DEAR DR. FOX: Our healthy 12-year-old domestic shorthair cat started limping about four months ago. The problem seemed to be one of her hind legs. I took her to her vet, who could not elicit any joint pain or tenderness, and for whom Molly wouldn't walk out of fear -- she crouches and shakes during vet visits -- so he never saw her walking or limping. He asked me to get a video of her limping on my smartphone and bring it in to him to view. I agreed.

Molly's limp went away a day or two after the visit, and I was unable to capture her limp on film prior to its disappearance. I was surprised when Molly's vet said that cats rarely, if ever, get arthritis. It seemed to me that her limp was more pronounced after she had been sitting, and the hind leg appeared to feel a little better after she moved around.

The limp has returned, and I have captured it on film and will take it to the vet's office. What could possibly be the cause of on-again, off-again leg and hip tenderness if not arthritis? Molly is an indoor cat. -- B.L., Chesterfield, Mo.

DEAR B.L.: Cats are notoriously difficult to examine in the veterinary clinic setting when they are tense and afraid. Pain symptoms are masked and palpation is difficult to perform when muscles and limbs are tensed.

Any veterinarian who says that degenerative joint disease and arthritis is rare in cats needs to have a refresher course in feline medicine and nutrition.

Check out my book "The Healing Touch For Cats" to learn the benefits of massage therapy for this common condition in older cats. I advise beneficial supplements, especially good-quality fish oils or omega-3s from algae if the cat does not like the fish oil source of these essential fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory and help with arthritis and other conditions.

DEAR DR. FOX: My friend Dara rescued an elderly, medium-sized female dog, Josephine, from life on a short chain in the backyard. It took years for the "owners" to agree to surrender the dog, and only because the dog had become ill and would have died during the recent cold spells.

Josephine is still shy and reluctant in her new home, which she shares with Dara, her husband and two boy dogs. Josephine has taken ownership of the doggy door and will growl at the boys when they want to go outside. To my knowledge, she has not nipped anyone, but her growl is intimidating enough to stress out the boys.

What do you suggest? Josephine is still shell-shocked from her 10 years on a chain. Dara wants her to feel loved and accepted, but she cannot tolerate Josephine being the gatekeeper to the potty. -- H.S., St. Louis

DEAR H.S.: Dogs with post-traumatic stress disorder need great sensitivity applied to any behavioral correction or modification. It is good that she is beginning to assert herself with the two resident boy dogs -- up to a point. But if they are showing signs of anxiety, then some behavioral redirection is called for.

If she is not freaked out by the sound of a training clicker I would train her to come for a treat every time she hears it. Alternatively, you can use a squeaky toy; squeak it and the reward is for her to chase it.

This conditioning will have to be done with the other dogs in another room. Food reward rather than a squeaky toy reward may set up some rivalry between the dogs, so the choice of behavioral modification will have to be determined through trial and selection.

Alternatively, train the new dog to sit and stay on command, while on a leash. Give her a reward when she obeys. With her on the leash, close to the dog door, give the sit and stay commands when the boys want to go out. If she snarls at them, repeat the sit and stay commands. Coupling the verbal command with a raised then slowly lowered hand facilitate the learning process.

If these measures fail, I would set up a low, 4- to 5-foot-long railing on the doorframe so the dogs wanting to go out have some protection from her. I hope these ideas help.

RED FLANNEL CAT FOOD RECALL

PMI Nutrition in Arden Hills, Minn., is recalling its 20-pound bags of their Red Flannel cat food after routine testing by the Food and Drug Administration Detroit District Office identified possible salmonella contamination. There have been no reports of illness related to the product, according to the company.

For more information on the recall, customers can contact the customer service line for PMI products at 800-332-4738.

(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: We are at our wit's end with our 14-year-old Chihuahua/rat terrier. He is having some sort of reaction and, according to our vet, is producing too much yeast.

We have been taking him to the vet for a monthly allergy shot, bathing him weekly with Pharmaseb Shampoo and feeding him Hill's Prescription z/d food in addition to a small amount of homemade chicken and vegetables. His whole belly is like alligator skin, and he is losing hair on the top of his back. Besides the expense of the monthly trip to the vet and the shot, the food is expensive, too. Now the vet is suggesting an allergy test that would cost $500, along with keeping my dog on a serum for the next several months, which would cost $325 every three months.

Is there anything else we can try? I am desperate for help and a solution. This poor little dog spends 3/4 of the day scratching. He even stops to scratch before going out for a pee in the backyard. His ears are also inflamed.

Do you have any suggestions? Is this an immune system problem? Is this just par for the course for older dogs? -- J.F., Palm Beach, Fla.

DEAR J.F.: Your poor dog is suffering indeed. First, has mange, a skin parasite, been ruled out? Next, consider hypothyroidism, which in older dogs is often combined with Cushing's disease, both of which the veterinarian should have checked for.

The possibility of an underlying food ingredient allergy or intolerance remains, and one of the problems with these expensive prescription diets is that they often contain additives and other ingredients as well as contaminants that may cause more harm than good.

I would put your dog on a "detox" diet of 3 parts boiled brown rice or quinoa; 2 parts ground lamb or white fish; and 1 part chopped green beans for three to five days. After that, transition him onto a boiled potato and white fish diet with a pediatric multimineral or multivitamin tablet and a few drops of fish oil mixed in. Also, give your dog probiotics and a bath using Selsun Blue medicated shampoo, followed a week later with a soothing oatmeal and aloe vera or chamomile shampoo.

DEAR DR. FOX: My 7-year-old yellow Lab has a bad habit that is driving me crazy. When she is in the yard playing with a ball or stick, she stops playing and starts pulling out the grass with her teeth. She does not dig holes.

She does this when she is alone a and when I am out there with her. When you try to correct her, she thinks it is a game, runs across the yard and does it again.

What can be done to correct this behavior? We cannot leash her every time she needs to go out or prevent her from running around. Do you think an electronic training collar would help, or might it do more damage to her mental state? Any recommendations would be appreciated. -- M.M.

Dear M.M.: Is your dog eating some of the grass or just snapping and pulling it up?

If she is eating some of the grass, you must know that is normal dog behavior. Give her a small unmowed patch of couch grass to nibble on. This could be good for her digestive system and urinary tract. Dogs with some internal irritation or discomfort will often eat grass, and not always to trigger vomiting.

If this is more a redirected play behavior, throw her some sturdy squeaky toys and 18-inch ropes with a knot on both ends, which she may especially enjoy being able to retrieve and "kill."

Never use a shock collar. For details, check my short article, "Dominance Training" on my website, DrFoxVet.com.

(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: Thank you so much for sharing the letter about Inky, the friendly cat who was abandoned. I am the director of and humane investigator for the Danville Area Humane Society in Danville, Va. We are very much opposed to trap-neuter-release, and are facing outrage from the pro-TNR folks. As soon as I send this email to you, I will write our response to a recent letter to the editor in our local paper proclaiming that we "kill" cats just to make money. We have an endless supply of pictures that tell one thing -- the streets are not safe for cats.

In Virginia, we actually had to fight a legislative battle two years ago when TNR proponents wanted to trap, neuter and release cats onto private property without the owners' permission. In addition, proponents said that the cats would not need to be fed, watered, monitored for health issues, etc. Yet they wanted me charged with cruelty for euthanizing shelter animals!

With people who are mistreating animals, we can seize the animals and take the owners to court. Now, many people who believe the only measure of progress is in having no euthanasia in a shelter hail the "no-kill" operators as heroes and we are the scum who do nothing but kill, kill, kill. We are on call all day, every day, and we leave at a moment's notice to rescue animals from trees, sewers, the middle of the road and so on.

Again, thank you for running the experience of Inky, and thank you for your response. -- P.D., Danville, Va.

DEAR P.D.: I appreciate readers' feedback on the issues concerning the health, wellbeing and rights of companion and farmed animals.

There is less fiduciary corruption in the fundraising activities of the larger national animal and environmental protection organizations than there is a lack of vision and accountability for their actions and interventions, which is supported by a sentimentally motivated, but misguided, public. They may hold feel-good conferences and consultations with "experts," but the reality of having to exercise humane stewardship, which on occasion includes the killing of animals to help reduce animal suffering and restore ecological integrity, cannot be ignored.

Playing on public sentiment to raise money to "protect" feral cats, including dumping these animals instead of euthanizing the unadopted and unadoptable and putting local animal shelters that must euthanize in the spotlight of public condemnation, is wholly unethical and self-serving.

As a culture, we hold such an abhorrence of death that we bankrupt the health care system by preventing death in the elderly and already dying. When it comes to euthanasia, we do a better job in most animal shelters now that decompression chambers, curare-like injections that paralyze and suffocate, and carbon monoxide from gasoline engines have been outlawed. In fact, we kill these animals in a more humane way than we do our own kind: In Ohio recently, a death-row inmate's suffering was protracted by the use of inappropriate drugs.

I take my hat off to all who work in animal shelters across the U.S. who take the animal "garbage" of a disposable society, and must kill more than they can ever hope to adopt. This killing is a reality. It can be reduced, but not subverted or lambasted by those who seek to capitalize on this companion animal population crisis in many of our communities. The much-lauded TNR method of "helping" unhomed cats, which may work in a few locations where there is no threat to wildlife, is neither a panacea nor an appropriate response to the companion animal population and homelessness crisis that we face as a society today, from the dogs in the streets of Detroit to the cats in New Orleans.

I advise my readers to support your local animal shelter: Adopt one or two animals rather than purchasing one from a big commercial kitten and puppy mill breeder or online outlet; volunteer; and get on the board!

CAT SAVES WOMAN HAVING A STROKE

According to reporter Sarah Okeson of Springfield, Mo., Erna Pratt credits her 13-year old cat, Trigger, with saving her life. The cat woke Pratt's daughter when Pratt, 75, was immobilized due to a stroke. Trigger was in the kitchen when Pratt's stroke began and, at the command of her owner, went to another room and meowed loudly to wake Pratt's daughter, who called 911. The cat "literally saved my life," said Pratt, who recovered and is back at home with her family.

(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.)