The Animal Doctor

DEAR DR. FOX: I have a 14-year-old blue point Siamese cat named Simba. He will be 15 on Valentine's Day. On May 31, his half-sister passed away suddenly on my bedroom floor. Cali was 13 years old. Simba and Cali were inseparable, and when I tell you they did everything together, I mean it! After she died, I picked up Cali and put her into a basket and then put Simba into the basket to see she was gone. Simba just jumped out of the basket as if to say, "What are you doing to me?"

I took Cali to my local vet to be cremated privately. That night, when it was time for bed, it started. Simba walked the house screaming and yowling as if he was calling out to her. I was up all night. This went on for two weeks, and the nighttime screaming turned into daytime screaming. Then he started to rip out his hair. Over time, half of his body was bald. I took him to the vet, who put him on amitriptyline. It made him very loopy and unstable. Then Simba decided not to eat -- he was described as having failure to thrive.

After several trips to the vet, six months later Simba is thriving. This was the worst grieving experience I've ever lived through when it came to an animal. -- M.A., Nolan, New Jersey

DEAR M.A.: So many animals of various species develop close emotional bonds and suffer when their loved ones die. We humans need to be reminded of this and think of how surviving family members of wolves, whales, elephants and other highly sentient species must suffer when their mates and offspring are needlessly slaughtered. Thank you for this reminder from your cats.

DEAR DR. FOX: I was amazed that an influential veterinarian such as yourself would actually recommend that dog owners avoid neutering their pets.

The facts concerning animal overpopulation are well known. There are more than 70,000 puppies born each day in the United States, and if not neutered, each dog and its non-neutered offspring will result in more than 12,000 dogs born over the next five-year period. This results in the needless euthanization of over 3.7 million dogs each year. These dogs not only include mixed breeds but purebred dogs as well. It is also well established that neutering our pets keeps them healthier by reducing mammary gland, uterine, ovarian, prostate and testicular cancers, as well as perianal tumors and pyometria (uterine infection).

Neutering male dogs improves behavior by reducing aggression, dog bites and roaming, which often leads to death by car. Surveys indicate that approximately 85 percent of dogs hit by cars were not neutered. Most people will agree that our dear pets do not spend enough time with us on this earth, but by neutering them, their life span can be increased an average of 1 to 3 years.

Finally, please consider the financial implications in support of the capture, impoundment and euthanization of unwanted pets, which costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year. I find your trivialization of this problem through its characterization as an "inconvenience" offensive. -- F.B.K., St. Louis

DEAR F.B.K.: I appreciate your passion and documented concerns.

I have been a champion of animal birth control for more than 40 years and have set up programs in Africa and India to neuter pets. I try to spread awareness across the U.S. and Europe. I think spaying and neutering should be mandatory for all animals being adopted from shelters that are not no-kill because they have too many dogs and cats coming in.

One fact to get straight: I am not advocating a ban on spay/neuter, but rather applauding the fact that it is now being recognized that for some breeds, gonadectomy (removing the ovaries or testicles) may result in several endocrine diseases and contribute to other diseases, including some cancers, later in life.

So veterinarians are doing vasectomies and hysterectomies (leaving the testicles and ovaries intact) in some dogs so they cannot reproduce but retain the hormonal benefits of their endocrine sex organs. This is acceptable for those many dogs who are not allowed to roam free and have responsible caregivers.

I have limited optimism over the development of genetically engineered birth-control/neutering vaccines, not only because of past fights over patenting and intellectual property rights, but because of the possible triggering of autoimmune diseases.

From one animal rights perspective, neutering deprives animals of a normal, healthy and balanced endocrine system, which helps ensure their physical and psychological well-being. More prospective dog owners are beginning to request that their dogs not be totally neutered -- they should retain their endocrine sex glands. But where dogs are free-roaming and breeding at will -- as in countries like India, where I have worked with my wife, Deanna Krantz -- all sex organs should be removed, primarily to prevent temporary dog packs forming around dogs in heat, and then male dogs fighting. The net result in that situation, which also included vaccinations, was a healthier village dog community with no starving and unwanted puppies.

In a few years, when we have more clinical data, we may find that the mass neutering to help prevent pet overpopulation was a mixed blessing. It is a tragedy that dogs should suffer the consequences of human irresponsibility of being allowed to breed indiscriminately and are bred deliberately for the pet trade when there are thousands waiting to be adopted in shelters around the world.

(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 have a lovely, healthy 3-year-old cat, Rachel. She is affectionate, adaptable and a delight in every way.

My one concern is that she throws up about once a week -- sometimes after eating. Only rarely does it contain a hairball. Although she sometimes eats grass, that doesn't show up in her vomit. Because she does not drink much water, I have, on the advice of her holistic veterinarian, been feeding her wet food.

Being a cat, she has her own opinions on the matter. Despite her vet's recommendation and my valiant efforts to find a healthy, grain-free wet food that she likes, she has made it plain that she only likes two kinds: 9 Lives Prime Entree (tuna and shrimp) and 9 Lives Ocean Whitefish Dinner. So I give her a can of one of them each day, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons of healthy, grain-free dry food. If left up to her, she would eat only dry food. She accepts any of the dry foods I give her. She weighs 10.8 pounds, which seems to be a healthy weight for her.

Should I be concerned about her throwing up, or is that just something some perfectly healthy cats do? -- K.K., Portola Valley, California

DEAR K.K.: There are many reasons why cats will throw up after eating, which you can discover on my website, DrFoxVet.com, along with solutions to try out.

Your cat may enjoy drinking water if it is filtered and purified -- many cats avoid municipal tap water for good reason (a report on this is also available on my website). She may drink more if provided an electronic drinking fountain. Many cats also drink more water when it is flavored with a little low-salt chicken bullion, which you can make zero-salt by making yourself: Just boil a few chicken wings and save the broth. Or she may enjoy equal parts skim milk and water.

One of our cats eats only dry food, Orijen being his choice. He also likes Stella and Chewy's new freeze-dried raw poultry nuggets. Add some water to your cat's dry food if the above drinking remedies don't work.

REMOVING EYE AND SKIN STAINS ON YOUR DOG

The Food and Drug administration has banned products being sold over the counter to help remove the brown-red tearstains on dogs, including a restricted antibiotic, tylosin -- which is safe for larger animals, like livestock. These stains are also seen on the paws, jaws, ears and groins of dogs, especially when they are white or have a light coat color. The stains, possibly aggravated by pet food dyes and natural porphyrin secretion, are associated with bacterial and fungal proliferation where the dog's fur is kept moist by other body secretions.

Douxo chlorhexidine cleansing pads are acceptable for use, and according to some veterinarians, they are very effective in eliminating the microorganisms in the fur that create the red-brown stain. The product contains chlorhexidine 3 percent, a bactericidal and fungistatic chemical; climbazole, which controls yeast overgrowth; and phytosphingosine-salicyloyl, which restores the skin barrier and limits inflammation.

(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 READERS: Annually, an estimated 7.6 million animals enter shelters in the United States; some 2.7 million of them are destroyed. Some shelters have a holding time limit because of the high numbers of animals coming in on a daily basis. This situation would be best remedied by subsidized spay/neuter and public education campaigns. The central role of animal shelters is acting as an exemplar of compassion in action. Education should be recognized and supported rather than being marginalized.

Many municipal shelters, operating under public funds and public trust, and privately operated shelters, supported by donors, are embracing the no-kill philosophy. Ideally, this means all but the most physically and emotionally incurable animals are saved from euthanasia. Shelter staff and volunteers will need basic training and protocol to follow in socializing the incoming animals, helping them overcome their fear so that they are responsive, trusting and adoptable. Many shelters use calming music, pheromones, oxytocin and lavender oil to facilitate animals' ability to cope with fear and establish trust.

The worst no-kill facilities incarcerate unadoptable animals, which can mean a life sentence of going crazy confined in a small cage -- a fate surely worse than death. Some shelters use trap, neuter and release (TNR) as an umbrella to dump cats outdoors with inadequate care rather than taking them in, often because they have no room.

Most dogs and cats coming into shelters are stressed out and need tender loving care. They should first be held in quiet quarantine rooms where they can feel safe and settle down. Many will have post-traumatic stress disorder, and a number will be traumatized from human abuse, the terror of being lost/abandoned, and possibly starved and exposed to the elements. If there is no real effort to help animals coming into shelters to overcome their fears and trauma -- for dogs this must include outside walks for at least 10 minutes once a day, and encouragement to playfully interact with caregivers -- then what chance do they ever have of being adopted? They are more likely to succumb to stress-related infectious diseases if they are kept in the shelter for more than a few days.

Also, when incoming animals' emotional states are ignored and adoptability tests are given to them in the stressful new environment, many who might eventually have been rehabilitated fail and are killed. This is a nationwide tragedy. Temperament tests have many limitations, both situational and in terms of those administering them. They can be of value but should not be used as a cover to justify killing any and all animals on a pass/fail basis.

The rampant euthanasia is a violation of the public's trust and support, as is the shipping of animals to class-B dealers who supply the biomedical industry and universities with live animals. The throwaway mentality of our consumer society with its disposable pets is a convenient myth used to justify the cruel, temporary incarceration of cats, dogs and other species kept as pets, and their continued wholesale slaughter.

The nationwide epidemic of animal shelters killing pit bulls, and municipalities even outlawing people keeping them because of the "dangerous breed" hysteria, is at last subsiding. Thousands of adoptable dogs have been destroyed because of this unfounded and discredited breed prejudice. Bad dogs come from bad people.

Animal shelters should be just that: Providers of shelter, security and proper care by appropriately trained, paid and respected staff to give all incoming animals a chance of recovery and adoption through socialization, community outreach and volunteer assistance. We owe no less to the animals who provide inestimable benefits to people of all ages -- emotionally, health-wise and spiritually -- and to the majority of people who do care about the sad fate of millions of animals still being mistreated and killed in our shelters today.

DEAR DR. FOX: I wanted to share our experience with animal bereavement.

We had two Yorkies, brother and sister. They slept each night at either end of our couch. The female died at age 16 1/2. The night after she was gone, I was turning out lights and there was Toby, by himself at one end of the couch. I was struck by his aloneness. I had bought a stuffed animal in the shape of a dog. I put it on the couch where Holly used to sleep, and in the morning, Toby was wrapped around the toy and sleeping deeply. For the rest of his life, he slept with his soft companion. He lived to be 17. -- J.H., Annandale, Virginia

DEAR J.H.: I appreciate your account of finding how a stuffed doglike gift for your grieving dog worked so well in helping him cope with the loss of his sister. Skeptics may dismiss this as mere sentimentalism, but your foresight is a credit to your ability to empathize with others, be they human or nonhuman. This world would be a better place if there were more empathy and compassionate action.

I have been deeply moved by the many accounts that readers have sent to me over the years giving details about how their animals have responded to the death of a loved one in the family. I would be happy to hear more from readers on this subject. I'd also like to hear about the remarkable phenomenon of "empathosphere," where animals seem to have some remote empathic connection, as when the family dog begins to howl at around the same time a family member dies in a hospital miles away.

(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.)