DEAR DR. FOX: I have a 4-year-old female shih tzu who has chronic ear infections. She weighs 15 pounds. Her problem is pretty much controlled with Royal Canin Hypoallergenic dry and moist dog food.

I would like to prepare moist food myself. I printed a copy of your recommended food recipe from the Internet, and I would like to know how much of my home-prepared food I should give her daily? How much dry food? She eats twice daily.

She is active and healthy, except for the chronic ear problem. -- R.W., Winston-Salem, N.C.

DEAR R.W.: Please visit my website, DrFoxVet.com, and search the column archives to find answers to questions concerning ear problems in dogs and effective treatments.

Changing the diet is not the only answer, but not addressing diet as a possible cause amounts to veterinary negligence, since so many dogs with chronic ear -- and anal gland -- problems have an underlying food allergy or intolerance. The proof is in the "evidence-based medicine," documenting improvement after changing to a basic, whole-food diet with known ingredients. It is often only then that treatments applied to the ears help the healing process.

After weighing your dog, feed her 1/2-cup home-prepared food plus 1/2-cup dry food twice daily. Weigh again after two to three weeks, and adjust the amount to maintain normal weight. If your dog is overweight, have the veterinarian help determine the optimal weight for her breed.

DEAR DR. FOX: My Lab/chi-chi-mix dog, Marty, is 2 years old. He will not go outside to pee if it is raining, so he goes on the carpet of the laundry room. He doesn't poop, just tinkles.

What do you suggest we do to get him to not be afraid of the rainy weather? -- D.M., Virginia Beach, Va.

DEAR D.M.: Your rain-phobic dog may respond well to desensitization. Chose a nice day, but go out with a large umbrella over both of you so that he gets used to it. Repeat for a few days until he is accustomed to the umbrella -- and your neighbors think you are certifiably insane! During the next light rain, take him out on the leash for a walk with both of you under the umbrella. Give him treats and praise. After a few walks in the rain, move the umbrella away as you give him a treat so he gets some rain on him. Then get him used to a rubdown with a towel.

Many dogs do not enjoy getting soaked, but will put their ears and tails down and get on with their business, the rewards of a good toweling and a treat being enough incentive.

In the interim, purchase disposable pads from the pet store to protect your laundry room floor. Your dog may need treatment with an anti-anxiety medication like Xanax, especially if he has a fear of thunder and lightning, which he might associate with rain.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 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.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: Our house was heavily damaged by a tornado on April 22. There was a lot of loud banging and glass breaking. Thank goodness we were all OK. Of our five doggies, two are senior citizens, two are youngsters and one is a puppy.

Since the tornado, we have noticed that two of our dogs are extremely sensitive to sudden loud noises. One is the puppy and the other is one of the youngsters. There is a lot of construction going on around us, and there are occasional loud noises. This produces the same kind of behavior as when we have thunderstorms. The youngster shivers, shakes and paces; the puppy runs and hides under the couch.

Is there anything we can do to help them when they are frightened or to make them less sensitive to the noise? This past July 4 was the first time we used tranquilizers, but it made them sleepy and groggy. I hated having to medicate them, but there were a lot of fireworks going off. -- G.G., Bridgeton, Mo.

DEAR G.G.: Dogs can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder that is triggered by sudden loud noises.

Put on music or turn up the TV and close the curtains to keep out the construction sounds. Discuss with your veterinarian a short course of treatment with Xanax. This should not cause significant drowsiness at a low dose, and it is excellent for sound phobias -- especially thunder and fireworks -- in dogs.

Surprisingly, wrapping the dog in a tight T-shirt secured with Velcro strips or purchasing an "anxiety wrap" can calm the canine psyche. Try it!

DEAR DR. FOX: Now that it looks like horse slaughter will soon return to the U.S., what is your take on it? I've heard that horsemeat will be sold in the U.S.

I find this appalling. Horse slaughter is always cruel, and it is not humane euthanasia. -- P.E., Saint Ann, Mo.

DEAR P.E.: I have followed the U.S. horse slaughter issue closely. Unfortunately, horse protection organizations' best intentions in banning horse slaughter in the U.S. led to the stressful transportation of horses to Mexico for slaughter and export -- primarily to France and other horse-eating cultures, including China.

As an ethical vegetarian who has documented the suffering of animals raised for their meat and the negative environmental impact of the livestock and poultry industries -- see my website, DrFoxVet.com, for details -- I see a global reduction in meat consumption as enlightened self-interest and a vital contribution to wildlife protection.

Horses in the U.S. primarily come from the horse racing and rodeo industries and from people who keep them as pets. It is incumbent upon all involved to enforce the highest humane standards in the care and handling of all horses destined for slaughter in the U.S., which, in the final analysis, is a better fate that being sent to Mexico.

Private horse owners can have their veterinarians humanely euthanize their horses with an injection, though the owner will have to pay for the disposal of the animal, which cannot be used for human consumption or incorporated into livestock feed and manufactured pet foods because of drug residues.

DEAR DR. FOX: I am writing in regards to the lady whose cat became "unhousebroken."

We have six cats, and our oldest, Zoey, started soiling the beds recently. We have seven litter boxes, and we keep them clean. The boxes are in our workshop downstairs.

Our vet put Zoey on amitriptyline, and that sort of helped -- but she still soiled the beds every so often. The vet then suggested putting kitty litter upstairs and keeping the cat on the amitriptyline. We put one litter box in a bedroom off our living room. The other cats also use this one, but they do their business mainly downstairs. Zoey, however, uses only this upstairs box, and she no longer soils the beds.

It has been six months. I set the litter box inside a big plastic container so the cats can't kick litter everywhere.

This has been a miracle for our household. We don't even have to give her amitriptyline now. We have to clean that litter box several times a day, but it is worth it. I hope T.B. from Gates, N.C., reads this. -- C.S.U., Columbia, Mo.

DEAR C.S.U.: Your experience dealing with a house-soiling cat will be helpful for other cat owners facing this all-too-common problem, especially when they have several cats and when all medical reasons like cystitis and urinary calculi are ruled out.

Exploring the feline psyche takes time, patience and objectivity. Many cats prefer a quiet location for their litter box, with minimal human and animal traffic. As you have discovered, cleaning the box several times a day can help, along with trials with different kinds of litter. Many cats avoid not only soiled boxes but also those that have dusty and/or scented litter. Boxes that are covered, creating an ammoniated internal atmosphere, can lead to litter box aversion as well.

SOLID GOLD DOG FOOD RECALL

Solid Gold Health Products for Pets issued a voluntary recall of one batch of WolfCub Large Breed Puppy Food and one batch of WolfKing Large Breed Adult Food. These dog foods were co-manufactured at the Diamond facility that is linked to salmonella contamination and Diamond's extensive recall of pet foods. For more information, including the batch numbers, visit solidgoldhealth.com/recalls.php or call 1-800-364-4863.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 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.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: My German shepherds think going outside is a time to dine on bunny and deer droppings and any other disgusting thing they find. In the yard, on walks ... it doesn't matter. I give them yogurt in the hope it will counteract some of the germs.

Any suggestions other than buying a muzzle? -- K.E., Rockville, Md.

DEAR K.E.: This is one of the most frequent questions that I receive, and it is indicative that many dogs are trying to compensate for some dietary deficiency or digestive impairment (dysbiosis). Poop eating (coprophagia) in moderation is normal -- it's not some kind of depraved canine behavior. It is a natural instinct to obtain various trace nutrients from the bacterial action in the digested food excreted by herbivores. Rabbits and other species routinely eat their own feces as part of this nutrient-cycling process. Cultures of healthy human fecal bacteria are now being used to help improve the health of human patients, notably those suffering from obesity.

But when coprophagic behavior is obsessive, it could indicate a nutrient deficiency. Many dogs stop their coprophagia when put on a highly digestible dog food and when given a vitamin B-complex supplement, brewer's yeast or a daily dose of probiotics or "live" organic yogurt or kefir in their food. (Pasteurized yogurt is useless because the beneficial bacteria have been destroyed.)

Some dogs may engage in this behavior as a cleaning activity. More than one dog owner has told me that when they stopped allowing their dogs to see them picking up the poop around their property, the dogs stopped engaging in coprophagia.

AMERICA'S DOG AND CAT HEALTH ISSUES MIRROR HUMANS'

In a review of current major health problems in dogs and cats seen by a nationwide veterinary clinic business, 40 percent of dogs with arthritis and more than one in three arthritic cats (37 percent) are also overweight. Almost half of diabetic dogs (42 percent) and diabetic cats (40 percent) are overweight. Some 40 percent of dogs with high blood pressure and 60 percent of dogs with hypothyroidism are also overweight.

According to this 2012 Banfield Pet Hospital report, obesity affects one in five dogs and cats. The rise in overweight and obese pets mimics the increase in humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overweight and obesity in humans is also on the rise; the CDC reports that it has increased in humans to one in three (35.7 percent) U.S. adults.

While the rise in chronic diseases is a concern, so is the gap in medical care of cats. Despite the fact that there are more cats than dogs in the U.S., Banfield treated 1.5 million more dogs than cats in 2011. Cats, however, are just as susceptible to serious chronic diseases as dogs. One of the most significant diseases highlighted in this report is chronic kidney disease, a common cause of death in cats. This disease increased by 15 percent since 2007, and it is nearly seven times more common in cats than in dogs. Clearly, people with cats need to go for veterinary health checkups more frequently, or get vets to perform house calls, which is less stressful for most cats.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 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 www.twobitdog.com/DrFox.)