DEAR READERS: If your dog or cat has been vaccinated, you may be able to avoid revaccination -- which is never without health risks -- by having blood tests done to check for protective antibodies. The Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KSVDL) offers a core vaccine panel for both dogs and cats. Samples can be submitted by attending veterinarians using an online submission form.

The canine panel (canine distemper, canine adenovirus and canine parvovirus) and the feline panel (feline herpesvirus, feline calicivirus and feline panleukopenia) each cost $23. A micro rabies screen is also available for $34. (Your attending veterinarian will charge an additional amount for collecting and shipping the blood samples.)

See ksvdl.org/resources/core-vaccine-spotlight.html for details.

DEAR DR. FOX: Since our retirement, my husband and I have been serving as foster parents for cats who need forever homes. We joined a local network of cat rescuers and are against trapping, neutering and releasing them to live outdoors. My sister has been providing a foster home for dogs for some years now, as well.

Fostering is so much better for the animals than having to stay in cages in shelters waiting for adoption.

I just want to say this is our way of giving back all the love and enjoyment we have had in our earlier years with animal companions. We have given up vacations for this avocation, and it is so rewarding when we find a forever home for our next rescued cat. Perhaps other readers might want to do this in their communities, too. -- F.L.P., St. Louis, Missouri

DEAR F.L.P.: I applaud what you and your husband are doing, and your sister, and I do wish more people would follow your example of putting compassion into action!

It is surely far more rewarding for animal-loving retirees than taking another crowded ocean cruise (I call them floating toilets) or making a big “carbon footprint” flying abroad for another vacation.

Giving love and attention, including veterinary care as needed, to a fostered cat or dog takes commitment. Such dedication has many rewards, which my wife and I have come to enjoy. Our latest rescued cat recently found a forever home with a family with two children, an old dog and another cat -- whom they adopted after we rescued and fostered him a year ago. Now we have found another cat outdoors, whom we must rescue and rehabilitate. So life goes on.

The only downside, which all animal “foster parents” must accept, is that feeling of losing someone you’ve loved and developed a strong attachment to. But the upside is knowing that another life has been saved and improved.

DEAR DR. FOX: I read about your concerns about insects and wildlife being harmed by electromagnetic fields (EMFs). I went online to find out more information, thinking you were an alarmist. Now I, too, am very disturbed by the risks to our own health and to the animals who share our homes with all kinds of electrical devices.

How can we best protect them and ourselves? At least my home is not near power lines that have strong magnetic fields. -- H.M., West Palm Beach, Florida

DEAR H.M. I am not the only veterinarian to address this issue.

For decades, vets have worked with dairy farmers and power companies to deal with “stray voltage” that can affect cow health, welfare and productivity. Electro-pollution is a fact of life in urban and commercial centers, and may affect brain and endocrine function, as well as cellular activity.

The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as probable carcinogens in 2013. Veterinarian Dr. Katie Kangas has written a helpful article in Animal Wellness magazine (December 2018 issue) on the topic, in which she offers useful tips on reducing exposure in our homes. Readers are encouraged to seek it out.

GENE THERAPY REDUCES PAIN, INFLAMMATION IN DOGS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS

An experimental gene therapy based on the interleukin-10 gene is showing promise in dogs with severe osteoarthritis, reducing pain and inflammation and restoring their ability to move, and it could reduce the need for joint replacements in humans, says University of Colorado-Boulder neuroscience professor Linda Watkins.

More dogs are being accepted into clinical trials, and the FDA recently approved the experimental therapy for human use. (KCNC-TV, Denver, Nov. 6)

(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 am writing to you because of your article about animal behavior, and hope you will be able to help me and my dog Woodrow.

Woodrow is a large Lab mix, approximately 6 years old. He is a victim of the South Korean meat market. I got him two years ago from the SPCA. He gets along fine with my pit bull and four cats, but will nip at my human visitors and once bit a friend of mine. I don’t let him around my visitors now.

Woodrow is afraid of going out the front door. I’ve tried with a leash, without a leash, treats, pulling, toys, raw meat -- nothing will get him to go over that threshold. He does go out my back door with no problem.

I can’t take him to the vet, so I have a mobile vet come see him (and Woodrow bit him!). He gave him a sedative that had no effect. I’ve tried valerian root, and that seems to make him agitated.

Is there anything you can recommend? He is over 100 pounds, so I can’t easily move him. -- T.B., Howell, New Jersey

DEAR T.B.: I commend you for giving a loving, safe haven for this canine refugee from another country, where dogs are regarded as food and are treated with the same cruel indifference as is seen here, and in most other countries, with animal species that are marketed and slaughtered for human consumption.

Eating dogs (and cats) off the street actually causes far less harm environmentally than raising billions of pigs, poultry, cattle, goats and sheep for human consumption -- an industry now implicated, along with consumer demand, with possibly irreversible climate change and loss of wildlife habitat and wildlife.

Your poor dog most assuredly suffers from PTSD to some degree, and was probably not properly socialized earlier in life. I imagine he either survived by scavenging on the streets, or was in a crowded holding pen with other pups and dogs being fattened for slaughter. Since you have had Woodrow for two years and he still shows some behavioral problems, I would consult with a qualified veterinary animal behavior specialist, the paucity of which here in the U.S. is lamentable.

It is important to determine if he bites out of fear, or out of assertive defense of territory or social dominance. Either way, he should wear a comfortable muzzle in situations where he has shown aggressiveness before.

His phobia about going out your front door should be resolved by a behavioral therapist with one or more home visits. Have you tried taking him out the back door and coming in the front door with it set wide open?

If he fails to improve, I would explore high serotonin, l-theanine and tryptophan supplements, and some organic turkey and good quality fish oil (1 teaspoon daily). Also try a few drops of organic essential oil of lavender on a bandanna around his neck twice daily, plus 6 mg of melatonin at bedtime.

Keep me posted.

PET FOOD RECALLS

-- Natural Life Pet Products is voluntarily recalling Chicken and Potato dry dog food due to it containing elevated levels of vitamin D.

-- Nutrisca is voluntarily recalling one formula of its dry dog food due to it containing elevated levels of vitamin D.

-- Lidl USA is voluntarily recalling specific lots of Orlando brand Grain Free Chicken and Chickpea Superfood Recipe Dog Food because the products may contain elevated levels of vitamin D.

Dogs consuming elevated levels of vitamin D could exhibit symptoms such as vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling and weight loss.

(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: My dog is a 16-pound rescue, probably 8 years old, with a heart murmur. His vet says he needs a Bordatella booster and Lyme disease shots, along with vaccines called DAPP and 4L.

He does not run free. Does he really need all these? -- M.R., High Point, North Carolina

DEAR M.R.: I answer your question with a loud “no!” Your dog should not need any of these shots.

My first question is, when was your dog last vaccinated? Annual “boosters” without doing blood titers are not needed, with the exception of a rabies vaccine that’s only good for one year. (Three-year-duration rabies shots are available, and preferable.)

The Bordatella vaccine is only of short duration, and is usually only given a few days before a dog is boarded. If a grooming facility insists on all of this, then hire a groomer to come to your home instead.

This combination of vaccines all given at the same time amounts to a “carpet-bombing” of your dog’s immune system, with a high probability of long-term adverse consequences. Try to find a holistic veterinary practitioner in your area who is more informed and less driven to put profits before patient well-being. Visit the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association’s website: ahvma.org.

DEAR DR. FOX: My dog has a terrible smell, even after one day of bathing him. He smells musty. I am wondering if it’s his breed or what he eats.

He is 8 years old, and he is a Peekapoo (half Pekinese, half poodle). He eats Caesar and Pedigree brands of food. -- C.N.K., Highlands, New Jersey

P.S. I am 13 years old.

DEAR C.N.K.: I am encouraged to receive letters from young readers of my column, such as you. This gives me hope that concern and caring for animals is passing on from one generation to the next. I fear younger generations are becoming lost in cyberspace, entertainment and social media, and becoming more and more disconnected from nature and the living world around them.

You are demonstrating one of the primary skills of a veterinarian: your nose! The smell of an animal can tell you a lot about his or her health. Healthy dogs smell like fresh hay, and their paw pads like popcorn. Older dogs do become smellier when their kidneys and livers are not doing a good job ridding the body of harmful wastes. Home-prepared diets (such as my basic dog food recipe, posted on my website) can help, coupled with supplements -- especially digestive enzymes, which a daily teaspoon of unsweetened canned pineapple in his food will provide.

Frequent bathing to get rid of any unpleasant odor can actually make things worse by upsetting the healthy balance of bacteria and other microorganisms living on your dog’s skin. So stop the baths for a while. A few drops of wild salmon fish oil in each meal, twice a day being best, should help his skin and overall health.

Considering your dog’s breed and age, do you brush his teeth every evening? Are his teeth and gums healthy? Check my article on dental care posted on my website. This is so very important for dogs -- and cats, too -- and is a widespread health issue with serious ramifications including kidney, heart and liver disease. This could be why your dog smells so musty, because smelly saliva from a diseased mouth will get on your dog’s coat and legs in the course of self-grooming and licking. A full wellness exam by a veterinarian may be called for, if your dog has not seen an animal doctor over the past year.

Do let me know how you solve this problem for your little canine companion.

DOGS IDENTIFY CHILDREN WITH EARLY-STAGE MALARIA

Two trained dogs identified children with subclinical malaria from the smell of their socks with about 70 percent sensitivity and 90 percent specificity, according to researchers reporting at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s annual meeting.

If future studies validate the findings, bio-detection dogs could be deployed to prevent asymptomatic carriers from bringing malaria parasites into malaria-free areas. (The Guardian, London, Oct. 29)

(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.)