DEAR DR. FOX: I appreciate you writing about animal welfare and animal rights issues. I have been involved in animal protection for the past 20 years, and I support several nonprofit organizations, local and national, that help animals. But despite all these efforts, I feel that little progress has been made, just like in human rights here in the U.S. and in many other countries. What is your opinion? -- R.E., Washington, D.C.

DEAR R.E.: The history of humans' relationships with animals encompasses enslavement, extermination, consumption, companionship and devotion.

Extermination has unforeseen consequences, as exemplified by malaria and dengue fever being spread by mosquitoes that have developed resistance to insecticides. These chemicals have caused collateral damage, killing off the natural predators of mosquitoes and making us ill in countless ways.

Consumption of animals, on the scale evident today, contributes to the climate and extinction crises and to a spectrum of human diseases, including some forms of cancer.

A more judicious use of safe vaccines, antibiotics and pesticides is called for, along with bioremediation (including soil and gut microbiome restoration) and biocontrol (as by introducing specific pathogens or predators to control crop pests and invasive species). This is surely the path of least harm to ourselves, to the environment and to natural biodiversity.

Our prejudice, fear and hatred toward certain animals -- and toward our own kind -- break the circle of life. It has been long held by some religious authorities that we have some God-given dominion over the Earth, and that animals were "created for man's use," to quote one former pope. But it is increasingly evident that it is enlightened self-interest to treat animals with compassion and to support animals' basic rights, including freedom from pain and fear, and to provide conditions that satisfy their physical, social and emotional needs.

In a truly civilized society of justice for all, living by the golden rule (of treating others as we would have them treat us) would be extended to all our animal relationships, including those we fear and those that are dangerous and/or vectors of disease. The physician's Hippocratic injunction, "First do no harm," is the same as the bioethical principle of ahimsa -- non-harming -- and should be applicable to all our relationships with other living organisms.

Having respect for all living beings would be an evolutionary step forward for humankind. I see some glimmers of hope since the veterinary profession, notably in the U.K., is calling for more concerted professional involvement in advocating for animal rights, and in the progressive One Health movement that links our own health and well-being with how well we treat animals and the environment.

ELON MUSK'S FUNDING OF ANIMAL BRAIN EXPERIMENTS

From the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine:

"Since 2017, Elon Musk's company Neuralink has subjected animals -- including monkeys, pigs, rats and sheep -- to invasive, often deadly, brain experiments. Through 2020, the company paid $1.4 million to the University of California, Davis, to use its facilities, where experimenters removed portions of monkeys' skulls to implant electrodes in the animals' brains as part of Neuralink's development of a 'brain-machine interface.' Only in 2022, following a public records lawsuit by the Physicians Committee, did the troubling details of these experiments begin to come to light. The company is still conducting experiments on animals at its facilities in California and Texas."

For details, see "Elon Musk's Cruel Brain Experiments" at pcrm.org.

In my opinion, Musk would do better spending his money in addressing the widespread empathy-deficit disorder.

FLEA ALERT: KEEP CATS INDOORS!

Three people in California's Los Angeles County died last year of flea-borne typhus, according to a report in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, and 171 cases of typhus in the county were reported. Rising populations of cat fleas on pets and free-roaming animals or rising rodent populations in urban and suburban areas may be increasing typhus risk. Pet owners should use a veterinarian-approved flea control product, according to the report. (Full story: Los Angeles Times, Aug. 3)

Owned cats that are allowed to roam free are a main source of flea infestations. They pick up these ectoparasites outdoors and bring them into their homes. Fleas can also carry other diseases, including plague. So keep your cats indoors!

(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 DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: I sent this letter to my local newspaper. It was never published, because ruffling the feathers and twisting the tails of the poultry and livestock industries is a cultural taboo, but I urge all states to consider the proposal within. It is an idea that I, and other veterinarians and public health experts, have been calling for for several years.

My letter read as follows:

"As a veterinarian -- and concerned humanitarian -- I urge the Minnesota State Fair to put an end to all live animal exhibits for public health and humane reasons. An article by New York Times reporter Emily Anthes, which ran in the Star Tribune in August under the headline 'Fertile Vector,' underscores the risk of exhibited pigs transmitting the influenza virus to visitors. This is one of several so-called zoonotic diseases that farmed animals, including poultry, can transmit to humans, and which routine sanitation measures may fail to control when people enter the same airspace where the animals are penned.

"There is also the issue of animal stress and suffering under conditions of high temperatures and humidity while being held for exhibition, and during transportation to and from agricultural shows and state fairs. Surely, Minnesota could take the lead and put an end to all such events. Public health and animal welfare should not continue to be trumped by animal industry interests."

Additional support comes from these reports:

-- An exhibitor at this year's Oakland County Fair in Davisburg, Michigan, is presumed positive for swine flu, and county health department representatives are contacting other exhibitors to see whether they or their families also may have been infected. (Full story: MLive.com, July 27)

-- From the abstract of one review of this issue: "We detected 370 separate human-to-swine spillovers, with the frequency of interspecies transmission increasing when the burden of influenza A virus (IAV) was highest in the human population. ... These data suggest that controlling IAV infection in humans working with swine can minimize spillover into pigs, reduce resulting genetic diversity of IAV in pigs, and proactively reduce the potential for swine-to-human transmission of IAV with zoonotic potential." (Full study: A. Markin, et al: "Reverse-zoonoses of 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza A viruses and evolution in United States swine results in viruses with zoonotic potential," PLOS Pathogens, July 27, 2023)

Following this same line of evidential concern, all live animal markets and shows should be closed. At the very least, they should be limited in size and frequency, and take place under full veterinary, public health and animal welfare surveillance.

For similar reasons, all traffic and trade in live animals, domesticated and wild, should be prohibited except for legitimate conservation and animal health purposes. The lesson from the live-animal "wet" markets in Wuhan, China -- where the COVID-19 global pandemic is thought to have originated -- is warning enough.

DEAR DR. FOX: I came across one of your articles when I was searching for advice for my cat with hyperesthesia syndrome. Can you please help me in figuring out what to feed him and how to treat him?

The vet had him on gabapentin, but I noticed it really didn't work well, and once it wore off, his episodes were worse and he needed MORE gabapentin. Every time I'd try to administer it to him, he made it clear that he did not want it. I think it made him feel yucky. He only took it for about 2 1/2 months, and he has been off all medicines for about that long now.

I notice he sleeps a lot, is not as active and doesn't want to eat as much as he used to. It breaks my heart. To see him experience these terrible episodes, especially when it's a really bad one, is killing me. -- P.S.P., Victorville, California

DEAR P.S.P.: Diagnosing the cause of a cat's hyperesthesia -- a condition of extreme sensitivity of the skin -- can be challenging because several factors may be involved. For instance, some cats just do not like to be touched. Our rescued cat, Fanny, can only be petted when she is on the bed and ready to sleep, and occasionally when she is eating. At other times, she avoids hand contact and her skin shivers if touched.

Some horripilation (hairs standing on end, "goosebumps") can be anxiety-driven, but also may represent a form of epilepsy or seizure in some cats. Gabapentin can help, but as you experienced, the benefit may be temporary. The attending veterinarian may consider treating your cat with a psychotropic medication such as alprazolam or buspirone, which can take some weeks to become effective.

The veterinarian should also rule out other possible contributing factors, such as blocked anal glands; chronic physical pain, particularly along the back; flea-bite allergies; and food allergies/intolerances, especially to fish. I would begin by eliminating all fish from your cat's diet, but give him some marine algae for the much-needed anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids.

Paradoxically, the stimulating effects of catnip can also be sedating. Giving your cat a pinch, especially in the evening, may help, as may crushing 1 mg of melatonin in her favorite food at bedtime.

One remote possible cause is a parasitic infestation that has gone to the brain, such as toxoplasmosis, heartworm or roundworms. So if all else fails, have your veterinarian consider trying an antiparasitic medication.

(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 DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: Most people do not know about pregnant horses being cruelly confined (or repeatedly rounded up) for the purpose of having their pregnancies aborted and their blood drained.

This horrific practice is done routinely for the extraction of hormone-rich pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) from their blood. This hormone is produced by collecting a substantial volume of blood from mares early in their pregnancies -- once or twice a week for about 12 weeks. The mares' foals are then aborted, and the mares rebred for another collection cycle.

The Animal Welfare Foundation says, "More than 10,000 mares are exploited in Uruguay and Argentina for PMSG production." Similar "horse blood farms" also operate in Germany, Canada, the U.S. and Iceland, with an estimated 5,000 animals exploited.

PMSG is a hormone that is widely used to enhance reproductive performance and management of dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goats and pigs kept under intensive housing systems. Typically, PMSG is given to young sows to induce early puberty, which in turn triggers a kind of superovulation that results in larger litters. Just after they give birth, sows are given PMSG to immediately induce estrus -- the period of time when a female animal is in heat -- so the cycle can start all over again. This is according to a detailed report by Kena Shah, entitled "The Blood of Pregnant Mares Literally Fuels Factory Farming" (see sentientmedia.org).

Shah notes, "Though it's difficult to track down exact numbers, the drug is omnipresent in industrial pork production in the U.S. and Canada. In Germany, government records indicate that approximately 2.1 million doses of this hormone are administered each year. According to the Association for Animal Welfare in Iceland, blood farmers in the country make a combined $3.4 million USD in revenue."

The inherent cruelty to horses, many collapsing and dying from anemia and repeated abortions, just to boost the productivity of factory-farmed animals for human consumption is an outright international atrocity -- one that is profit-driven in every quarter. It will not end until the veterinary profession, internationally, supports animal protection organizations dedicated to the abolition of such practices.

For its part, the World Veterinary Association has put out a statement saying that it "supports the development and use of alternatives, such as bioequivalent synthetic biologics and therapeutics, to replace the need for using horse blood, serum and urine to derive biologics and therapeutics that treat or prevent various conditions in humans and other animals" (worldvet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WVA-Position-Statement-on-the-Use-of-Horses-for-Production-of-Biologics-and-Therapeutics.pdf).

Additionally, more consumers must shop with informed compassion, adopting plant-based diets to enjoy the financial and health benefits of vegan meals that cause less harm to animals and the environment. For more details on this issue, go to feeva.fve.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/7.-FEEVA-GA-PMSG-presentation.pdf.

DEAR DR. FOX: Our dog has dry eyes. Our local pet ophthalmologist prescribed tacrolimus drops three times a day in both eyes, along with two other drops in the left eye only (also three times daily).

Only the tacrolimus seems to bother him, as he immediately rubs the eyes with paws and usually closes the affected eye. After two weeks of this, we don't think we see progress, and we are clearly causing the dog discomfort.

The vet says this regimen is needed forever. We have our doubts. You? -- R.H., Red Bank, New Jersey

DEAR R.H.: Tacrolimus is an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drug, often prescribed in veterinary medicine to treat dry eye. The ophthalmic drops work to stimulate the tear glands and prevent further destruction of tissue. It may take several days to see benefits, but if it causes your dog extreme discomfort for more than a minute or so, and restraining the dog from pawing and rubbing the eye is not feasible, then discuss an alternative ophthalmic preparation.

Dry eye is common in some breeds, especially those with bulging eyes like Pekingese and French bulldogs, which can lead to corneal ulcers and loss of vision. Sometimes the eyes even pop out of these deformed-by-humans dogs -- a very sad situation, which sound breeding could have avoided.

CALF AND SOW LIBERATION IN NEW JERSEY

I applaud the passage of legislation this July that bans intensive confinement of mother pigs and calves raised for veal in New Jersey with Gov. Phil Murphy signing A1970/S1298 into law. The bill, sponsored by state senators Vin Gopal and Nick Scutari and Assemblymembers Raj Mukherji, Daniel Benson and Carol Murphy, prevents the use of gestation crates for sows and veal crates for calves, and will impose penalties for violators.

I was one of the first to document the plight of veal calves in the early 1980s, in my visits to veal producers in New Jersey and other states to determine how sows and their piglets were being raised and handled. My advocacy drew media and public attention to such widespread mistreatment.

(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 DrFoxOneHealth.com.)