DEAR READERS: We are all moved by the rescue efforts on behalf of people’s dogs and cats when natural disasters like hurricanes and forest fires strike their communities. But what of farm animals out on the range, in corrals and sheds, or confined to stalls, cages and pens?

Generally, they must fend for themselves, which means millions of animals out in the open suffer and die around the world from droughts, floods and extreme temperatures. Those kept in confinement on factory farms, where we are talking about billions of poultry and pigs worldwide, are most often left where they are, or released to fend for themselves.

One farm animal welfare investigator wrote to me, stating: “Producers (in the United States) either release or let animals drown, because producers can be reimbursed for the bulk of their losses under the USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Program.” There is little chance of rushing them to slaughter, because most slaughtering facilities are running at full capacity every day to meet the public demand for meat. While we cannot control the weather, we can control our appetites. We can help reduce this population of vulnerable animals already suffering on factory farms and out on the range by choosing to eat fewer -- or none -- of them.

There is a growing scientific consensus that our appetite for meat, coupled with our ever-increasing numbers, are arguably the biggest drivers of climate change and natural disasters, and certainly of wildlife and habitat decimation.

DEAR DR. FOX: Our 50-pound dog, Mo, around 10 years old, had a vestibular incident early in the morning 18 days ago.

He had all the major symptoms -- sudden onset of loss of balance, disorientation, head tilt and irregular jerking eye movements -- and he also threw up three times. I understand it is like vertigo for dogs, especially old ones. We rushed Mo to the emergency clinic, where they gave him medication for the upset stomach, meclizine for the dizziness and IV fluids. The next day, our regular vet also prescribed Zeniquin just in case he still had an ear infection. (Mo had had an ear infection several weeks before the incident and was treated with Gentizol, which I have since read can contribute to vestibular incidents.)

Before the incident, we knew there was something brewing because Mo started having accidents in the kitchen, which he had never done before. Blood and urine tests indicated he was in great shape, but the incident let us know that there was a definite problem.

Mo is doing much better now. He still has his head tilt, but his big problem is at bedtime, when he gets very restless and appears disoriented. We have added night-lights, and our vet prescribed trazodone to help calm him down, but it hasn’t worked. He has also started having accidents in the kitchen during the night again. I finally tried Dramamine last night, and he was able to sleep for six hours. However, when he woke up at 4 a.m., he was restless again and started roaming the house and whining.

Do you have any suggestions to help us get through the night? My wife and I are getting large bags under our eyes and feel really bad that our best friend is uncomfortable. -- P.N., St. Louis, Missouri

DEAR P.N.: You give a very clear description of this old-dog middle-ear condition, which is relatively common and usually associated with an earlier ear infection. It can sometimes be prevented with optimal nutrition.

He now seems to be showing signs of anxiety, which could have been triggered by the intense vertigo and nausea that this condition brought on. Since the trazodone has not helped, discuss increasing the dose with your veterinarian, or try Valium.

He may be also be showing early signs of dementia or cognitive dysfunction, which you should raise as a possibility with the attending veterinarian. Supplements such as fish oil and coconut oil have multiple benefits for older dogs. Also try 3 to 6 milligrams of melatonin at bedtime. Another treatment worth trying is prescription medication selegiline (1 mg/kg).

Many older dogs become restless because of the constant pain of arthritis. Others become anxious because they need to be taken out more often to urinate, as a result of drinking more water due to kidney disease. Both of these common old-animal issues need to be considered. Slippery floors can also be hell for older dogs, so you may need some new, secure carpets.

My book “The Healing Touch for Dogs” will give you advice on how to help him relax and feel secure while enjoying the therapeutic benefits of a full-body massage.

(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 DrFoxVet.net.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I have a 4-year-old standard poodle. At 5 months old, she had her first seizure. This happened in the middle of the night while she was sleeping in her crate. The day prior to that, I had her at a kennel, as we were going to be out all day and didn’t have anyone to come over and let her out. She stayed there overnight. Over the next couple of days, she had a few more seizures, then had them periodically over the next few months.

After testing and close observations, it seemed that she only had these seizures at the time of grooming. I don’t know if something happened at the kennel that first time that upset her or caused stress, but after making the connection, I had a mobile vet come to the house and groom her in their grooming truck. For two years, she was totally fine. She liked the girl who groomed her, and she got right in the truck and was a good girl. I could see her in the window, and she sat nicely and everything was fine.

Then one day, all of a sudden, she climbed up on the table and had a seizure again. Same girl. Same truck. We tried a few more times until the groomer, understandably, said she just could not groom her anymore.

Then I tried going to the groomer at the vet’s office. The first time, she was fine; the next time, as she knew what was going to happen, she started again having seizures. They seemed to get more severe, so the vet put her on 64.8 mg of phenobarbital twice a day. She is on that now. We tried grooming her last month and she had a seizure. We then tried giving her a dose of gabapentin, and then a larger dose of gabapentin the next time, and she still had seizures. Now my vet is going to bump up her phenobarbital dosage.

The only time she has seizures is during grooming. If she was a Lab or something like that, I would just bathe her at home and learn how to cut her nails. I am at my wits’ end, and I think the vet is, too. We just don’t know what to do at this point. -- S.H., Chesterfield, Missouri

DEAR S.H.: I appreciate the difficult situation for your poor dog, and for you, having to cope with episodic seizures related to the stress and anticipatory anxiety over grooming. Regrettably, poodles need regular grooming, as you point out; however, I would not give her the phenobarbital, or any other anti-epileptic drug, on a regular basis because of long-term side effects.

The first step is to raise the seizure threshold. I would therefore make coconut oil the main fat in your dog’s diet, since this has been shown to help control seizures. Another suggestion: Add more turkey to her diet as a source of tryptophan, and a natural daily supplement containing L-theanine (like PetzLife’s @-Eaze). Both substances have calming properties. Also, avoid all wheat ingredients in the dog’s diet, including treats.

Before your dog’s next grooming session, put a few drops of essential oil of lavender on a bandana around her neck. About 30 to 45 minutes before the appointment, give her a light dose of Xanax (prescribed by your veterinarian). If those don’t do the trick, your vet could then try a single dose of phenobarbital before the session -- but not day in and day out, unless your dog starts to have seizures more often.

DEAR DR. FOX: Our 13-year-old cat, Gussy, has started a new habit of crying when he gets into his litter box. It’s not a cry like he’s in pain; it’s a long yowl like he’s really sad. My cousin heard him and said her cat made that kind of sound after her other cat died. I’m scared that Gussy might be predicting that someone is going to die in my family. -- M.C., Fargo, North Dakota

DEAR M.C.: That is quite possible, and it could be Gussy. Any time an animal shows any sudden change in behavior, one should consult with a veterinarian. Talk to someone there to see if an appointment is warranted on the basis of your concerns and observations. Many veterinarians now make in-home visits, which most cats prefer.

(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 DrFoxVet.net.)

Empathy, derived from the Greek word “empatheia,” meaning “affection," bonds with our conscience to act as compassion’s compass in our relationships. It is the foundation for ethical behavior. Without empathy, we cannot suffer with, or for, others. My simple definition of empathy is one individual being affected by the emotional state of another.

The ability to empathize is innate in all social animals. It plays a significant role in individual and group survival, and it is highly evolved in some individuals and species. Think of contagious panic, stampedes, mob rage, mass migrations, hordes of adulation, and the infectious “high” of being with others of like mind. Think of the sympathy pains of expectant husbands, and of the mothers of most species responding to the distress calls of their offspring.

The current discussion in the media of the evident lack of empathy in certain individuals, cults and regimes calls for analysis of this spreading pathology in our own species. Selective, often situational, inhibition of empathy can be a conscious or conditioned response of avoidance and denial.

Some individuals are behaving like subjects in a series of famous behavioral studies by J.B. Calhoun of the National Institute of Mental Health. In the 1960s and 1970s, Calhoun studied laboratory rats and mice. They were kept well-fed, watered and clean, and were allowed to reproduce. They were given more food as needed, but no additional living space. Eventually, the colony populations rose and then crashed as overcrowding stress caused constant aggression: males killing males, mothers killing their offspring and other harmful, abnormal behaviors. But a few subjects, the “beautiful ones,” continued to thrive but never bred or engaged in social interactions because they were unaffected by the emotional states of others. Their adaptive strategy was empathy inhibition.

I feel vindicated, after years of decrying the lack of public recognition of animals’ emotions and empathy, by the recent publication of two illustrated books by Time Inc. Special Edition: “Inside Animal Minds” and “The Animal Mind.” They give much evidence of the highly evolved empathetic sensitivity in animals. One edition concludes with the question: “As we learn more about what animals think and feel, the questions posed are as much ethical as scientific. What are we going to do with that knowledge?”

Doing a moral inventory of how we harm other beings, human and non-human, directly and indirectly, to sustain our lives and communities and how we might reduce those harms -- improving our health and well-being in the process -- is the first significant step in the development and expression of empathy. The animals can show us the way back to our authentic, emotive, naturally caring selves -- like our recently rescued dog, Kota, who now enjoys equal consideration in our home and quickly learned to respect our wishes as we embraced her basic needs. As empathy is our bridge of emotion, so ethics is our bridge of reason. Both are in dire need of repair in all our relationships, human and non-human.

DEAR DR. FOX: We have a lovely little 8-year-old Shih Tzu we adopted 7 years ago from a shelter. She seems to know her bedtime, so she retires to the laundry room, on her own, to spend the night on her pillow at 9 p.m. However, she has developed one unusual habit: Before she falls asleep, she scratches on the dryer door vigorously with her front right paw, then the left. (We are not worried about the dryer.) She continues this for about 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes she will stop, then start again for a few more minutes. We take her for walks twice a day, about one mile each time. She lets us know when she wants to go out in the backyard. She is in good health.

What do you think of this? -- P.S., Silver Spring, Maryland

DEAR P.S.: Your dog’s ritual-like behavior may have started as a comfort-seeking activity that provides some release of anxiety before sleeping.

Dogs will instinctively turn and repeatedly paw around and around to make their lying area comfortable and clear of possibly injurious objects. My guess is that the dryer door-pawing behavior was triggered by sounds that the machine made, possibly at a high frequency that you could not hear, that upset your dog. Many devices produce such sounds, even when not operating but still plugged in.

(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 DrFoxVet.net.)