DEAR DR. FOX: My cousin has a 7-year-old poodle, Norman, who weighs about 20 pounds. She got him from a shelter, and he suffers from an enlarged heart, collapsed trachea and chronic cough. Her vet prescribes Vetmedin, hydrocodone and a diuretic. Norman will not take the medicine unless he is quite hungry, so he is not being given as many snacks as he is used to.

The vet says that Norman is not in pain, and he has been coughing all of his life. But he does cough a lot, and it is hard to believe that his throat is not raw. What do you think?

Also, the vet says that if Norman goes to a specialist, the specialist will merely tell my cousin the same thing that she tells her. -- P.K., House Springs, Missouri

DEAR P.K.: Sorry, I have nothing to add. This is a fragile breed with inherited anomalies, human-created through selective breeding. In my professional opinion, the attending veterinarian is on the right track.

Note: Never put a leash on the dog's collar; only walk outside with a harness so there are no more traumas to the weak trachea.

ANOTHER DOG REMOTE-SENSING IN THE "EMPATHOSPHERE"

Sissy, an 11-year-old miniature schnauzer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ended up at Mercy Medical Center, 20 blocks from her home where her co-owner, Nancy Frank, was recovering from cancer surgery. A surveillance camera in the hospital lobby caught the dog entering through the automatic doors and wandering around.

Husband Dale Frank finally got a call at 5:30 a.m. from a security officer who found his phone number and house address from the tag on Sissy's collar. Frank's daughter went over and got permission to take Sissy up to Nancy Frank for a few minutes, he said. His theory about how Sissy might have navigated 20 blocks to his wife was that Sissy used to ride with him to pick up his wife from work next door to the hospital, though they'd never walked that route before. I disagree with this theory, because Sissy's story is like that of the 7-year-old Samoyed-husky mix, Dolan, who made a hazardous 2-mile journey from his home to the hospital in Islip, New York, to be with his ailing human companion, and he had never been near that hospital before. These canine feats support my "empathosphere" theory that animals can enter this realm of feeling-seeing or remote sensing consciousness and navigate on the basis of their emotional connectedness. Many such instances are documented on my website, DrFoxVet.com, and in my book "Animals & Nature First."

(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 are responsible for approximately 20 cats, most of whom are strays we have fixed, fed and sheltered for 8 years. One female, Charlotte, is 2 1/2 years old. She was spayed when she was a kitten by the same spay and neuter clinic that has taken care of all our cats.

A year ago, she started to exhibit signs that she was going into heat. She yowls, rolls around and urinates all over the house, which is something she never does at other times. This has happened two more times, months apart. We took her to the vet, where they did almost $300 worth of tests to rule out other problems, but never found anything. We were told that when she was spayed, they must have missed a cell and that she would need another surgery to find it. I have never heard of an animal not being completely fixed. Can this really be what is going on, and can it be corrected? We worry about another surgery. -- A.O., Jackson, New Jersey

DEAR A.O.: It is very rare, fortunately, but it does happen that after a cat's ovaries have been removed, the surge of stimulating hormones from the pituitary gland in the brain can awaken possibly embryonic, aberrant ovarian cells, sometimes located around the kidneys or around the tissues supporting where the ovaries were situated.

In some instances, these aggregations of cells can be located and removed, but that calls for major surgery. The alternative is to seize your cat by the scruff of the neck and gently stimulate her genital area with an ear swab. This may put her into a hormonally more quiescent state of false pregnancy. The alternative is to have her given progesterone, but no hormonal treatment is without health risks.

DEAR DR. FOX: What do you recommended when a 35-pound dog eats sugar-free gum? The gum has xylitol in it, and she ate the whole pack. She threw up once and was staggering around. -- D.S., Winston-Salem, North Carolina

DEAR D.S.: This situation is an emergency, and any dog who eats xylitol-containing human consumables -- including diet cookies, mouthwash, children's multivitamin chews, candy and gum -- should go to an emergency clinic. A mere 50 to 100 milligrams per pound of body weight can trigger the pancreas to release insulin in massive quantities. This causes acute hypoglycemia that can lead to seizures and death. Surviving animals can also suffer liver damage.

Dogs not only have a sweet tooth, but they also want to share, or steal, whatever we are eating or have left within easy reach.

While I encourage dog owners to learn about dental care for their canine companions, I advise them to use products that are dog-safe and effective, such as those available on my website, DrFoxVet.com. Do not use human toothpaste or any other oral care products containing xylitol.

PET FOOD AND TREAT RECALLS

Tuffy's Pet Foods Inc. of Perham, Minnesota, is voluntarily recalling specific lots of 4-pound bags of Nutrisca chicken and chickpea recipe dry dog food because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. Tuffy's manufactured the product for Nutrisca.

Consumers who purchased the dry dog food product subject to the voluntary recall should stop using the product and contact Nutrisca at 1-888-559-8833.

Pet International of Miami is recalling 1,500 units of Buster's Natural 6-inch Beef Trachea treats because it may be contaminated with salmonella.

The affected product was distributed to retail stores in Conifer and Lakewood, Colorado. The recall may soon be expanded. Purchasers are advised to take these dog chews back to the place of purchase and can contact the company by phone at 305-591-3338 or via email at sergioh@petint.com.

I have grave concerns that these kinds of processed animal parts, many subjected to irradiation, could still harbor potentially harmful bacteria resistant to antibiotics, which are grossly misused in many countries. My advice: Read the label, and if the country of origin/manufacture is not indicated, only a "distributed by" country -- DO NOT PURCHASE.

(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 have two very gentle cats, both 4 1/2 years old. The other day, we had a couple over who were interested in buying our house. They brought their 6-month-old baby and 3-year-old toddler. Neither of our cats had ever seen a child younger than 10 years old, so they were both very curious -- sniffing and staring, but not touching. After about an hour, the 3-year-old started getting restless and started crying. Both cats looked alarmed, but after a few minutes, the father picked up the crying child, at which time Sasha attacked him! I'd never seen anything like it. She latched onto his leg and started growling, hissing and biting him. Olivia started hissing and mewing. Due to Sasha's size, I reached for her, and she swiped at me. We were, quite frankly, scared, as they have never behaved aggressively.

I suggested the father put the child on the couch, at which point he did. The cats immediately settled down. It was like flipping a switch. Sasha walked over to the child, sniffed, and then walked away as if nothing happened. We are all speechless. It is as if they believed the father was harming the child.

I'm a beekeeper and have a few chickens; my observations of both (along with the cats) make me firmly believe all animals have some sense of self in relation to their world. I can't imagine how people can be cruel to them. Thank you for listening! -- G.S., Cornwall, Vermont

DEAR G.S.: I believe that your interpretation of your cat's behavior is correct. A few days after receiving your communication, one of our cats was on my lap, and he gave some low yowls in protest while I was clipping the long fur on his hindquarters. Our other cat came running over and seized my hand holding the scissors in his jaws. The bite was firm but painless; he was evidently very concerned and being protective.

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.)