DEAR DR. FOX: When I buy cat food, I never buy food made in Thailand or any other Asian country. I have noticed that many, many brands are now made there -- cheaper labor is the reason, I'm sure. Am I being unduly cautious?

I have heard that clumping litter can be dangerous in that cats can ingest it while grooming their paws, causing digestive problems. True or false? What type of litter do you recommend?

Finally, a question regarding our well water: It is extremely acidic, and we have it treated with calcium carbonate. I worry about my cats' kidneys, especially since one was diagnosed with kidney disease. She lived quite a few years, but she had a huge tumor on her only kidney. She lived for a while after that, weathering high blood pressure, blindness and extreme weight loss, and we had to put her to sleep. Is the calcium carbonate what caused the kidney problems? -- E.S., Earlysville, Virginia

DEAR E.S.: Clumping cat litter (I use the corn-based World's Best brand) does stick to cats' paws somewhat, which just means more vacuuming. I have had no evidence that cats get blocked/impacted internally after grooming themselves and swallowing the clumping litter. Some are allergic to corn, which could be problematic. I am more concerned about inhaled silica dust and synthetic fragrances in other types of litter.

Well water across the U.S. is problematic in many areas, thanks to arsenic, agricultural fertilizer (nitrates), pesticide contamination and even fecal bacteria from animal factory farm run-off. You can now add chemicals used in fracking to the list.

Everyone using well water should have it tested. Cats need pure water, and you should purchase a good-quality spring and perhaps use a reverse-ionization system. For details on this water issue, see my report on my website, DrFoxVet.com.

I've written extensively about your concerns about pet foods manufactured abroad, notably in Thailand, and treats from China, which are now off the shelves in the big pet stores after years of making dogs sick. Now a plethora of oral care products for pets, also manufactured in China, are on the shelves of these big stores, while some good natural products manufactured in the United States are not.

It is profit margins that drive the American business enterprise to outsource manufacturing, from pharmaceuticals to pet products, and import dubious vitamins, nutritional supplements and pet foods. They cannot afford effective monitoring and quality controls, passing the costs to taxpayers.

This is an affront to legitimate, ethical business practices and United States-based companies -- not those that evasively say, "Distributed by" but those that state, "Manufactured in the U.S." Indicating the country/countries of origin, even of hamburger for human consumption, is currently being hotly contested!

DOG'S SUPER-SMELL

Dogs can detect smells up to 100 million times less concentrated than those detected by humans thanks to some 300 million olfactory receptor cells (compared with 5 million in humans), specialized airflow, the ability to smell in stereo and a highly developed region of the brain for processing the information.

"A dog smells an entire story, from start to finish," according to a TED-Ed video by Alexandra Horowitz, revealing "a whole other world beyond our eyes." Watch the video at ed.ted.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: Recently, my wife and I lost one of our 2-year-old pugs to PDE (pug dog encephalitis).

Prior to this, we had never heard of this genetic illness, which, as you know, is usually fatal. In my research, I found that a possible early symptom of PDE is an abnormal gait. Our pug, Simba, did indeed have an abnormal gait in his rear left leg. My wife and I take very good care of our pugs and have been pug owners for many years. This abnormal gait was brought to our vet's attention twice. Simba was never in any pain, so the brief exams did not seem to warrant too much concern -- we just stopped all roughhousing between our two young pups. In hindsight, had I known his abnormal gait could possibly be a sign of PDE, I would have demanded further testing.

From what I know about PDE testing, results give a percentage value. That is, one pug could show a 0.001 percent chance of having PDE, where the second could show a 4 percent chance of having it. At this point, a pediatric vet could suggest an MRI for the pug with the 4 percent chance. Indeed, it was not until an MRI was given to our Simba that PDE was determined. He also experienced a dozen seizures in a 10-hour period the day before he died.

In the end, should all pug breeders give PDE tests? I would think so! Should pediatric vets suggest PDE testing for pug pups, especially if they show possible early signs of PDE? By the way, my breeder has offered us a new pup or a full refund. -- W.W., Alexandria, Virginia

DEAR W.W.: I share your distress over your pug's malady. My theory is that this neurological disease could be associated with a genetic susceptibility of immune reactivity to vaccinations, especially against rabies and distemper, possibly exacerbated by the mercury and aluminum additives in the vaccines. There could be a so-called epigenetic effect through vaccination of pregnant animals on their developing fetuses.

Above all, while I am not opposed to vaccinations on principle, great caution is called for, especially not giving them to pregnant animals, and not giving multiple vaccinations all at the same time.

According to the Pug Dog Club of America, "The scientific name for PDE is now necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME) because as research has progressed, we now know that not only is the pug breed at risk, but also the Maltese, Chihuahua, shih tzu, Lhasa apso, Boston terrier, papillion, Pekingese, Pomeranian, Yorkshire terrier and West Highland white terrier breeds. This is a disease that causes inflammation in the brain, which can lead to seizures, blindness, coma and death very quickly. Learning more about what causes this devastating disease is critical for helping advance diagnosis, treatment and hopefully eradication of NME."

PDE is also unique among inflammatory central nervous system diseases in that the cells are predominately lymphocytes. Early symptoms include seizures and dementia. Later, they include circling, head tilt and blindness.

Some breeds of dog are probably more susceptible to developing vaccinosis triggered by the neurotropic viral proteins in rabies and distemper vaccines and the neurological impact of thimerosol (a mercury additive) now removed from many human vaccines.

DEAR DR. FOX: I wrote to you a while back because I had to make the awful decision to put our little Chihuahua down. My son bought Lola from a local pet store, and she had a parasite passed from her mother that turned into encephalitis. This was all determined after many tests and from two neurologists at the animal hospital.

We had to put our adorable little puppy down one week before her second birthday. She went blind, had as many as 15 seizures and was on 14 different meds to help her. You told me she probably had no chance from the start, and I thank you for that because I can't tell you how horrible I felt doing this. You put my mind at ease, and I knew it was the right thing to do.

My young son did not know that Lola was from a horrible puppy mill and the store he got her from has a terrible reputation. I found all this out about a year later, when I reached out to Friends of Animals United (FAUN). We got a bill together and went to speak to the Senate committee and the Assembly committee in Trenton, New Jersey, and a bill was passed unanimously. Gov. Christie signed our bill into law on Feb. 5. Now all pet stores in New Jersey have to post on each cage where the dogs come from and include the address, phone numbers and USDA licenses. Pet stores cannot deal with any puppy mills that are not licensed with the USDA.

I thought you would like to hear how I took my sadness and tried to do something good with it. We now have a new law that will help dogs out there and maybe someday we can shut down these puppy mills. -- N.S., Trenton, New Jersey

DEAR N.S.: So good to hear from you and to learn how your grief and anger motivated you to do something in memory of your puppy mill dog. Such pain and outrage can lead to depression and despair, and I just wish more caring people would, as the poet Dylan Thomas wrote, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." You are a shining example of the spiritual warrior, and the more the better in these depressing times of animal and human exploitation, cruelty and suffering.

(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 a 4-year-old Havanese dog who developed a cataract two years ago.

I took him to a surgeon who specializes in cataract removal. Although the operation was successful, we noticed that our dog was not seeing out of that eye a couple of months later. We took him back to the surgeon, who told us that our dog had a detached retina and is now blind in that eye; he said that this happens sometimes. We were devastated. Now our dog is developing some cloudiness in his good eye. Naturally, we are afraid he will undergo surgery and become blind in that eye. What would you do? -- D.C., Alexandria, Virginia

DEAR D.C.: I am indeed saddened that your poor dog has this eye issue and know that this must cause you much anguish.

It is good that you saw a veterinary eye specialist. This condition in such a young dog most probably has a genetic origin, but a holistic clinical examination would be worthwhile to rule out possible contributing factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus, for which appropriate medication may help save the other eye.

In addition, you should contact the breeder, who is most probably propagating this eye disease by selecting parent stock who have given birth to pups prone to this eye condition. Provided your dog has good hearing, you will be surprised how well dogs can adapt to partial and even total loss of vision. Keep me posted, and good luck to both of you.

DEAR DR. FOX: my 15-year-old male cat, Kasmir, has a good-sized lump at his injection site (hip joint). My cat before him experienced the same problems and died after we tried everything -- the lump was removed, it returned and the cat died anyway. I kind of wonder why the vet recommended we vaccinate him considering his age, my other cat's experience and the fact that Kasmir is an indoor cat. I know I would not subject him to radiation or chemo, so I have pretty much decided to do nothing except pray for a miracle. What say ye? -- C.V.

DEAR C.V.: If this were my cat, I would make life comfortable for him. Be sure to feed him whatever he fancies, encouraging him to eat good-quality raw or lightly cooked meats and organ parts as per the basic cat food recipe for home preparation posted on my website, DrFoxVet.com.

Take photos of your cat's injection-site tumor and make copies of the vaccination records. File photos and documents with the State Board of Veterinary Examiners and ask for a full inquiry.

The justification for revaccination is one question, considering the age of your cat. Was he related to the cat who also developed this cancer (fibrosarcoma), which is considered to be a very rare occurrence? The site of injection is another question. The established protocol is to inject as far down one limb as possible or toward the tip of the tail, which makes treatment more feasible if an injection-site fibrosarcoma develops.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY AND EVERY DAY

Let us embrace our gift of life and then give more than we take to live in balance and harmony in a world of takers so that our legacy honors who we were and all we embrace.

In our respecting and protecting other sentient beings, we elevate our own. In our loving concern, we affirm the sanctity of life, including the lives of those who are demeaned and exploited by those of our own kind who bring ever-more suffering and chaos into the world, which they justify in the name of progress and necessity.

We and all living beings are interconnected, interdependent and inter-related in the evolving matrix of the earth community, which, as my friend the late Father Thomas Berry asserted, is "a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects."

When we disrupt these connections, which some call sacred, just as when we harm other interdependent life forms in this community, we ultimately harm ourselves, setting in motion processes of devolution and disease.

Beyond all that may cause despair and hopelessness and make us rage against the dying of the light, the illuminating power of compassion in action is our gift to redeem humankind, recover our sanity and purpose in life and heal the Earth and all our relations.

(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.)