DEAR DR. FOX: Having just read your column about a deceased dog seeming to have left traces of fur on a cleaned and paper-covered carpet where he used to regularly sleep, I thought you might be interested in two cases where our dead dogs came back to visit us.

Woodrow was a black husky mix with a sweet and loving personality. As he reached the age of 13, he found it difficult to get up because of arthritis. We had to gently pull him from the front to help him get to standing position.

Our oldest daughter and her husband kept him for us while we went away for a few days. Our son-in-law (who doesn't like dogs in general) was impatient with Woodrow, who was under the dining room table while they were eating. He couldn't get out on his own, and my son-in-law became impatient with him, even though the dog wasn't begging for food. Consequently, the dog was yelled at and pushed and shoved at his backside, where he was in pain. The dog bit our son-in-law severely. Given an ultimatum by our son-in-law, we had to put Woodrow down.

Two days after Woodrow's death, his smiling face (head only) showed up to another daughter of ours and me while we were half asleep. It was like he was letting us who loved him know that he was happy and OK.

For years, I thought maybe we both were just dreaming, until our next dog, a Sheltie named Alex, came back to visit. At about 15 years old, Alex, who also had the most loving personality -- and arthritis -- died while being boarded while we were on vacation. I'd had a premonition about it happening, but still wasn't prepared for it when it happened. Three days later we came back and picked up his ashes and a paw-print mold that the vet had ready for us. The next night, I heard his slow footsteps walk into the kitchen and then something drinking water from the bowl we had for our other dog. Alex's chain was clanking against the bowl the whole time he drank. At first I thought it was our remaining dog, but he was sleeping on the sofa, curled up against my wife. Then I heard Alex walking back into the room where the rest of us were.

The same thing happened the next night. I felt that he was showing his love for us in his former life, so I told him how much we loved him and what a wonderful dog he was. Then I explained that in death, he was supposed to be able to run and play and be without pain or any limitation -- so if he saw that he was able to do that if he didn't remain with us, he should know that we still loved him greatly, and that he didn't have to stay with us. My wife also heard all of this.

We never heard from him again. -- R.C., Glenn Dale, Maryland

DEAR R.C.: Your accounts of after-life manifestations do parallel many that I have received from others, which I have published in my book "Animals and Nature First."

So many similar accounts do help confirm the metaphysical veracity of these phenomena to which we may be privy when we have open hearts and minds. Thank you for adding to this documentation. I have received several other accounts from readers who feel the familiar touch or hear the jingling tags of a deceased animal companion, as you did, sometimes by two people at the same time or by another animal in the home responding at the same instant. These new accounts are posted on my website DrFoxVet.net, under "New Evidence of Life After Life."

DEAR DR. FOX: We have a 2-year-old Lab mix. She is crate trained, but we are working on leaving her out more often.

The problem we have is that sometimes we come home, and she has gotten into our trash. At this time, we cannot afford a "pet-proof" can, nor do we have a cupboard we can keep it in. I've read many remedies, including hot pepper spray, vinegar, citrus spray or ammonia. Are any of these truly effective? Do you have any other ideas? -- C.F., Myersville, Maryland

DEAR C.F.: Dogs are scavengers by nature, and those alone all day get bored, which is another reason to invade the trash container. I would buy a cheap tin bucket with a lid and wire handle that flips up and locks the can lid securely -- not expensive. Alternatively, leave your trash container in the bathroom and close the door before you leave.

Safe chew toys for the dog and a hollow rubber Kong filled with peanut butter or cream cheese will occupy your dog for some time after you leave. Leave a radio or TV on and tuned to a talk show to provide him with entertainment.

(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.net.)

DEAR DR. FOX: My husband and I live in a house that gets an annual invasion of crickets and spiders when the weather turns cold. We relocate them outside as we find them, alive and unharmed. Spiders do good work in bug control, after all.

This year we adopted two young adult cats from a local rescue group, and they are very feisty! Among other things, they hone their hunting skills on any insect they can find -- they are strictly indoor cats. I never knew we had so many bugs even before the weather turned. Anyhow, I am worried about the coming spider invasion.

What arachnids in the Washington metro area could hurt our boisterous boys, how can we identify them and how do you suggest we protect them? -- C.C., Washington, D.C.

DEAR C.C.: I wish more people would show the kind of respect that you do by putting spiders and other insects you find in the house safely back outdoors. Collectively, insects contribute so much more to the greater good on planet Earth than does the human infestation!

Our always-indoor cats serve as in-home sentinels, alerting us to any insect they find by their obvious focus, pawing and, if we are not quick to intervene, chewing. Some cats are expert fly and moth catchers. In the wild, insects can be part of a cat's diet, and because of their high protein and fat content, some bug species are being developed as an alternative food source for humans, which is probably more sustainable and humane than raising warm-blooded animals for food.

The area around where you live is home to an impressive array of spiders, and only two are poisonous: The black widow has a shiny black body with red spots on the underside and is poisonous, but rarely bites. The other poisonous spider is the brown recluse; it is more often found in other areas of the country, but has become more common in Maryland and Virginia in recent years. The brown recluse is unusual because it has only six eyes (most spiders have eight) and wears a violin-shaped marking on its back.

I would advise being on the alert and keeping a close eye on your cats so you can intervene to rescue any insects they find. I would worry most about wasps in early fall, which can sting cats and dogs and cause an acute reaction that could require emergency veterinary attention.

DEAR DR. FOX: My 2-year-old male cat has developed a pattern of attempting copulation behavior with pillows or with my leg. He has been neutered, so he cannot receive satisfaction, and he is frustrated. After such attempts, he comes over and bites me and acts angry. What can I do for him? -- S.W. Silver Spring, Maryland

DEAR S.W.: Sex play is an activity that is quite common in neutered cats and dogs, which can be redirected into contact play-fighting or prey-chasing using a fluffy toy or feather tied to a string on the end of a cane.

Your cat is not sexually frustrated so much as play-frustrated; many play-deprived cats will give "love bites" and ambush their human companions and scratch and bite. These are aspects of play-fighting and prey-catching behavior that should be modified appropriately by the caregiver learning how to play with the cat or introducing a healthy, compatible cat companion. Two cats living together are generally happier and healthier than one living alone with only human company. See the steps needed to introduce a second cat on my website, DrFoxVet.net.

(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.net.)

DEAR DR. FOX: My two 3 1/2-year-old neutered male cats, Spunky and Binky, are littermates, and they are practically physically identical. Both are tabbies and can be distinguished only by the color of their collars. This complicates their relationships with the humans in the household.

Spunky is loving. He cuddles, kneads, purrs and always head-butts -- with me, mostly. Binky is aloof, and he does none of the same socializing with any of his human family. I learned head-butting from Spunky. From Binky, I have learned not to initiate head-butting, because he hisses, violently attacks my face with claws and dashes off. He tolerates being patted on his head and body, but I have learned not to bend over him as he then strikes out. If I pat with one hand and raise the other a little to protect my face, he strikes out. I obviously quickly learned to not initiate such behaviors, and I have now copied his aloofness. In the dark or if I can't see their collars, I cannot tell them apart except by behavior. I have learned caution. I simply reach one hand toward the cat in question -- Spunky will immediately head-butt, even leaning over to do so, and Binky only sometimes allows me to pat him.

Both came to my household as 2-month-old kittens. Then Binky moved in with my daughter, husband and their three young girls when the kittens were about 9 months old. Binky became the favorite of my son-in-law, and Spunky really bonded with me. A year later, Spunky and I moved into my daughter's apartment. Spunky and Binky were immediately happy to be back together. They play roughly and happily, and they eat and sleep together. I became the only one to care for the cats. Everyone else ignored Binky, but I, the true cat mom, loved them both.

A new baby (now 15 months old) has become Binky's best friend -- though I worry about him striking out at her if she gets too close. At night, Spunky sleeps on my bed and Binky ignores me and sleeps on a chair near my bed or somewhere else in the apartment.

Is Binky jealous? Does he feel rejected? Is it fear? How should I behave to help him socialize with his human family better? Should I try to be cuddly? Will he ever head-butt me or anyone else? Is he a danger to the 15-month-old? Or maybe I should stop including head-butting in my relationship with cats? Cats and people are certainly complex! -- N.C., Hyattsville, Maryland

DEAR N.C.: First, I would say the early separation affected the socialization and human bonding of the two cats. There is an interactive process between innate temperament, early experience and later personality that can account for differences in your look-alike littermates, including one liking close human contact and the other not.

I would get a reflector collar or put a luminescent strip on one of the cat's collars so you know who is who at night, or only engage in the head-butting show of affection during daylight hours.

One safer way of initiating contact is to extend one finger toward the cat's nose to mimic the friendly nose-nose touch that cats make with each other. With shy cats, I use a long-handled brush and a feather tied to a cane that I stroke over the cat and around its face. This way, they get used to being touched and learn to trust and enjoy you, plus you won't get a clawed on the hand -- or face!

Some cats respond well with human infants because they are not afraid and seem to fully understand that the infant means no harm. But other cats become fearful, so you must keep alert and basically protect the cat from the infant, who may try to grab and hug the cat.

DEAR DR. FOX: Thank you for your helpful advice. What a pleasure to correspond with someone who understands our companion animals are not "property" or surrogate children or toys, but are complex beings who are friends with gifts and needs and wonderful and sometimes difficult histories. -- N.C.

PRAISE BEATS TREATS FOR DOG REWARD

A study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience found that dogs respond more intensely to verbal or physical praise than to a food treat. The study evaluated functional MRI scans of dogs being praised and compared those to brain scans when the dogs were offered a treat and found the same or greater brain activity in the reward and decision-making centers in response to praise, information that could be used to help direct service dogs into assignments they're best suited for.

(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.net.)