DEAR DR. FOX: We took our standard poodle to a dermatologist three weeks ago. The vet thought her problem may be sebaceous adenitis, and sure enough, the biopsies confirmed this genetic disease.

Instead of a drug, he suggested we try mineral oil baths once a week, and then less often if this helps. We gave Ember her first "bath" in this very concentrated oil and left it on her for five hours. She had to be crated several of those hours as this oil is quite messy; however, she didn't seem to mind. We used Dawn dish soap to clean her, though it didn't remove all the oil after a two-minute bath, so we will bathe her again today.

As mineral oil is a laxative, we were concerned about her licking herself. We have a follow-up appointment with the dermatologist vet in four weeks, and hopefully we will see an improvement.

She is very healthy. She walks 3 miles daily, plays with other dogs, swims in the river and doesn't seem to be affected by her skin condition, except for the hair loss and lots of dander. When I Googled sebaceous adenitis, there is a concern for secondary infections, which the vet also discussed with us, with open sores, which looked quite nasty and I'm sure are not pleasant for the dog. I hope our beloved Ember never has to contend with that issue. -- S.B., Toms River, New Jersey

DEAR S.B: I am glad that a diagnosis has been made for your dog's skin issue, which, if not treated, is likely to get much worse.

Sebaceous adenitis (also known as inflammatory skin disease) is seen in other breeds, such as the Akita, Belgian sheepdog, Samoyed and Hungarian vizsla. The genetic component may be linked to a special need for certain nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin A. Discuss adding these to your dog's daily diet with your veterinarian.

You may also consider Selsun Blue medicated shampoo (for humans), which can help with various seborrheic skin conditions. Another weekly treatment protocol is to use bath oil in equal parts with warm water, which should be left on the dog one to two hours, then removed with a degreasing, unscented dish detergent or a benzyl peroxide shampoo, gently scrubbed into the skin with a soft brush. Follow this with an oil-based skin conditioner, such as PetzLife's Bath-Eaze. Visit petzlife.com for more details.

Keep me posted on your progress. And be sure to keep your dog out of the river and any and all standing water until her skin is healed.

DEAR DR. FOX: I had to write and tell you what just happened when my (indoor) cat saw the large picture of a tick on the cover of today's Washington Post.

I happened to look down at her as I was opening up the paper. I noticed that she was acting skittish, her eyes were completely dilated and her tail was HUGE! She even had a worried look on her face. I quickly hid the picture, but she continued to look for it. I talked soothingly to her and petted her, and eventually she calmed down.

Well, I guess you could say she has really good eyesight, and also that the picture was realistic enough to cause this reaction. -- S.S., Springfield, Virginia

DEAR S.S.: This is a surprising event, and it's clear from your cat's behavior that she was very much disturbed by what she was looking at.

Perhaps rustling the newspaper drew her attention to the large image that appeared to move when the paper was moved. Many cats (and dogs, too) are responsive to television images and associated sounds, but to my knowledge, they are not responsive to static images of other creatures. Certainly, as learning and discrimination studies have shown, cats, dogs and other animals can recognize various picture symbols and signs, and they respond to them as cues.

I would like to hear from other readers whose companion animals have responded to nonmoving pictures of other creatures. Maybe we are on the threshold of a new era of picture books and magazines to share with our cats and dogs. Our dogs, when we tried to capture their attention with color photos of other dogs in a book, were either indifferent or sniffed the colored inks on the page.

SUMMERTIME DOG HAZARDS

A warning for all dog caregivers: Don't walk or jog with your dog on hot pavements for any distance, especially in humid weather. Also, don't leave your dog alone in a vehicle. Even with the air conditioner going, the engine could stall, and you come back to a dog with potentially fatal heat stroke. Take an ice chest, cold drinking water and a towel to soak as needed to cool your dog. It amazes me when I see people on TV suffering through a heat wave, and are were wearing a wet bandana or towel around their necks -- the most efficient way to help cool the blood!

Unlike us, dogs pant to regulate their temperatures, and quickly develop a thirst. Never allow your dog to drink water you would not, or even swim and play in standing water with blue-green algae floating on the surface, which produce a toxin that quickly kills dogs every summer in the U.S.

(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: Please help us figure out what is going on with our beloved dog Chief. We are baffled, and so is our vet.

Chief is a 4- or 5-year-old red coonhound mix we adopted from a shelter two years ago. He weighs about 55 pounds. We live on a 5-acre wooded property that is almost entirely enclosed in an invisible fence, and when we got him, Chief would race around the property at warp speed most of the time, to the point of creating his own well-worn paths throughout the area. And, true to his breed, he would go nuts barking at squirrels and raccoons in trees (although deer don't bother him in the least -- he has always just ignored them). Sometimes it was even difficult to get him to abandon making the world safe from squirrels and come into the house.

In February, Chief had a bad urinary tract infection and was on antibiotics and pain medication for several weeks. He has recovered from that, but in some ways he has changed radically: Now he will barely go into the yard and won't go into the wooded area at all, he hardly ever runs anymore and he mostly ignores squirrels. He likes to sit outside in our driveway or on the deck, but he won't venture much farther than that. He is still loving and playful, but he prefers now to be inside most of the time. His personality has not changed, but his behavior is so different that sometimes I wonder if he really is the same dog.

We will be grateful for any light you can shed on his transformation from dog dynamo to a "house cat," as my son now calls him. -- J.B., Fairfax, Virginia

DEAR J.B.: I have heard of dogs developing a phobia of going outdoors where there is an invisible fence set up. They may have received shocks and developed a conditioned emotional reaction. Disconnect it and take Chief on frequent walks in and out of your property. A light dose of alprazolam from the veterinarian may help. Later, reconnect the fence and be with him when he experiences the signal that it is on. I prefer a real fence to keep other dogs (or rabid wildlife) away.

It is also quite possible that his painful urinary tract infection, much like cats with cystitis avoiding the litter box, became associated with being in your outdoor area.

Alternatively, he may have some chronic pain issue and does not want to be very active -- possible vertebral or limb joint problems worth evaluating. Incidences of both acute and chronic pain in animals can set up aversive fear reactions, which persist long after the painful condition has been resolved, fear being part of the enduring conditioned emotional reaction.

DEAR DR. FOX: I have a 1-year-old cat I got from a shelter when he was 6 months old. He is a wonderful companion, sits on my lap and brings me toys when he wants to play.

Every so often, he frantically bites my arms. His teeth are very sharp, and he breaks the skin. He does it only when I am in my recliner or sitting on the edge of my bed, never when I am at my desk or table, even though my arms are accessible. He bites through clothing if I am wearing something with long sleeves.

Do you have any thoughts on why he does this? More importantly, what I can do to stop this behavior? -- J.R., Falls Church, Virginia

DEAR J.R.: Expectant parents usually get books and seek advice about infant care before their child is born, and I wish more people would do the same before they take a companion animal into their lives. Knowing something about their behavior and basic needs and modes of communication are essential for establishing a mutually enhancing relationship. Love without understanding will not get you very far!

Your cat is giving you "love bites," which I discuss in my books "Supercat" and "Cat Body, Cat Mind." A loud "No," followed by a light tap in the cat's nose, just as a mother cat will discipline a kitten, may suffice. Alternatively, pick up the cat and put him on the floor and redirect his behavior to a toy. Before one of our cats gets into this amorous mode (some cats will follow the bites with straddling and humping or regress and try to nurse and knead your arm or leg with their front paws), we either start brushing or massaging the cat. Ideally, consider adopting another cat so they can interact as cats do on their own terms and enrich each other's lives in ways we cannot.

You may also be unwittingly attracting your cat with some body lotion you have applied to yourself that may act like a pheromone and trigger this kind of behavior.

(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 a mixed-breed pound dog who we adopted a couple of years ago. She's about 30 pounds and possibly a Sheltie. She's a good girl, and we truly love her. The weird thing is that she's an awful car traveler. She's fine at all other times, but I've never seen a dog behave like this.

She will eagerly jump into the car, but once it starts, it's a different story -- she cries constantly and hyperventilates. She will not sit still; we have to hold her the entire time. We have tried to get her accustomed to the car, but this seems to be a deep-seeded neurosis. We have tried kenneling her in the car and that doesn't help -- it seems worse than just holding her.

Is there anything we can give her to calm her down? -- H.L., Houston

DEAR H.L.: A study was recently published by an animal behaviorist in the U.K. that showed significant benefit from spraying the inside of the car with a mist of water mixed with a few drops of lavender oil prior to the ride. An occasional spritz on the dog may also help during a long journey.

Trying to desensitize your dog may be worth a try. This entails sitting in the car with the dog for increasing periods of time with the engine off, then the engine running, then going on longer and longer drives. The dog is given treats sporadically to associate being in the car with food rewards.

She may travel better and prefer the security of a dog crate or in a harness and tethered to a back seat. This is much safer anyway, and should be the law in every state.

Treatment with Valium (or its parent herb, valerian) 30 minutes before a ride may help. After a few treatments, many dogs settle down and can be weaned off the medication. For dogs who develop nausea and vomit, a small piece of ginger root in a ball of cream cheese can work wonders.

DEAR DR. FOX: I have a cat similar to one I read about in your column. She always had poop stuck on her butt, and it would rub off on the furniture. Her fur was greasy, smelly and matted. I had a groomer bathe and shave her once, and the grease in her fur clogged the groomer's shaver.

That was when she weighed 18 pounds. She couldn't reach to do much grooming other than her front paws and a bit of her sides. She's since lost weight, and from the time she hit about 14 pounds, she started grooming herself again, and now is a very clean, not-smelly cat. -- J.A.W., Wilbraham, Massachusetts

DEAR J.A.W.: I am glad you wrote about what may seem amusing but is in fact a serous cat welfare issue. It is a potentially criminal offense under the U.K.'s Animal Welfare Act to allow a cat or dog to become obese -- and for good reason. Animals' lives can become utterly miserable, not only from being too fat to groom and clean themselves, but they also become depressed, arthritic, develop diabetes, weakened hearts and other serious health problems. The fatter they become -- most often because of being fed the wrong foods and being given too many high-calorie treats -- the more their quality of life deteriorates. For details, check with the Feline Nutrition Education Society at feline-nutrition.org.

PETSMART DOG CHEW TOY RECALL

From the PetSmart website:

"Himalayan Corporation has issued a voluntary recall of specific Ruff Roots All-Natural Dog Chew Toys due to potential metal contamination. While this recall affects all lots of the Ruff Roots Dog Chew Toys sold by PetSmart, no other Himalayan Corporation products are impacted by this issue. If you are concerned about your pet's health, please contact a veterinarian immediately.

"Please stop using any affected product immediately and bring it to your closest PetSmart store for a full refund. If you have any questions about this voluntary recall, please call the Himalayan Corporation at 425-322-4295 or email info@himalayandogchew.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.)