The Animal Doctor

DEAR DR. FOX: My dog loves to help me in the garden, but he will sometimes eat a slug or two, and he also likes earthworms. I know foxes like them, too.

Should I worry? Are they safe for him to eat? -- D.K.L., Fort Myers, Florida

DEAR D.K.L.: Your dog needs to curb this habit. Dogs get lungworm by eating larvae found in infected snails, slugs or frogs. They can also accidentally eat infected tiny slugs if they are on a toy or their fur.

The lungworm larvae then grow inside the dog, and adult lungworms move through their body to live in their heart and blood vessels. Earthworms may consume the eggs of roundworms in infected dogs’ feces, and then infect your dog when he eats them.

DEAR DR. FOX: This is my first time responding to any newspaper, but I have to say, the timing of your recent column was not happenstance.

We lost our beloved Maltese, Jazzie, just a little more than one month ago; she was 16 years old. This morning, I woke up missing her more than ever. There is not a day that goes by when she doesn’t come to mind. In my heart, I’m always smiling, yet tearful about the reality of her not being here. But this morning was a bit different; I had a real aching in my soul. And then I read your article about what our pets give us and teach us.

Jazzie was so much more than just a pet. She did indeed have emotions, and she could read ours as well. She had keen insight and knew when we were sick, tired, grumpy or happy, and ready for crazy, fun playtime. There was a time when I was quite ill and she never left my side, willing me to get well. She made us laugh and was always the best at turning our bad mood or stressed-out lives into joyful gratitude.

Yes, Jazzie was a part of our family, and will be forever missed. She gave far more to us than we returned to her, because she did indeed touch our souls. The Lord blessed us with this beautiful little one for 16 years and I’m praying there will be a time when we see her again.

At some point, I know we’ll find another little one to love. In the meantime, we savor our memories and the blessing of having had Jazzie in our lives. -- L.S., Naples, Florida

DEAR L.S.: Many readers will appreciate your heart-felt commentary about Jazzie. I just wish we humans could all show such love and devotion for creatures great and small.

DEAR DR. FOX: My 6-year-old Shih Tzu, Peaches, was diagnosed with struvite crystals in her urine more than a year ago. She was then put on Royal Canine Urinary SO prescription dog food (dry kibble only) for the rest of her life; I was told that she could no longer have any other kind of food, ever.

I just had her urine tested after a year of being on this dog food, and her crystals have returned. I have stuck to this regime since day one and am very concerned about the return of her crystals.

What can I do for my suffering little dog so that her crystals no longer return and turn into kidney stones? I thought I was doing what was necessary to keep her healthy.

Also, is there anything else I can do to vary her diet while keeping the crystals at bay? -- K.K., Sandy Hook, Connecticut

DEAR K.K.: Your veterinarian should go back to veterinary school -- to one that is not beholden to the pet food industry and does not brainwash students into accepting, without question, the claims and products of that industry, especially regarding so-called prescription diets.

Most dogs and cats generally find these costly diets highly unpalatable, and they’re prescribed for conditions often preventable with good nutrition to begin with!

To give any dog exclusively dry kibble -- especially one likely prone, for genetic reasons, to develop crystals in the urine that can damage the lining of the urinary bladder -- is absurd. The formula you have been giving her is high in salt, added to make dogs drink more water, which they need in order to keep their urinary tracts flushed out and the urine less concentrated (and less likely to form crystals). But in my opinion, this special diet is not the right solution, and could bring on other health problems.

Give your dog drinking water with some milk or some salt-free beef or chicken broth, which you can stew up yourself (adding 1 teaspoon of concentrate to 1 cup of water) and store in the refrigerator. This will encourage her to drink plenty of water.

Most importantly, give your dog a moist, whole-food diet, such as a quality canned dog food (like Cornucopia) or a freeze-dried food that you soak in water (like The Honest Kitchen’s). Or try my home-prepared recipe, posted on my website. Also, plenty of exercise, running off-leash at least twice daily, will help improve her overall condition. Far too many dogs, like their human companions, live unhealthful, sedentary lives.

(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: In response to the request in your recent column for what our companion animals have given us, I am submitting the list that I have kept and added to for many years about the life lessons I have learned from my cats.

Gigi taught me patience, forbearance, nonaggression and self-control.

Luna taught me slowness and deliberation in decision-making with concentrated focus.

Fred showed how he could noiselessly radiate a huge personality and calming sweetness.

Sleeky taught me to be innocently charming yet street-savvy, too.

Scar taught me to learn to reconsider my “enemies” and live in harmony with them.

Orange and Habibi taught me to trust, but with caution.

Mitzi taught me to be brave through the most difficult circumstances and to trustingly place myself in the care of those who love me. -- J.D., Ashland, Oregon

DEAR J.D.: Thanks for sharing these blessings your cats bestowed on you -- and for disclosing what very different personalities cats have, which our loving bond with them helps blossom.

DEAR DR. FOX: I lost my 10-year-old French bulldog a few months ago.

I made her own food: ground turkey, rice, carrots and spinach. She drank bottled water and went everywhere with me. One day, I noticed her entire body shaking. All her blood work came back normal, but she stopped barking at the vacuum cleaner, chasing lizards and was just being lethargic.

After three trips to different vets, they could not tell me what was wrong with her. I then made the horrendous decision to put her to sleep. It was one of the toughest decisions of my life. I miss her so much. Have you any idea what could have caused this downward spiral? -- S.G., Naples, Florida

DEAR S.G.: My sympathy goes out to you over the death of your dog.

Without doing an autopsy, cause of death is uncertain. My educated guess is chronic heart failure. Bulldogs and other breeds who have severe brachycephaly (pushed-in faces) suffer from chronic upper-airway obstruction. This means chronic partial-asphyxiation or hypoxia, which puts tremendous strain on brachycephalic dogs’ hearts.

Additional cardiac strain can come from exertion-related pain, associated with limb and spinal deformities and the effort needed to enjoy physical activity -- all too common in such breeds, and a factor leading to heart-wearing obesity from reduced physical activity.

Spirited brachycephalic dogs put themselves at risk from heat stroke when being physically active, especially in hot weather. Living in Florida, your dog could also have been at risk from toads that can give dogs heart attacks.

FLEAS AND TYPHUS IN CALIFORNIA MAY SPREAD

California health officials reported that there has been an epidemic of flea-borne typhus within the Los Angeles area this year. This is an old disease, with recorded accounts dating back to the 14th century. There are several forms of typhus, but all are caused by a group of bacteria known as Rickettsia. Symptoms of typhus include fever, headache, nausea and rash, and sometimes neurological symptoms like seizures or confusion. Flea-borne typhus can be fatal, especially if more severe symptoms go untreated. Flea-borne typhus is also known as murine typhus because rats are the main host of the fleas that can spread the bacteria.

Fleas that feed on pets, and other animals like opossums, can also spread it via infective flea feces. Warmer temperatures, poverty, homelessness and free-roaming and indoor-outdoor cats are all contributing factors.

(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.)

President Trump has stated that scientists have a “political agenda” (interview with Lesley Stahl, Oct. 15). This is a convenient fabrication -- like calling the press the “enemy of the people” -- that attempts to dismiss the truth and objectivity of science, along with the bioethical imperative of science-based policies and regulations.

Scientific findings can have political, economic and other consequences, a fact that I have faced professionally. While serving as vice president and scientific director of a nonprofit animal protection organization, I relied on reason and sound science in all the animal and environmental issues I dealt with. This included investigating what is in most pet foods and should not be. One book that I wrote (“Eating With Conscience: The Bioethics of Food”) and one that I endorsed with an introduction (“Foods Pets Die For” by Ann Martin) were censored in 1997 by the then-president and CEO of the organization to which I had dedicated most of my professional life. He was anticipating receiving significant funding from the pet food industry, which had complained to him about Martin’s book. He declared the book “all garbage,” and my retort was that it was about the garbage in most manufactured pet foods at that time.

I was demoted, with my salary frozen, and placed under supervised tenure with the organization until my retirement in 2002. Other scientists and science reporters have been fired, and even received death threats, for revealing facts that question the status quo of vested interests and accepted beliefs, products and practices.

Trump’s statement is an insult to impartial scientists in government, academia and the private and nonprofit sectors who are not coerced by corporate interests. The politicization of science, ethics and morality is a hallmark of dystopian divisiveness, which civil society should oppose and expose by all means.

DEAR DR. FOX: I read with interest your cat food comments that appeared recently in the Palm Beach Post.

With difficulty, I was able to read the lists of ingredients on both our wet and dry food labels. We use a very popular brand that appears in all of our local food markets. Some of the ingredients that you warn against are listed, and some are difficult to interpret.

Our twin cats are 8 years old and do not seem to have any health problems. We would like to keep it that way, and ask you to help guide us to finding brands that provide healthier products (and that cats will actually eat). Our own vet carries a line of foods that our cats firmly reject.

What brands do you recommend, if any? Has there been a study done by any independent organization that rates cat foods? -- F.H. Tequesta, Florida

DEAR F.H.: Many readers have contacted me with this same question. My home-prepared cat food recipe (posted on my website, drfoxvet.net) is one reliable start in terms of known, whole-food, biologically appropriate ingredients.

The best educational resource for cat feeding and feline nutrition is found at feline-nutrition.org. Above all, do not feed your cat just dry kibble, but find quality all-meat cat foods like Newman’s Own, Wellness and Cornucopia, arguably one of the best. Check your local pet store or go online for frozen cat foods and the new generation of freeze-dried foods, such as The Honest Kitchen (also great for dogs). I would avoid seafoods such as tuna because of high mercury content.

As is emphasized in the book “Not Fit for a Dog: The Truth About Manufactured Cat and Dog Food,” which I co-authored with two other veterinarians, most of the major health problems seen in cats today can be prevented by proper nutrition.

DEAR DR. FOX: I hope that you can give me an explanation about my cat’s strange behavior.

I have a 13-year-old rescued tabby cat who, in the last year, has developed a strange habit: Whenever he goes to his water bowl to drink, he first gives a little cry, scratches the floor and then puts his paw into the bowl as if to test the temperature of the water. Have you ever seen or heard of such behavior?

Otherwise, he is a perfectly normal and healthy cat, but this daily ritual has me baffled. -- F.S., Naples Florida

DEAR F.S.: Your cat may simply be engaging in what ethologists call superstitious behavior: a kind of ritual that is regularly executed in certain situations. It may or may not have developed as a consequence of frustration or as a repetitive game. Cats are fascinated by both still and running water.

There are two possible causes to consider: 1. The water is painful to one or more diseased teeth. I would have that possibility checked out by a veterinarian. 2. He may be developing senile dementia, a condition cats share with us, possibly from environmental causes yet to be identified. Fish oil supplements may help, in this case.

PET FOOD COMPANIES FINED

From Susan Thixton of truthaboutpetfood.com:

“On May 6, 2014, Purina filed a lawsuit against pet food rival Blue Buffalo for false and misleading advertising. A few days later (May 14, 2014), Blue Buffalo counter-sued Purina with a false and misleading advertising lawsuit.

“What began in 2014 turned into multiple lawsuits, including a consumer class-action suit that resulted in a $32 million settlement (the largest pet food consumer settlement in history). Further, the lawsuit filed by Purina has recently led to criminal charges with more than $7 million in fines and penalties.

“On Oct. 11, the United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri issued a press release titled ‘Two Companies Ordered to Pay More Than $7 Million for Adulterated and Misbranded Pet Food Ingredients.’ The release stated: ‘Two companies were sentenced in federal court today relating to their introduction of adulterated and misbranded pet food ingredients into interstate commerce.’

“These pet food ingredient companies were NOT charged and penalized because it is illegal to feed pets feathers and bones (waste of human food industry); it is only because they did not disclose that feathers and bones were in the ingredients.”

For more details, go to truthaboutpetfood.com.

(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.)