DEAR DR. FOX: I'm writing to thank you for all the great information I've read in your columns over the years, but especially your whole foods diet for dogs.

I grew up hearing from vets: "Don't feed your dogs 'people food.' The companies that manufacture dog food spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to research what is best fed to dogs, and they know better than you." I have been owned by various loving miniature and standard schnauzers since my early 20s (I am now in my mid 60s). As you know, popular breeds like this suffer from many health problems that get worse as the dogs are bred back too closely, even by reputable breeders.

My dogs have had problems with different dermatitis and skin lesions, bloody stools, vomiting, intolerance of many foods, allergies and cancers. I started cooking up and feeding your diet for dogs nine or 10 years ago, and they have rarely had any health problems since. As I make up their casserole and stew, both of the schnauzers that I have now, Gypsy and Midnight Bella, sit where they can keep watch on the stove. I start from scratch with a mix of brown and wild rice, dry beans, lentils and oats. I add lean hamburger, chicken, pheasant, venison, lamb, fish or turkey. The last to go in are the fresh veggies and the frozen leftover veggies and stocks. I don't add tomatoes or beets because of the color and the mess in their beards. They love green beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, carrots and some fruits, like apples, bananas and pears.

I help out at several food pantries and take home produce that is a little too ripe for clients but good enough for me to eat. When everything is done it fills a 16- or 20-quart kettle; we eat two or three meals of this great stew: Theirs is served plain with cottage cheese, yogurt, etc.; mine comes with a little soy sauce. The leftovers freeze well in zipper bags, so I cook this up only every week or so. It is never exactly the same, and I do add some supplements. I sometimes add a little dry kibble of a top brand to give a crunch.

Years ago, my regular vet complimented them on their beautiful, soft and shiny coats and their weight. When I told him about your diet, he didn't want to hear me extolling veggies and "people food." Over the years of seeing them, he has changed his opinion quite a bit. No schnauzer bumps, no scratching, no hot spots, no dandruff, no flaking dry skin, no tummy and bowel upsets. I feed them twice a day, and they sit waiting, tails wagging frantically as they moan and mutter for me to hurry up.

Lastly, their teeth are in nice shape just using a finger brush and a little paste. They have sweet breath, no stinky farts and no impacted anal glands. My thanks for your great contribution to healthier dogs. -- K.K., Moorhead, Minnesota

DEAR K.K.: I appreciate your detailed account of the benefits you have discovered in providing a home-prepared, whole food diet for your dogs. You confirm what I and other holistic veterinarians have advocated for decades, and which I have documented along with two other contributing veterinarians in my book "Not Fit for a Dog: The Truth About Manufactured Cat and Dog Food."

Yes, indeed -- good nutrition is the cornerstone of health care and is the best preventive medicine.

DEAR DR. FOX: Our kitty, Bella, adopted us a year ago. She is active and healthy. My concern is that she has never been seen drinking water.

We tried switching bowls, using a fountain-type water bowl, using a dropper -- she will not drink water! Our older male kitty is always drinking from his bowl. We think that when she was outside, something happened to her that makes her afraid of water. They are both indoor kitties now. She is always licking things like carpets, tables and whatever is on the floor. Should we worry? -- T.M., Charleston, South Carolina

DEAR T.M.: This can be serious, especially when most of the cat's diet is dry food. The net result is more concentrated urine with the possibility of bladder inflammation, formation of urinary crystals or stones and serious complications from dehydration affecting kidney function and overall health. Some cats have a poor response to becoming dehydrated, which some theorize is the result of an impaired thirst mechanism that harkens back to their desert ancestry and ability to adapt to low fluid intake, primarily in the live prey they consume.

Moisten part of the kitten's dry food or feed her a good-quality canned cat food (such as Wysong), which contains no carrageenan thickener, which could pose extra risks for cats who do not hydrate themselves daily with plenty of water.

Coax the kitten to drink a little regular cow's milk, canned goat's milk with a little water or water with the juice of a piece of boiled chicken leg. Cow's milk in particular can cause loose stools in lactose-intolerant cats, and if this becomes a problem, try lactose-free milk.

(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 husband and I adopted a 10-week-old rescue domestic shorthair kitten, who was the runt of the litter. She has just turned 4 years old. We love her; she has very dear little ways about her.

Her problem is she doesn't like to have her nails clipped. The groomer who had it down pat is no longer employed at the place where we take her. Our cat needs her nails clipped every other month. She spits, growls and sometimes screams, and she has every groomer frightened. We don't want her nails surgically removed. When we bring her home, she rubs up against her carrier and us as if to say, "I got away with it again."

Can you give us any suggestions? We know those nails have to be clipped. She doesn't claw the furniture because she has a carpeted scratching post. -- L.W., Toms River, New Jersey

DEAR L.W.: Generally, cats do not need their claws trimmed if they regularly use a scratching post. However, when the nails do get long, they can get snagged on materials, and struggling to get free can damage the claw. One of my cats has this issue, and I regularly massage his paws so he gets used to having his nails squeezed and exposed. Then I can easily snip his nails with regular human clippers when needed.

Some of the guillotinelike clippers used -- especially on dogs -- actually squeeze the entire claw, which could be painful and make the animal afraid. Dogs and cats who are afraid of these devices often accept regular human nail clippers, and others will habituate to the sound of claw grinders, which put no pressure on the claw.

Sometimes it takes two people to manicure a cat. One holds the cat on a table or sofa, grasping the cat by the scruff of the neck. This has a partially paralyzing, immobilizing and possibly tranquillizing effect on the cat; is not painful; and inhibits struggling while the cat's nails (or teeth or ears) are being seen to. A light muzzle and firm scruff-hold can help keep dogs still for similar purposes, but they are less profoundly subdued than cats.

BOOK REVIEW

"The Soul of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human" by Dr. Vint Virga.

After reading some glowing reviews of this book, I requested a review copy from the publisher. I expected more accounting of treatments and resolutions of animals' distress and abnormal behaviors from a veterinary practitioner of behavioral medicine. Describing a few case histories with elaborate prose and interspersing them with folk tales relating to human values, actions and morality did not, for me, accomplish the promise in the subtitle of this book.

Anthropomorphizing and zoomorphizing aside, the current notion that animals can be our teachers needs to be tempered by the fact that our relationships with them reveal the best and the worst qualities of human nature. You can read more about that in Dr. Charles Danten's book, "Slaves of Our Affection: The Myth of the Happy Pet." With all respect to Dr. Virga, who undoubtedly has helped improve the lives of many animals in homes and zoos, his book falls short by seeking to apply some understanding of animals to the human self-help movement, essentially turning two separate books into one.

Minor quibbles: Virga attributes Chief Seattle's famous quote to someone else. He rescues a mouse by picking it up by its tail rather than scooping it; mice can "slip" or "deglove" their tail skin to break free when held by the tail. Regardless, he clearly documents that the emotional and behavior-impairing suffering of nonhuman animals is very similar to our own, which can help enhance empathy and acceptance that like us, animals are living souls. I hope that his next book will offer more from his wealth of knowledge, practical experience and deep heart, especially with regard to animals "who have somehow surrendered their spirits."

(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: Should a booked vet offer referrals? Our son's 14-year-old chow suddenly had problems standing on her back legs. When I helped her up and released her, her back legs buckled.

I called our vet for an appointment on a Friday, but was told there were no appointments available until Tuesday. I asked for a recommendation. The person taking the call said that without seeing the dog, she had no idea what to recommend. I said that I meant a recommendation of another vet. I was told I'd have to "call around." We have had this vet since 2001 when we moved to this area. I Googled other vets in the area and found one who took her immediately.

Am I wrong to be so disappointed in my vet? Shouldn't I have, at least, been told about emergency animal hospitals in our area? There were two vets at our office, but the original one has recently retired. -- P.K.P., Scranton, Pennsylvania

DEAR P.K.P.: No veterinarian who has been seeing a client on a regular basis has any excuse for not advising, personally, over the phone or through an assistant, what to do when there is an emergency like yours, and where to take the animal if she is fully booked with appointments. You should let her know your concerns so that this will never happen again in that veterinary practice.

DEAR DR. FOX: I noticed in a recent column that the Florida couple with the frantically grooming cat had recently done a lot of home renovation. Their cat's sudden licking problem could be related to new materials introduced in their home renovation.

We had a wonderful, well-adjusted Burmese who suddenly started twitching and licking as though he had biting insects on his body. Our vet checked him for insects, did a skin biopsy, tried him on a rotation diet and gave him a short course of prednisone. He found no insects or skin condition, and neither the diet change nor the prednisone had any effect. We tried other vets without getting any relief for him. He struggled with the problem for several years before he passed away at 16.

A few years ago, I read an article about new carpets being a culprit in allergic reactions. This reminded me that after our new wall-to-wall carpet was installed throughout the second floor of our house, I could no longer walk on it barefoot or my feet would itch. I don't know why I didn't connect this with our cat's frantic licking, which started around the same time.

Our cat spent most of his days sleeping in the sun on this carpet, often upside down. He always seemed to improve when we traveled with him, but we couldn't figure out why. You may want to advise your readers that there are other common sources of allergens besides food, and new carpets are among them. Thanks again for your column and for all your wise counseling. -- C.P., Neptune, New Jersey

DEAR C.P.: Yes, new carpets emitting formaldehyde, flame-retardant bromide chemicals and other potential endocrine disruptors and allergens, not to mention inhaled small fibers, volatile chemicals and chemical residues in dust can be a household health hazard problem for cats and people alike. I have often mentioned this in my column, and more than one cat owner like you has had problems like yours. Use throw rugs and nonsynthetic rug materials (cotton, jute, hemp and wool) since synthetics build up a static charge, which can cause discomfort.

POISONOUS WATER WORRIES

In early August 2014, 400,000 people in Toledo, Ohio, could not drink, bathe or cook with municipal water because of a blue-green algae bloom in their water source, a shallow part of Lake Erie. Waters polluted by phosphate and nitrogen run-off from farms and sewage treatment plants trigger such blooms. Blue-green algae (also known as cyanobacteria) produce various toxins, called cyanotoxins, which rapidly destroy the liver, causing acute illness, coma, seizures and death. Recovered animals can become sunlight sensitive, losing skin on their ears and backs, especially after exposure to sunlight.

This human-exacerbated water quality problem is likely to get worse with climate change and agricultural expansion with ever more agrichemicals being put on the land, many of which end up in surface waters without adequate buffer zones to limit runoff.

While ruminant animals (cattle and sheep) and birds are more sensitive to these toxins than monogastric animals like pigs and dogs, dogs frequently pick up cyanotoxins when allowed to drink from standing water and suffer the consequences. For more details about pure water and hazards in our drinking water, check 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.)