretion, so I would give that treatment a break for a while.

DEAR DR. FOX: A few months ago, I felt a lump in my dog Jackson's throat that was about the size of a pingpong ball.

Jackson is almost 14 years old and is a black Labrador retriever who weighs about 80 pounds. His vet aspirated some cells and determined the lump to be lymphoma. A second opinion from a lab determined it to be melanoma.

His vet has been wonderful in her care of Jackson. She has given him five to six months to live. He has already lost about 10 pounds. His appetite is still good, and we take long walks every day. He is on prednisone.

I feed him Blue Buffalo Senior dry dog food with 1/4 can of Merrick wet food mixed in. He also gets garlic and yeast tablets, along with glucosamine every day. He is also being treated for an ear infection.

My heart is breaking for him. What else can I do to make the time we still have together more comfortable for him? -- S.C., Charlottesville, Va.

DEAR S.C.: My sympathies go out to you and your old dog. You should check with the oncology department at the excellent veterinary college in Blacksburg, Va., or your vet can do so. The vets there may have some potentially promising and not too costly treatments for his common canine cancer. They may recruit you and your dog to evaluate new treatments, a worthwhile contribution for the future benefit of cancer victims and a more humane, if not scientifically sound, alternative to inducing cancer in dogs and other animals held captive in research laboratories.

Spend time with your veterinarian exploring some of the promising anti-cancer herbal supplements, ranging from local applications of frankincense to oral turmeric, various mushrooms and antioxidant nutraceuticals.

(Send all mail to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106, or send email to animaldocfox@gmail.com. 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 www.twobitdog.com/DrFox.)