The Animal Doctor

DEAR DR. FOX: We have a 5-month-old miniature poodle puppy, and we walk her on a leash in the backyard to urinate and defecate. There are wild rabbits in the area, and they often leave their pellet droppings in the grass. Our puppy gobbles them up like dog treats when she finds them.

Is she likely to contract a disease from this habit? We pull her away quickly whenever we see her doing it, but she likely gets a pellet or two before we can react. -- R.K., St. Louis, Missouri

DEAR R.K.: It is natural for dogs to eat fecal material, a habit called coprophagia, especially from rabbits, sheep, calves and deer. In poor countries, this also includes human poop, especially of toddlers, which endows the dog with an important community hygiene service where there are no diapers. Through this behavior, dogs derive nutrients and potentially essential bacteria (probiotics) for their digestive systems, as well as prebiotic fiber.

Many species engage in coprophagia and geophagia (eating dirt), including humans. Some, like the rabbit, engage in refection, wherein each batch of the animal’s semi-digested poop is eaten again to extract more nutrients.

Dogs indirectly play a role in the spread of beneficial bacteria and associated immunity to other species within the ecosystem. Children from homes with dogs have fewer allergies and shorter duration of infections with fewer antibiotics being prescribed, because they have more beneficial bacteria from their canine companions.

I say “all things in moderation,” and that goes for allowing a dog to eat dirt and the feces of other species, as well. The risk of infection and digestive upset are low, but not improbable. With your dog, consider how many disinfectants you use in and around the home and his virtually bacteria-free diet of cooked canned dog food and baked kibble. He needs to get into some good dirt on occasion. Try some raw foods, and supplements such as good quality probiotics, and bacteria-rich unpasteurized organic plain yogurt and kefir.

Also, it is best to have your dog on a harness when walking: A sharp pull-away command could cause serious neck injury if your young dog is leashed to a collar.

DEAR DR. FOX: My wife and I have just returned from a photo safari in Tanzania. We did see some great wildlife, but also a lot of sad and starving street dogs. Away from the “safe” tourist spots, we were advised that we were more at risk from people than wild animals. You seem to know a lot about what is happening to animals in various countries. What is your take on East Africa? -- L.P., Washington, D.C.

DEAR L.P.: Having given lectures to veterinarians and done field work in Tanzania, I admit to feelings of some deep ancestral connection with this incredible continent, as well as a great sadness for the plight of many people and the demise of the wild. So I offer this brief opinion:

Internecine strife seems inevitable where there is no effective family planning; continued intertribal conflict over natural resources; and disenfranchisement of those resources by corporate colonial agribusiness, mining, energy, timber and other industries. These issues are exacerbated by nonsustainable aid and development projects. Distributing vaccines, antibiotics and antimalarial drugs without food security will only extend human suffering.

The distance between improving the human condition and environmental and wildlife CPR (conservation, protection and restoration) is closed only by enlightened self-interest. The enlightened collective sense of humanity redefines itself as part of the Earth community and not master, slave or owner. Wildlife poaching, illegal trophy hunting, the trade in “bush meat” and land encroachment must all be more effectively policed and prosecuted.

With empathy for indigenous plants and animals and the ecologies shared, a bioethical foundation can be laid for socially just and economically sustainable communities, as I outline in my book “Bringing Life to Ethics.” Eco-tourism can do more harm than good where there is corruption and no local engagement and transparency.

But there are glimmers of hope: There are in-country organizations involved in conservation, wildlife protection, sustainable organic farming and livestock husbandry, as well as the neutering and vaccinating of those wonderful aboriginal village dogs I know well.

(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 READERS: By the end of every summer, I have received several accounts from dog and cat “parents” whose animal companions have suffered physically after the use of common anti-flea products: shaking and trembling, even having seizures; seeming more anxious; and developing loose stools or vomiting.

Sometimes these adverse reactions are reported by veterinarians to the government and manufacturers. But other times, cats and dogs may not be taken to a veterinarian, or no immediate association is made between the animals’ evident distress and their oral and/or topical exposure to various pharmaceuticals. While rarely fatal, little is known yet about the long-term consequences -- to animal health, public health and the environment -- of these widely used products.

I would like to hear from readers about their experiences with their animals this past summer and fall, which, in many U.S. regions, have been favorable for the proliferation of fleas and ticks.

DEAR DR. FOX: I have a 4-year-old Bluetick hound. During her first year, she developed hot spots, constant ear infections, dull fur, and was overweight and lethargic (especially for a 1-year-old dog). After numerous switches to vet-recommended foods that were supposed to help her, I switched her to your homemade dog food recipe. She immediately improved, and has had none of those issues since.

I recently took her to her veterinarian for a regular checkup, where they performed both urine and blood tests. He said her specimen came back with a lot of struvite crystals, and that I needed to take her in to do an X-ray to see if she has any stone formation. He also told me that she needed to be placed on a special food that would dissolve the crystals. Obviously, with how well everything else has gone on her current diet, I am not eager to change back to a commercial brand.

Is there another route to take to help improve the struvite crystal formation? I searched online for suggestions and found very little. She is not a big water drinker, so I have been trying to get her to drink more in hopes that this would help. I also reduced the grain amount in her food, while increasing the meat. -- S.K., Fort Pierce, Florida

DEAR S.K.: I am glad that my home-prepared recipe helped your dog recover from the various maladies that so often arise when a dog is fed commercially manufactured dog foods that are nutrient-deficient and unbalanced. It is quite possible that the adverse dietary consequences of “nutrigenic” disease persisted in her urinary bladder as a chronic inflammation coupled with secondary bacterial infection, common in young female dogs. This creates the conditions, along with alkaline urine caused by cereals in the diet, for struvite crystal formation.

If urine tests indicate no chronic bacterial infection, I would simply make the changes to the home-prepared diet you have initiated and add a tablespoon of stewed chopped tomatoes to each meal (twice daily, since I presume you feed your dog two meals a day). This is an old remedy for struvite crystals as a urine acidifier to prevent crystal formation. In addition, I would give your dog a daily probiotic and a tablespoon of canned, unsweetened pineapple once daily as an additional acidifier and source of beneficial digestive enzymes.

Add a little chicken or beef bouillon to flavor your dog’s drinking water to encourage more drinking, which is one of the best remedies for this problem.

DEAR DR. FOX: I have a 12-year-old male Persian cat who has suddenly begun biting his tail about 1 inch from the tip.

He has basically removed all the fur. I have taken him to the vet (I use a cat-only vet), who has done a CBC, as well as checking for possible infected anal glands. All tests are negative, and nothing in our lives has changed since this behavior began in May.

Both my vet and I are at a loss as to the cause. What can I do to get him to stop chewing his tail? -- M.K., Falls Church, Virginia

DEAR M.K.: You must be a detective to find some source of irritation/discomfort that is being redirected to the tip of the tail, possibly as a displacement behavior.

This can be due to stress/anxiety or to a physical condition such as anal gland inflammation, lower urinary tract problems and even dental issues. In my book “Cat Body, Cat Mind,” I write about one grieving cat who chewed off his tail after his companion cat died. On some occasions, cats have started to chew their tails after part of the tail was accidentally damaged in a refrigerator or other kind of door, and this may be worth considering.

If nothing can be found to account for this behavior, then your cat should be put on a sedative medication and possibly wear a “lampshade” collar or neck corset to stop him from reaching his tail easily until it is healed.

CALIFORNIA PET STORE LEGISLATION

The historic Assembly Bill 485, the Pet Rescue and Adoption Act, has been signed into law by California Gov. Jerry Brown.

This has made California the first state to ban the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits from commercial breeders in pet stores, and encourages retailers to facilitate the adoption of animals from local shelters. This is a major step forward in animal protection, in response to animals in our culture still being treated as commodities and mere objects of property. For animals’ sakes, every state should adopt this kind of legislation.

(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: A recent letter in your column about the cat who started spraying about two years ago reminded me of our Mischief. Mischief wasn’t actually spraying; he just preferred to urinate standing up. From the time he was a kitten, we had to make special litter boxes out of large Rubbermaid containers (no top, door cut into a side) or else we’d have wet walls, floors, etc. He lived to 17 1/2 and never deviated from that posture. There didn’t seem to be any reason other than his personal preference.

Since it’s a recent thing, though, with the cat in the recent column, I’m wondering if perhaps the letter writer’s cat has something structural going on that could make standing feel more comfortable. Or maybe he just thinks he’s human! -- B.W., Ellicott City, Maryland

DEAR B.W.: You are to be commended for your creative solution for your rather unique cat, who should have had tests done to see if indeed your plausible theory of a congenital abnormality of the spine was the issue. That would be my first guess in a young cat.

When older cats suddenly pee and poop outside the litter box and seem to have difficulty bending their backs properly to evacuate, they are often experiencing pain from arthritic vertebrae. Anti-inflammatory fish oil or a sardine a day helps many of these old cats.


Actual spraying is deliberate marking behavior, where the cat will raise the tail (which may vibrate), slightly elevate the hind-end, then back up to whatever he/she wishes to put a scent mark on. This is more common in un-neutered males and is often triggered by stress, as I detail in my book “Cat Body, Cat Mind.” I would like to hear from other readers about their cats’ quirks around the litter box. I wonder why some cats are fastidious about burying their poop while others seem to be erratic even with an otherwise clean litter box. Is that simply forgetfulness? One sign of being emotionally disturbed is house soiling, and not covering the poop may be associated with social stress in the home, in some instances.

DEAR DR. FOX: My holistic vet will only approve Advantage II collars, not Advantix. Advantage does not go through the liver, but stays in the sebaceous glands.

You might pass this along to those people who wrote in about their beloved griffs who died. -- L.U., Arlington, Virginia

DEAR L.U.: I would not use these collars on any living animal if it can be avoided. The simplest solution is not to let your cat outdoors to get infested and bring fleas into your home so they can multiply. Check my website for some holistic and least-harmful flea control measures.

The product in the collars is “lipophilic,” meaning that it is absorbed by the fats on the animal’s skin and kills fleas soon after contact. If a treated animal is stroked by a child or licked by another animal, the product will be transferred and could cause various adverse reactions. A dog wearing such a collar should be kept away from lakes and streams, because it could poison aquatic life.

One of the ingredients in the Advantage II collars is a nicotine-type insecticide that the manufacturers also promote for spraying in and around homes and which kills beneficial insects, including bees. So I say “bug off” with these products, if you please, and stop this insanity.

I find it totally absurd that these kinds of insecticides are given to cats and dogs not when they have a flea infestation, but just in case they might, which is like taking antibiotics in case you get an infection. Chronic use means chronic exposure, which can facilitate fleas and other insects developing resistance. And then stronger insecticides are developed, with potentially greater ecological and public health risks. This is the living history of our toxic chemical agribusiness food industry, which continues to deny any connections with cancer and the demise of pollinating insects. The precautionary principle should not be abandoned for profit.

COURT UPHOLDS CHICAGO’S BAN ON SALE OF PETS FROM LARGE BREEDERS

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Chicago’s ban on pet store sales of animals from large commercial breeders, and dismissed a lawsuit initiated by two pet stores and a breeding operation. -- Source: Chicago Tribune

(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.)