DEAR DR. FOX: In December 2011, my cat started making these coughing/sneezing sounds. Initially, the vet treated her with meds for respiratory issues; however, the cough/sneeze still continued sporadically.

In July 2012, I brought her to the Garden State Veterinary Specialists hospital and an internal medicine specialist saw her. This doctor had my cat get three X-rays, and it appeared that her lungs were a bit cloudy, as if there was a respiratory problem. The doctor prescribed a short term of prednisolone at a very low dosage. This seemed to help. After some time after, Cat started up with the noises again.

In October, another vet saw her and followed up with an X-ray and re-prescribed prednisolone. Again, this worked. In late December, Cat's vet decided to put her on Clavamox. For six weeks, there were no coughing/sneezing episodes, but they started again in early February. Now Cat is on clindamycin in the event she has an infection. The vet also included low-dosage prednisolone for the possibility of inflammation. Neither of these helped.

She was given an ultrasound of her heart, and that doctor did not see any abnormalities. Between that specialist and the regular vet, it was decided that she was showing symptoms of lungworm. She was put on Pure C for 10 days -- it did not work, and a lab test of her feces showed no parasites.

I brought Cat to see the first specialist this week. It seems that the only recourse now is shoving a camera into both her throat and lungs to see what might be hovering in either location. With my permission, she would do a "wash" of the lungs if nothing appears, or a biopsy if something is found. HELP!

Your expertise is needed here -- I am terribly concerned for my 9.8 pound, almost 13-year-old cat. She acts perfectly normal in every way: She's still playful, eats and drinks normal amounts and gets her beauty sleep. And, being a native Californian, she loves to sunbathe on back of furniture wherever the sun is shining. -- T.M., Sacramento, Calif.

DEAR T.M.: As you may gather from my newspaper columns and website, I take a radically conservative approach to many feline health problems because cats can be stressed terribly by various diagnostic procedures.

Cats have sensitive respiratory systems, and various virus infections take their toll; I advocate rhinotracheitis and calicivirus vaccinations. But your cat, otherwise behaving normally, may be having a normal lung reaction to some inflammatory agent -- the buildup of fluid leading to bouts of wheezing and coughing. Consider a possible food allergy or an allergy to inhaled volatile synthetic fragrances. Do some detective work, and transition her onto a raw-food or home-prepared diet.

Cats can get lungworms when they eat birds and other animals who have eaten infective snails. This is yet another reason to keep cats indoors and not allow them out.

PURINA DOG FOOD RECALL

Nestle Purina PetCare is voluntarily recalling a limited number of 3.5-pound bags of its Purina ONE beyOnd Our White Meat Chicken & Whole Barley Recipe Adult Dry Dog Food from a single production run. The product is contaminated with salmonella.

For further information or to obtain a product refund, call NPPC toll-free at 1-800-473-8546, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

(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.)

DEAR DR. FOX: After having three healthy dogs over the years, I adopted a 15-month-old rescue dog. One vet said it's possible he has irritable bowel syndrome. I am not committed to supporting a sickly dog, so I hope to get this problem corrected. Two vets have suggested canned pumpkin. This works if the dog eats all of his food; however, if he doesn't, the problem is assured to manifest immediately.

My dog's first bowel movement of the day is normal. The second is characterized by straining (sometimes yelping that I assume indicates pain), mucus-textured bowel movement, concluding with further straining resulting in wet droplets. This is frowned upon at the dog park because it is interpreted as evidence of an owner who is lax in providing medical attention for her dog.

Regardless of the number of walking/dog park opportunities he is presented per day (usually four), the dog's bowels move on average only twice a day. Is there some kind of fix for this condition? -- A.R., Washington, D.C.

DEAR A.R.: If your veterinarian ran no fecal tests to rule out parasites, did not try a short course of treatment with metronidazole or Tylosin and only suggested you give your dog canned pumpkin, I would take your dog to another animal doctor.

Check my website, DrFoxVet.com, for details on the various factors that can trigger this common animal condition and its various treatments. These can range from a diet free of grain/cereal to giving psyllium husks, digestive enzymes and probiotics in the food. Peppermint tea can be beneficial for dogs and humans alike. This is also true for fenugreek, aloe vera and ginger. Veterinarians are leading the human medical profession in using fecal transplants from healthy donors to help animals in need of gut microbiome replenishment, especially after prolonged antibiotic treatments.

DEAR DR. FOX: Our 3-year-old bulldog has a serious problem. He has a kink in his tail, which makes it necessary to clean him after he does his business. It's not a problem for him or for us, but he has developed a hot spot at the base of his tail on top so he can't stand to be touched. Our vet has prescribed cleaning the spot twice a day with diluted Nolvasan, applying Vetericyn on the area two times daily and giving him cephalexin every 12 hours and Previcox once daily as needed for discomfort.

Someone also suggested removing his tail. It sounds like a terrible thing to do. He is in so much pain. Do you have advice for us? -- M.G., Ridgefield, Conn.

DEAR M.G.: Your poor dog who is suffering from the consequences of generations of selective breeding for these kinds of deformities. Bulldogs do need high maintenance for skin-fold dermatitis, chronic respiratory distress and eye problems associated with ectropion, all of which should be eliminated by breeding longer-muzzled, smaller-headed bulldogs with fewer wrinkles.

A healing application of dermatological aloe vera ointment may help. You can also try a mixture of essential oils applied two to three times daily at the ratio of 5 drops each of frankincense, myrrh and helichrysum in 100 drops of olive oil. The ultimate cure may well be corrective surgery. Imagine the discomfort and psychological effects of feeling pain every time he tries to wag his tail.

(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.)

DEAR DR. FOX: A year or so ago, Marco, our 11-year-old standard poodle, began to pant a lot while walking and during other nonstressful circumstances. Sometimes he'd gag as well.

This condition, especially the panting, has gotten worse over time, and our veterinarian concluded it is due to paralysis of the larynx, or "dropped larynx," which he said sometimes occurs in large, older dogs. He told us to raise Marco's food and water dishes and take care that he doesn't get overheated, but that the condition is progressive. There's not much we can do about it except for having a "tie-back" surgery performed by an experienced, board-certified surgeon.

For about a month now we have tried working with another vet who does acupuncture, homeopathy and chiropractic with the hope of slowing this down, if not stopping its progress, to no avail -- it seems to be getting worse. So we are contemplating the surgery.

We would be grateful for any suggestions or comments you might have regarding this condition and how it might be treated. We'd never heard of it before and cannot find much research about it when searching the Internet. Marco is healthy otherwise. -- J.S., Ashland, Ore.

DEAR J.S.: This disorder is serious and is often accompanied by hypothyroidism in older dogs. It can have a genetic basis and occurs as a congenital disorder in some breeds, such as the Siberian husky, and as a degenerative neurological disorder in dalmatians and rottweilers.

Elevating food and water bowls is very important to help prevent inhalation of food and fluids when the larynx does not function properly and the poor dog is gasping for air, which can lead to pneumonia.

Surgical correction through suturing one side of the larynx so that some of the collapsed cartilages are pulled to one side in order to make breathing easier is the best approach. No surgical procedure is without risk, and complications can occur, but performed by an experienced surgeon, your dog could have a new lease on life. Otherwise, he might suffer partial asphyxia, which this condition causes, to the point of collapse after even mild activity. The suture-widened larynx will make breathing easier, but the risk of pneumonia will remain.

DEAR DR. FOX: I acknowledge you've written about the risks of toxic plants, but I don't remember seeing anything discussing moss. Not the shade-loving, dense form, but the kind that looks a bit like slimy snot when lifted from wet rocks or perpetually wet areas.

For several years, our backyard has had a problem from runoff coming from a neighbor's pool. To their credit, they've tried to repair the pool and berm landscape; however, the water seems to have no boundaries, and the problem has gotten worse.

My concern here is that our dog -- our third in just a few years -- is suffering identical problems that our first two went through. He's constantly licking his paws and legs to a point of hot spots, and he has foamy hacking and frequent bowel movements. How do you test for toxic organisms in moss? My vet has only been able to treat the symptoms.

Our first dog lived for two years after we moved here. Our second dog only lived to be 4 years old. Our third is 6 years old now. When he was 3, he started developing focal seizures that seem to come about only in the rainy season and summer months. This dog has had greater exposure to the slime.

We've attempted to fix the problem with landscape solutions, but the water continues to surface, killing the grass and taking over the swath of ground our dog runs on. I'm perplexed as to a solution, short of building a bridge.

Is the moss what's making our pets' health compromised? Please let me know what you make of this. -- C.B., Clayton, Mo.

DEAR C.B.: Some pool chemicals, especially chlorine compounds, could cause serious dermatitis and possibly seizures. But the "moss" that you describe is most probably a species of algae that can be toxic to dogs -- it causes liver damage, nausea, vomiting and seizures. That is why I advise people to never allow their dogs to drink from standing water in the summer months when algae bloom. Blue-green algae are especially hazardous.

You need to get to the bottom of this health hazard with your neighbor. Where there's standing water with slimy, potentially toxic algae, there can also be botulism bacteria, producing one of the most deadly poisons to humans and other animals. Our communities would be generally healthier without swimming pools, lawns and golf courses, and with more attention to creating more environmentally friendly, chemical-free environments.

(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.)