DEAR READERS: Many readers of this column have swamped me with requests for my home-prepared cat and dog food recipes, mostly because they do not have Internet access to them posted on my website, DrFoxVet.com.

So here is the recipe for dogs -- the one for cats will be in next week's column -- and seasons greetings to all!

DR. MICHAEL FOX'S HOMEMADE DIET FOR DOGS

1 pound lean hamburger, ground lamb or mutton; one whole chicken; or half a small turkey (all raw)

2 cups uncooked whole-grain brown rice (or barley, quinoa, amaranth, rolled oats or pasta noodles) or 4 cups chopped organic potatoes

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or flaxseed oil* or safflower oil)

1 tablespoon organic butter

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon brewer's yeast

1 tablespoon calcium citrate, lactate or human-grade bone meal

*If you're using flaxseed oil, add it after the cooked food has cooled to room temperature.

Combine all the above ingredients. Add enough water to cover ingredients. Simmer, stir and add more water as needed until cooked. Debone the chicken parts, but do not feed your dog the cooked bones since they can splinter and cause internal injury. While the stew is still very hot, mix in a cup of raw, grated carrots, broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, sweet potatoes or yams. You can also add a cup of blueberries or chopped apple. The recipe should be thick enough to be molded into patties -- you can add oat bran, rice or buckwheat flour to help thicken it.

Then when it's cooled, add 2 tablespoons organic plain yogurt or kefir, 1 teaspoon spirulina, 1 teaspoon powdered ginger and 1 teaspoon powdered turmeric.

For a 30-pound dog, serve 1 cup of this recipe twice daily. Freeze the rest. You can even serve the patties frozen so your dog can gnaw on them in hot weather.

For dogs less than 30 pounds and for overweight and less-active dogs, use only 1 cup of uncooked rice in the recipe.

Transition your dog onto this new diet gradually. Mix increasing amounts of your dog's new food with decreasing amounts of the old food over a seven-day period to enable adaptation and avoid possible digestive upset.

For variation, you can use cottage cheese, well-cooked lentils, garbanzo beans, lima beans or a dozen organic eggs as meat alternatives. (Note: Some dogs are allergic or hypersensitive to some foods, especially soy, beef, eggs, wheat and dairy products.)

Give your dog a daily multivitamin and mutimineral supplement like Pfizer's Pet Tabs. You can also give your dog half of a human one-a-day supplement crushed up in the food.

Since obesity is so prevalent in companion animals today, weigh your dog at weekly intervals when putting him a new diet, and adjust the amount according to any undesirable weight changes.

NOTE: Different animals have slightly different nutritional needs according to age, temperament, amount of physical activity and health status. Large dogs require less food per pound of body weight, so adjust according to appetite and weight gain. And if your dog is deep-chested and prone to bloat, give him three to four smaller meals per day.

Keep teeth clean by getting dogs, especially toy breeds, used to a daily brushing. The best and safest natural tooth cleaner is a raw, scalded 3- to 4-inch piece of beef shank/soup/marrow bone, or thin strips of scalded raw beef heart or shank meat -- the tougher the better!

AN APOLOGY TO READERS

I apologize to readers of this column living in those parts of Florida served by the Palm Beach Post. The paper had sent letters from its readers to the wrong address. I just received almost a year's worth of letters from you all. I have contacted the paper and have been assured that it will send the letters to the right address in the future. And I'll work on getting your letters answered in the meantime!

(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: Shortly after I adopted a stray female Pomeranian who had been running loose in the country, I read your recommendation for a bad breath problem. It worked very well.

In recent weeks, my Pomeranian took a bite of a philodendron plant. It had been five years since I last had a pet in the house, and I forgot about the plant. I rushed her to my vet, where she received an IV. I was sent home with an antibiotic that tore through her with amazing speed. This drug was considered the best. An examination of her stool found that bad bacteria had taken over in her intestines. She was changed to another antibiotic that the vet hoped would be better tolerated -- Endosorb tabs and an over-the-counter stomach medicine.

All in all, there were at least three to four trips to the vet, and the dog was declining very quickly, with vomiting and diarrhea. Then we had a weekend visit to the emergency clinic for fluids and a stomach-settling injection. I had used my vet for years, but this time there was a new crew, and I never saw the same one twice. In desperation, I called the spay/neuter clinic that had treated my dog previously and asked it for a recommendation. We went to the new vet, and he took her off all meds except Endosorb and added FortiFlora, a probiotic.

She has been on this regimen for about three weeks. I have about two weeks of the probiotics to go, but see no improvement in her stool. I had to add a teaspoon of baby food chicken to each serving to get her to eat it. Her general health has improved, and she's still perky, though she needs shorter walks.

My mother died from the Clostridium difficile (C-diff) bacteria. I have been reading about a new successful treatment of this with fecal implants. Do you think that would work for a dog who has lost all her good bacteria? -- J.M.M., Glen Allen, Virginia

DEAR J.M.M.: The philodendron plant can cause acute gut pain, swelling of the tongue and throat, kidney failure and, in cats, convulsions.

I sympathize with the difficulties that you and your poor dog went through as a consequence of the antibiotic medication that depopulated the beneficial and essential bacteria in her intestinal tract. I don't understand why such treatment was prescribed for what was presented as an emergency case of philodendron poisoning.

A bacterium called Clostridium perfringens can proliferate in dogs' intestines and cause havoc. Amoxocillin, metronidazole or tylosin are effective remedies, followed by probiotics to repopulate/recolonize the intestinal flora.

Yes, fecal transplants, delivered by a rectal enema of a suspension of fecal material from a healthy donor containing these beneficial bacteria, have been given to dogs in crisis like yours with spectacular results.

Recently, capsules containing stored frozen bacteria-rich fecal material from healthy donors have benefited human patients suffering from C-diff and related intestinal dysbiosis. This malady regrettably costs $3.2 billion annually and is associated with 14,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PET FOOD RECALL

Natura Pet Products has initiated a limited, voluntary recall of certain EVO dry cat and dry ferret food lots produced in its Fremont, Nebraska, facility. Due to a formulation error, these products contain insufficient levels of vitamins and excess minerals. The problem was discovered during the investigation of an ingredient inventory discrepancy. No other Natura products are affected.

Consumers who purchased the product should discontinue feeding the product immediately and discard as normal household waste. For more information concerning lot numbers, consumers can reach Natura Consumer Relations at 1-855-206-8297 or visit evopet.com/evo-recall/. Lot numbers are also posted 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: I have an emergency with my cat: She has diarrhea. What do you advise I do? -- E.M., Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Don't try home remedies such as over-the-counter human anti-diarrhea medications that can be fatal for cats. A short fast followed by a fresh batch of the usual food may help (buy a new batch of the same brand), since the batch you were using could be bad. Or your cat may have an infection or parasite, or has developed food intolerance or an associated endocrine disorder.

If your cat is old and could have fatty liver disease, not eating for more than a day could cause serious complications, so do not hesitate: If she does not quickly recover and appetite and strength return after the diarrhea, get to the vet without further delay.

DEAR DR. FOX: I feed my dogs around 5 p.m. Many times, they don't consume the food until much later in the evening. On these occasions, the dogs sometimes defecate in their room. The room has a doggy door that is closed at night so they do not go outside and bark at all hours. The dogs are otherwise very well trained. We have two 8-year-olds and a 13-year-old. Do you have any suggestions? -- M.S., St. Louis

DEAR M.S.: I have found that the best feeding and toilet pattern for dogs is going out for a morning walk or yard run and eating a light breakfast, then taking a walk around noon to 2 p.m.; before an evening meal (between 5 and 6 p.m.), go on a long walk or run. Then, before you go to bed, give your dogs another walk or more time in the yard.

This routine fits in with dogs' behavioral cycle of eating and being active, and their need to go out to empty their bladders and bowels.

DEAR DR. FOX: I have always had pets, but never cats because of a severe allergy. My sister came to live with me for a few months several years ago, bringing her young cat. The cat got along well with my dogs (bonding completely with my dog of the same age), but I started to notice some strange things.

First, the yellow heads from my son's Lego figures would disappear. Then, I couldn't find the yellow spring eggs I decorated for the season. My set of paints was missing the tube of yellow that I knew should be there. When I couldn't find my favorite shopping bag (yellow), I began to suspect the cat.

I spread out some multicolored pompons on the table where we kept his food and counted how many of each color there were; sure enough, by morning there were no yellow pompons, but none of the other colors had been touched. The same was repeated with multicolored feathers. When we checked the cushion of the cat's preferred nap spot, we found a stash of yellow bits of paper, plastic and fabric; this cat had a favorite color!

We set out a small yellow blanket in the house, and he moved it to his nap spot. When he wasn't drinking enough water, we started putting the water in a yellow bowl, and he stayed well hydrated.

I knew that animals could see colors (contrary to popular myth), but this was the only animal I have ever known to have a favorite color. Until the day he died, he kept his own little spot happily decorated in sunshine yellow. -- R.C., Atlanta

DEAR R.C.: This is an interesting account of a cat's color fixation, for reasons best known to the cat -- feline aesthetics, perhaps!

Cats can see some colors and can tell the difference between red, blue and yellow lights. Also, they are able to distinguish between blues and violets better than between colors near the red end of the spectrum. Recent research has also revealed that they can detect ultraviolet light.

When we match what we know of cats' multisensory abilities and recent comparative genetic research showing that domestication has done little to temper their wild heritage, we can embrace them knowing that they are, with some breed and individual exceptions, still more wild than domesticated.

Your sister's cat may have found a way to create, through this game of color-selection, a degree of environmental stimulation for a complex little brain and spirit living in a relatively unstimulating home environment -- the social enrichment of friendly dogs notwithstanding.

(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.)