DEAR DR. FOX: My girlfriend gives my little Yorkie a large spoonful of sour cream every night. She says it's no problem, but I'm not sure. What do you say? -- H.L., St. Louis

DEAR H.L.: I appreciate your concern for your girlfriend's indulgence of your little dog. Yorkies can have a lot of genetic and other health problems, especially when it comes to their teeth. A better evening ritual would be a teeth cleaning with a doggie dental brush or finger cot designed for this purpose. Doggy-friendly toothpaste is available in pet stores.

Organic sour cream would be preferable to conventional because the latter will probably be lower in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, and is likely from cows injected with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, which is prohibited in Europe for consumer health reasons.

A tablespoon of organic kefir or plain yogurt might be a healthier choice for this little dog; you could also try a thimble of organic butter from free-range dairy cows plus a few drops of organic flax seed oil mixed in with the dog's food. Check my website, DrFoxVet.com, for some good dog food brands and my home-prepared dog food diet.

DEAR DR. FOX: I had the same problem with carsickness with my beautiful Aussie when I adopted him a couple years ago. There was a simple solution -- peppermint oil on the bottom of his feet before getting into car! I have given lots of bottles to friends with the same issues, and it always works! -- J.N., St Louis

DEAR J.N.: Thanks for the photo of your very beautiful dog you included with your letter. I do find animals generally far more attractive in many ways than most people, which is not my bias, I believe, but what is so self-evident in the demeanor and eyes of our animal relations than in so many of our own species!

I am not surprised at the peppermint oil cure for car sickness because peppermint is a calmative, like ginger, really subduing nausea. Applying the essential oil of peppermint on the paws/foot pads is an easy way to accomplish rapid and possibly long-term dermal absorption. Many dogs settle quickly after being given a treat of candied ginger 10 to 15 minutes before getting into the car.

I would try adding a few drops of calming lavender oil, which has been shown to benefit many dogs who are fearful rather than simply nauseated when riding in a vehicle. Because peppermint oil can be irritating, it should be diluted to a ratio of 1 drop to 5 to 10 drops of a carrier oil such as almond or olive oil before being placed between the toes.

DENTAL IMPLANTS FOR DOGS AND CATS?

Veterinary dentistry has made some great and very necessary strides for the benefit of thousands of dogs and cats and has become a specialty service providing many of the skilled diagnostic, treatment and surgical procedures provided by human dentists and oral surgeons.

A recent review on the costly procedure of dental implants in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association concludes that, at best, the benefits are purely aesthetic and for the owner, and unlike implants in humans, they fail to offer any significant benefits to the animals themselves. In addition to the cost, the surgical procedures -- including general anesthesia -- for dental implants can put animals at unwarranted risk.

The authors of this article note that the AVMA declared as official policy that it "opposes ear cropping and tail docking of dogs when done for solely cosmetic purposes," and should similarly oppose dental implants for dogs and cats. Opposing the routine declawing of cats would be another ethical decision, one that's long overdue but delayed for reasons financial and pandering to naive cat owner demands.

(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: Our 4- or 5-year-old female orange and white spayed cat, Emma, developed something on her right cheek that I noticed last July. It first appeared to be about the size and color of a small garbanzo bean. I scratched at it -- there was no indication of blood, but it was whitish and firm, and the small scratched area seemed to kind of crumble off. At the time, my older Persian/Himalayan was failing due to polycystic kidney disease and his care was the priority. He eventually passed away.

Not long after, the growth on Emma's face was gone, but in the place where the growth had been, there was a sort of disc resembling the base of an acorn. There was no blood and no sign of anything under the surface, just a space where it looked like the growth had popped off. I had no idea if it just fell off or was scratched off.

Now there is a growth in the same place again. It is about a half-inch in diameter and growing straight out. The top is flat, it's the color of garbanzo bean and the texture is dry and firm. Again, there's no indication of blood, though Emma is not interested in me messing with it.

About three months ago, I took her to a vet for a flea-related issue and asked the vet if she could identify the growth. She said she had never seen anything like it and didn't know what it was. I have since sought more information on what this might be. It doesn't match the description of a botfly. I have Googled fungus growths, but can't come up with much else other than ringworm, and it's not that.

Is there anything you think it could be? I do not have the resources to go from vet to vet, nor do I want to put her through biopsies and such. I kind of thought a fungus, as it seems to resemble the ones seen on trees and such. Any thoughts? -- C.H., Toms River, N.J.

DEAR C.H.: Without personally examining your cat, which is one limitation of my long-distance diagnostic and treatment suggestions, my first thought is that your poor cat may have an upper tooth abscess. These will sometimes erode through the thin facial bone and appear as a swelling that may become fibrous and hard, or soften, burst and then scab over.

I suggest a visit to a veterinarian specializing in dentistry or one able to do an X-ray of the maxilla/facial area and check out my provisional diagnosis. Treatment is surgical removal of the tooth and cleaning out the fistula caused by the abscess.

DEAR DR. FOX: My 4-year-old border collie has a broken canine tooth in his lower jaw. He came to me this way two years ago. The tooth is broken vertically, with the tooth pulp exposed to the back of his mouth. The vet who examined him right after I got him indicated that removal of the tooth would be a very big deal, with great risk to his jaw. She said that he might live his whole life without it being a problem. During his most recent exam, my vet (a different one) said that while he is currently just fine and doesn't seem to be bothered by the broken tooth at this point, chances are quite high that sometime down the road, it will become an issue.

I don't know where to go from here. The whole "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" notion makes good sense to me. However, adopting a wait-and-see position with this and potentially having an older dog with a jaw infection doesn't feel like a good way to go either.

Is there such a thing as capping or crowning this kind of tooth in a dog? Are there other possible remedies for this that don't involve such invasive surgery? -- L.T.

DEAR L.T.: A broken canine tooth is a big deal when it comes to possible infection, tracking bacteria through the soft tissue into the jaw, subsequent bone infection and the possibility of tooth pain and associated difficulty eating.

You must have your veterinarian check around for a veterinary dental specialist who would be the best choice to remove this tooth under general anesthesia with careful resection to avoid damage to the jaw. The veterinary dental specialist may offer to perform a root canal and cap the tooth or remove the tooth and put in an implant. While the latter is controversial and likely to only be of aesthetic value to you and not benefit your dog, advanced dental procedures, once the exclusive domain of human dental surgeons, are now one of the good, though costly, services now available for companion animals.

(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: We recently brought into our home a pair of goldfish. They seem to be happy together in a large aquarium with rocks and weeds, and we've added an aerator and filter to help keep the water clean and clear. Our two children enjoy watching and feeding them and the fish do seem to know when they are there.

How intelligent are goldfish, and do fish have feelings? -- K.L.C., Washington, D.C.

DEAR K.L.C.: I have written before about the fact that goldfish and most other fish species do not thrive when living alone with no contact with their own kind. I am glad you have two!

Have your children ring a little bell or flash a light before feeding time and condition the fish to be fed in one corner of the tank. They should soon learn with the food-is-coming signal to go to the feeding corner, where you might secure against the inside of the tank a small floating wooden or rubber ring into which a few pinches of dry fish food is placed.

For details about fish having feelings and why we all need to be more concerned and involved with the fate of these species in the wild, go to fishfeel.org.

Most of us take seafood for granted and have no awareness about the intelligence, sentience and complex social lives of fish or of the critical state of their marine and freshwater environments. All who eat seafood and feed it to their cats and dogs should become more aware and involved from the perspectives of food safety, animal suffering and natural resource depletion and pollution.

"DECODING YOUR DOG"

This is the appropriate title for a book I highly recommend for dog caregivers, trainers and all veterinary students entering the companion animal field. Chapters cover most, but not all, areas of normal and abnormal canine behavior and how to prevent and treat various problems from separation anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders to old-dog dementia and cognitive impairment.

Contributions come from veterinarians who are members of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists.

You can buy "Decoding Your Dog: The Ultimate Experts Explain Common Dog Behaviors and Reveal How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones" by The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists on Amazon.com.

U.S. GOVERNEMNT DEVELOPS NEW CAT LITTER

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found a way to a way to make cat litter that is almost fully degradable.

The department's Agricultural Research Service found that using spent corn, called dried distiller's grain (DDG), may prove to be more environmentally friendly than popular but nonbiodegradable clay-based litters that mostly end up in landfills. DDG is what is left over after ethanol production. In this case, the DDG was treated with one or more solvents to extract any remaining potentially useful natural compounds. USDA has called these x-DDGs.

ARS researcher Steven Vaughn and his colleagues found a kitty litter formulation composed of x-DDGs and three other compounds: glycerol, to prevent the litter from forming dust particles when poured or pawed; guar gum, to help the litter clump easily when wet; and a very small amount of copper sulfate, for odor control.

The mix resulted in a highly absorbent compound that clumps and provides significant odor control, researchers found.

(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.)