DEAR DR. FOX: Last winter, I noticed a longhaired stray cat roaming outside. I began to feed her, and eventually she consented to being a house cat during the night. While she was still an outside cat, she was in a catfight, so I had to take her to the vet. The vet thinks she is between 6 and 10 years old, and was probably abandoned. She does not have a chip.

Cat (her name) gets along fabulously with my 80-pound retriever mix. She lets me groom her and will even cuddle for a very short time. I have had dogs my entire life, but never a cat.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why she would want to be outside during the day. Even when the temperatures were near-record cold, she yowled and put up a fuss until I let her outside. She likes to spend time in a storm sewer, which worries me to no end. At dusk, I call her and she comes inside and is very content to eat and spend the night in the house. I have given her two litter boxes, and she uses both of them when inside. But I am beginning to think that dogs really are smarter than cats. My dog would never choose the cold outside over the warm couch inside. Can you give me some suggestions to help me get her to stay inside during the day? -- K.W., Imperial, Missouri

DEAR K.W.: Cats are odd in many ways, and sometimes can be quite irrational -- like one of mine hissing at me when I am outside the house and looking in through the window. A dog would grin and wag his tail on seeing me.

I am glad that you took in and socialized this obviously lost/abandoned -- rather than feral -- cat.

It is just not safe outdoors for cats: She could be food for a coyote or get trapped, shot, hit by a vehicle or injured or infected by another cat. Get her microchipped, and try taking her out for short walks in a secure cat harness on one leash and a neck-collar and ID tag on a second leash. Cats can get out of harnesses, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do not let her out by herself. Spend time with her engaging in interactive games, especially around the time when she likes to go outdoors, and give her padded stools or ledges so she can see out the windows, ideally at bird feeders outdoors. A pinch of catnip may help her calm down.

GUARD DOGS FOR CONSERVATION

Should taxpayers' dollars be spent on compensating farmers and ranchers for livestock losses from wolves, mountain lions, bears and other predators when they refuse to use guard dogs to protect their animals?

The most effective guard dog breeds include the akbash, Kangal, great Pyrenees and komondor. Less commonly known are the Turkish kars, Turkish tazi, Czechoslvakian chuvatch, Polish tatra, the Hungarian kuvasz, Tibetan mastiff and Italian maremma. Donkeys and llamas have proven effective in many instances as protectors of sheep, goats and calves.

The methods employed by state and federal agents to kill these predators, which include poison bait and 1080 cyanide guns, are often indiscriminate, killing non-target animals -- including endangered species such as the lynx and golden eagle.

This sanctioned adversarial attitude toward wildlife in general and predators in particular, indifference about their suffering and disregard for their ecological value all add up to unethical and non-sustainable ranching and farming practices. Therefore, no compensation should be provided if guard animals are not being effectively deployed. This would also save our tax dollars.

Annual "harvest" hunting quotas for mule deer, elk and white-tailed deer should be drastically reduced so that predators have sufficient natural prey for themselves, rather than having to prey on livestock. For obvious reasons of ecological restoration and protection, all commercial trapping should be prohibited. Non-game and trophy hunting quotas need to be revised from an optimal ecological biodiversity perspective, rather than from a self-serving "sustainability" paradigm of maximal harvesting -- including fishing, both recreational and commercial.

The use of guard dogs to prevent predation as an alternative to lethal methods of predator control is surely an ethical imperative for a nation of meat eaters to have government more effectively institute. It is as sane and sensible as using goats instead of Roundup and other herbicides to control weeds.

(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.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I just read your article about the safety of clumping litter. You said you had "no evidence that cats get blocked or impacted internally after grooming themselves and swallowing the clumping litter." I wanted to share with you my recent experience.

Like you, I have been using the World's Best brand of cat litter for my two cats (both less than 2 years old), one of whom, Benga, has a habit of using the box and jumping up on the bed, getting litter dust all over my pillow. In early February, I decided I would switch over to a clay-based clumping litter to see if that would mitigate the problem.

I did some research on Amazon and saw that Precious Cat Ultra Premium Clumping Cat Litter got great reviews, so I picked up a bag at my local pet store. I have two litter boxes and wasn't sure how the cats would react to the new litter, so I put it in only one of the boxes. They both took to it immediately.

The next day, however, I noticed that Benga had thrown up. It was a small amount of clear vomit with a bit of foam. I did not think this was particularly remarkable, but did make a note of it.

Over the course of the next week, I found little bits of this clear vomit all over the house daily, and sometimes twice on a single day. On two occasions, I found vomit that contained part of a meal's worth of food. The interesting thing about those instances was that the vomit had clumped -- I could literally pick it off the carpet with my thumb and index finger. This was my first clue that the new litter was contributing to my cat's upset stomach.

Near the end of that first week, I also noticed that Benga's stools were getting smaller in size and less frequent -- normally he goes once a day, but it was down to every two or three days. And when he did have a bowel movement, it was no longer brown but gray, the color of the litter. At this point -- day 13 of the new litter -- all the clues were leading me to believe that the new litter was at fault. That day I replaced the new litter with the old brand, and right away Benga stopped vomiting. His stools returned to normal within a few days.

I did some Internet searching and was surprised to see that this doesn't seem to happen that often. Cats, largely, are not affected by the clumping agents used in these litters. But it got me wondering what, exactly, are these chemicals that they add to clay (or wheat, or corn, or whatever) to give the material the clumping properties? And am I better off using a low-strength clumping litter, rather than a "multi-cat" clumping litter?

My other cat was fine throughout this whole ordeal, but he barely digs and is never covered from nose to tail in litter dust like Benga.

Anyway, I wanted to raise this to your attention because I have to imagine other cats might react this way to certain litters. -- A.B., Washington, D.C.

DEAR A.B.: Your observations concerning the possible harms of clumping clay litter raise a host of questions. Manufacturers of cat litter rarely reveal chemical additives in the ingredient list for reasons of protecting proprietary interests. But this disclosure should be mandatory.

I am opposed to clay litters, especially the clumping kind, for a variety of reasons. The most important is the possible risk of clay particles adhering to cats' paws and being ingested when the cat grooms himself. Sodium bentonite is the most often used clumping agent.

Constipation and bowel obstruction may be a rare occurrence, but I've never read about it in any veterinary literature. I am concerned about potentially toxic mineral compounds in some types of clay litter as well as inhaled dust laden with silica particles. I say no to all litters containing synthetic fragrances, since I have reports of cats getting better after being provided dust-free and fragrance-free litter material. According to consumersearch.com, you were using one of the better, low-dust clay litters, but it is apparently not biodegradable and should not be composted or flushed down the toilet. No cat litter of any kind should be put down the toilet, especially in coastal areas; toxoplasma parasites in cats' feces are responsible for the deaths of marine mammals, notably sea otters in California.

I would like to hear from other readers who have found that changing to another kind of litter either improved their cats' health or caused health issues.

(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.)

DEAR DR. FOX: My wife and I have three dogs: two 7-year-old Shih Tzu sisters and a 10-year-old male Maltese. All are presently healthy, though the one Shih Tzu had a seizure episode about a year and a half back. After tests ruled out most everything, the vet surmised it might be epilepsy. She's had no seizures since then, so I'm wondering if it was something that she ingested.

My question is about vaccinations. My vet wants our dogs to have every vaccine done every year. We're looking at giving them vaccines to prevent parvovirus, distemper, Lyme and two or three others.

While I know rabies is mandatory and absolutely needed, I have never quite understood why they would need the myriad other vaccines, especially as they get older and have already had them for years. Don't the animals build up immunity? I am concerned that it could trigger the seizures again in the one pup.

Don't get me wrong -- I am not against vaccinating the animals. The cost is also not a concern, though it seems that the same vaccines get more expensive every year. What concerns me is that the dogs are going through needless shots that could ultimately have an adverse effect. -- D.P., Chevy Chase, Maryland

DEAR D.P.: I have discussed this issue frequently over many years in my column. Some veterinarians, who contended that annual re-vaccinations for many different diseases were unquestionably necessary, castigated me for many years.

It has taken close to 30 years for the practice that I advocated -- minimal vaccinations after the initial sets of puppy and young adult vaccinations had been given -- to become the established protocol. This can be facilitated by blood titer testing to see if re-vaccination is called for, since not all dogs produce significant levels of protective antibodies after being vaccinated. But in addition, some dogs also have what is termed "somatic memory immunity," which can also protect them and which the blood titer test does not assess. Another part of the accepted protocol is to not vaccinate sick and nursing animals, to avoid giving several different kinds of vaccinations all at the same time, and to consider the effectiveness of some vaccines and the risk of exposure. Indoor dogs, for instance, have a low risk of exposure to leptospirosis (also known as field fever) in most regions.

As I discuss in my book "Healing Animals & the Vision of One Health," vaccinations play an important role in disease prevention, but their overuse and formulation can cause more harm than good. They should be used with extreme caution. Since one of your dogs may be epileptic, re-vaccination may be ill-advised.

DEAR DR. FOX: My 8-year-old daughter and I have been feeding and getting to know a feral alley cat who lives in our neighborhood. The cat has a hard life, and we estimate she is about 10 years old now. We are planning to move to a new home in a different neighborhood in the next year or two. We would like to adopt her and take her with us to our new home, as we are very fond of her and are concerned about her welfare when we leave. We read in your column that you and your wife have caught and rehabilitated two feral cats, and we would love all the advice you could give us. We are especially interested in how to establish a greater level of trust towards us -- right now she lets my daughter pet her and brush her, but she is very skittish otherwise. My daughter has hopes that the cat will eventually become a cuddler and a lap-sitter as she feels more comfortable in our home. We are also concerned about how to teach her to use a litter box and about not scratching things. Your thoughts about how to ease the transition to being an indoor cat with good house manners are welcome. We plan to take her to the vet for a thorough checkup before she comes into the house. Thanks very much. -- H.H.& K.H., Washington, D.C.

DEAR H.H. & K.H.: I appreciate your concerns and connection with this poor cat -- a good, if not entirely distress-free experience for your daughter.

The cat must be caught, ideally using a humane Havahart trap. Ask animal control or a local shelter or cat rescue network for help in getting the cat used to seeing the trap and eating close beside it. They can also show you how to eventually set the trap. Chose a day when you can take the cat directly to the vet's for a full wellness examination and anti-rabies vaccination. Defer other vaccinations because of risks to a stressed animal -- ditto exploratory surgery to see if neutering is needed. 

Set up one room where the cat can have a litter box, food, water and a box with towel to hide in. Letting the cat have the run of your home comes later. First the cat must be socialized and settled in a confined space, where she cannot run away and hide when she is afraid. A daily pinch of catnip and a pheromone dispenser in her room may help, as will regular grooming, interactive play (with a feather on a string) and just sitting quietly with her. My book "Supercat: How to Raise the Prefect Feline Companion" gives advice on environmental enrichment to help cats enjoy an indoors-only life.

(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.)