DEAR DR. FOX: We have a sweet, slightly elderly cat who has starting crying incessantly lately. Our boy is about 15 years old -- but could even be a bit older -- and is in relatively good health for his age. He does have thyroid issues and receives methimazole every day.

Over the past week or so, he's started crying quite a lot, especially at night. He's always been very affectionate, and the crying seems like he wants attention, but sometimes he continues to cry even when he's in the same room with the family. The crying has become an issue because it's keeping us awake at night, and we're worried that there is something wrong with him other than simply feeling needy. Nothing in his food or routine has changed. Any thoughts? -- J.B., Washington, D.C.

DEAR J.B.: This is a common problem with older cats, and I have addressed it many times over the years in this column. Generally, the following measures help, keeping in mind the possibility of dementia/brain degeneration, like Alzheimer's disease, and chronic pain from arthritis.

With the latter, a few drops of fish oil in the food daily may help; you can also try a good chondroitin and glucosamine supplement, which you should discuss with your veterinarian first. My book on massage therapy, "The Healing Touch for Cats," should help overall.

A warm place to sleep would be beneficial. Have the vet check for dental problems, another source of chronic pain and inflammation in cats.

To help with anxiety and chronic pain, there are other medications that may help your cat. Your vet can tell you about selegiline for possible dementia. If your cat likes catnip, I would advise a pinch or two later in the evening and giving some melatonin before you go to bed. I take it myself; it is a super antioxidant as well as a natural sleep aid.

DEAR Dr. FOX: I just reread your book "Understanding Your Cat." In it, you talked about domestic cats not swimming. Yes, most domestic cats do not like water, but I was truly blessed to experience a swimmer.

Several years ago, my neighbors had an above-ground pool with a nice deck around it. Their cat, Samantha, would sleep on the deck -- if no one was splashing her. I swam alone often, so I saw her there a lot.

One day, she got up, walked over to the pool ladder, put her feet in the water, jumped into the pool, swam a lap, got out of the pool, shook herself and laid back down. I was so stunned! I got out of the pool, banged on my neighbors' door and said, "I just saw Samantha swim across the pool!"

They told me that she does that every once in a while. Wow! -- D.B., St Louis

DEAR D.B.: Thanks for your swimming cat story. This is indeed rare, but some cats do take to the water. However, I do not advise people throwing their cats into the pool this summer!

Cats sometimes amaze us. My journalist friend in St. Louis was shocked when she told her cat to straighten up the pages of her manuscript that the cat had pushed off her desk and onto the floor -- and the cat did just that, pawing around the pages to try to put them together!

Only yesterday, one of our cats, Pinto Bean, used the litter box in the bathroom, and I saw that his urine had not been covered with litter. I called out to my wife, "Pinto has not covered his pee." No sooner had I said that than Pinto Bean came running in and fastidiously covered his deposit!

HORSES DO BETTER HOUSED TOGETHER

Horses may do better with access to others of their kind, according to a study published in the journal Physiology and Behavior that found higher levels of corticosterone, a stress hormone, in horses housed in individual stalls than those housed in communal situations.

The greater the isolation, the higher the stress, the study found, which the team noted could lead to illness. "Group housing provides horses with an environment where they are able to display natural behavior and allows contact, improving overall welfare," said Kelly Yarnell, a Nottingham Trent University (U.K.) equine welfare expert.

(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: 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.)