DEAR DR. FOX: We lost our beloved 12 1/2-year-old springer spaniel last February. I should have never allowed the vet to give him a rabies vaccine. It made the last six months of his life miserable. Just two or three days after the shot, he woke up panting wildly; he lost his vision and acted rabid, which continued every night for six months. Nothing really calmed him enough to get a full night's sleep -- for any of us.

I reported the bad reaction to the Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical company. Our vet never followed up as requested.

Interestingly enough, I stopped giving my dog distemper and parvo vaccine at age 6 and had titers done instead. He never needed another DAPP vaccine again!

We now have a new springer pup born Aug. 6. The breeder gave the DAPP vaccine on Sept. 17 and Oct. 1. My vet wants to give it three more times, but my breeder says the pup needs only two more. Our vet says the manufacturer recommends 10-week, 13-week and 16-week boosters. Is that too much? What do you think about the Lepto vaccine? The vet wants to give it twice. Is that overkill? -- S.B., Branson, Missouri

DEAR S.B.: The Lepto vaccine is very questionable if there is no risk of exposure. It's best to give the DAPP "core" vaccines at 12 and 16 weeks since at 10 weeks, antibodies from the mother could interfere with the pup's immune response to the vaccine. If the vaccination status and history of the mother is unknown, earlier vaccination between 8 and 10 weeks may be advisable. Don't give the rabies vaccine until he's much older!

I would go to another veterinarian. To find a holistic veterinarian who is not gung-ho with vaccinations, search ahvma.org.

Readers, please take note of these issues. For more details on dog vaccinations and the risks of vaccines, see the reports posted at DrFoxVet.net.

"SHOULD YOU LET YOUR DOG LICK YOUR FACE?"

This is the title of an article by Christopher Mele in The New York Times. Citing some medical and veterinary authorities, the article asserts that there are risks of bacterial and parasitic diseases being passed on from dogs' mouths to humans -- especially when their saliva contacts various mucous membrane areas of our bodies.

From my perspective, provided you do not have an impaired immune system and your dog is healthy and does not eat other dogs' poop, the risks are far less than when we do not wash our hands thoroughly before every meal, after gardening, after handling poultry and other meats and vegetables possibly contaminated with bacteria from improperly processed farm animal fecal "fertilizer," and when pet food is contaminated with these various bacteria.

We may be more at risk from shaking hands and kissing each other than from letting our canine companions give us a few affectionate and solicitous licks. Canine saliva has healing properties, as several people with various skin ailments have attested. Some of the bacteria will colonize family members and can reduce the incidence of allergies and frequency of antibiotic use for ear and other infections. Our germophobic society and excessive use of hand and other sanitizers, disinfectants and antibiotics have far more serious adverse public health consequences than the tender tongue kisses of happy and healthy dogs.

(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: We own a 13-year-old female beagle-mix dog who we rescued when she was almost a year old. She has never been an extremely playful dog, and in the last few years, even less so.

For the last year, she will not sleep through the night, and she barks to wake us up two to four times a night to either go to the bathroom or alert us that she has already gone to the bathroom (urine and/or stool) in the kitchen, where she stays during the evening. Our vet prescribed a sedative (lorazepam) that we have given her.

We expected that with the sedative, she might become relaxed and possibly that might result in the release of her bowels unexpectedly, so we have diapered her during the night and when we are away for a few hours. So that she doesn't tear the diaper away, we also place a cone collar on her. At night, the sedative has had no effect on her, even when giving her two tablets. She's used the diaper only twice -- once to pee and once to poop, but only when we were not home to take her out. I am usually home during the day, so taking her out when she needs to go is not a problem, although the frequency has increased over the last year.

My husband and I are at our wits' end regarding this interruption in our sleep. We love our dog and do not want her to be in distress during the night, but we are struggling to find a way to deal with her needs. Getting additional costly extensive tests done is not an option for us. -- J.E., Baltimore

DEAR J.E.: lorazepam would not be my drug of choice for your dog, nor would I consider lowering your dog's quality of life unnecessarily by putting a cone collar on her to stop her from removing the diaper.

Provided that chronic cystitis and renal failure are ruled out, I would address this as part of the old dog (and person) syndrome where incontinence and sleeplessness or restlessness are common problems. Give her last meal at 5 p.m., and restrict her water intake after 7 p.m. Feed her three small, low-fiber meals daily, along with a few drops of fish oil and digestive enzymes. Before bedtime, give her 3 to 6 milligrams of melatonin, which has helped many dogs with insomnia.

DEAR DR. FOX: I am writing in the hope that you have some suggestions on how to help my 17-year-old cat, Mojo. Mojo started having blood inside his right eye about a week ago. It was very pronounced in the evening and would lighten up the next day (to about normal), darkening again as night approached.

I took him to the vet, who looked closely at his eyes, and she was concerned, as she could not see past the anterior chamber. She suggested it may be melanoma and that we may need to take him to an ophthalmologist. She then took his blood pressure to see if perhaps hypertension was the problem. It was 200, which she did not feel was a definitively high number, due to the stress of being at the vet.

She then suggested it may be uveitis and gave us some steroidal eye drops to administer three to four times a day for the next two weeks. If this doesn't help the problem, she wants us to come back for another blood pressure reading.

It has been two days of the drops, and his eye looks worse. Mojo has been a very healthy cat. The only behavioral change he has had recently is becoming more of a lap cat since we euthanized his companion cat about a month ago for renal failure. Mojo has been deaf for a year or so. His appetite and output have been normal. He does throw up a few times a week -- usually hairballs, but sometimes foamy vomit. He does live with, and boss around, a 90-pound dog whose bed he monopolizes.

I am hoping you have some suggestions to help my sweet baby. -- J.H., Charlottesville, Virginia

DEAR J.H.: Your veterinarian has suggested what I consider to be the main possible causes of your cat's eye issue: High blood pressure and associated kidney disease would be my first consideration, then uveitis or a malignancy.

Your cat's age and his quality of life, comfort and security are paramount, and these considerations, in my opinion, place limits on how much veterinary intervention and related stress is warranted. If there are no signs of painful glaucoma, it may be best to have a veterinary eye specialist make a house call or go in for a one-time visit for a definitive diagnosis. Do not be persuaded to have the eye surgically removed if your cat is otherwise enjoying life.

MORE CAUTION CALLED FOR WITH VACCINATIONS

Autoimmune diseases -- such as lupus and other chronic inflammatory conditions -- afflict many people and companion animals alike. One common cause is vaccines, which the medical establishment still continues to deny or discount. This is ethically unacceptable and scientifically unfounded. At her website healthypets.mercola.com, veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker writes:

"A revved-up (overly stimulated) immune system, which is both the goal and result of vaccines, can set the stage for disorders in which the immune system mistakes the body's own organs for foreign invaders, and attacks them. Autoimmune diseases can affect a wide variety of tissues in the body, including blood, joints and muscles, nervous system, thyroid, adrenal glands, kidneys, liver, bowel, reproductive organs, eyes, skin and mucous membranes. While a safe, individualized vaccination program is important for every pet, research shows that dogs and cats absolutely do not require annual re-vaccinations to keep them protected from disease."

The book "Vaccines and Autoimmunity," edited by Yehuda Shoenfeld, Nancy Agmon-Levin and Lucija Tomljenovic provides critical review articles by 77 scientists and medical doctors from 15 different countries assessing the role of vaccine contents and protocols in the genesis of autoimmune diseases in humans and animals. It should be mandatory reading for all involved in the manufacture and distribution of vaccines and is a wakeup call for all health-care providers in human and veterinary medicine. A list price of $169.00 is outrageous, but you should at least inform your veterinarian and your own human doctor about this important book, which calls for a revision of vaccination protocols and a far less cavalier approach to their use. I have emphasized this standard in my own article, "Vaccination Issues," posted 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: We have a 5-year-old male cat, Max. He was neutered and declawed when we adopted him from a local shelter at a year old. The shelter staff told us that he was initially adopted as a kitten, and then returned to the shelter at around 9 months because the couple could not care for him. His real personality started to show only after he was with us for almost 2 years, finally seeking out affection and allowing himself to be held or petted.

He bonded quickly with our (then 5-year-old) female Lab when we brought him home. The dog is very patient with him, and he has always snuggled and head-butted with the dog. He grooms and play-fights with our female cat, but they mostly just agree to co-exist in the same house as their humans. She's clearly the dominant of the two.

Max has always kneaded on me, one of the few things he regularly did after we got him, but it was clearly on his terms and comfort level. He's always been closer to me than my husband or our daughter -- I was the one who brought him home from the shelter.

In the past few months, Max has started kneading our dog and climbing on her back. This happens several times each evening. So far, the dog has been very patient with him and seems to tolerate the behavior, but I worry about a potential reaction from her if she gets tired of him. What leads to the kneading behavior, and what caused this increase in behavior directed toward our Lab? Should we be concerned about the frequency? -- A.C., Desloge, Missouri

DEAR A.C.: You are describing one of the behaviors of cats that is often misunderstood by cat caregivers and is essentially part of a normal, healthy cat's behavioral repertoire. You can read more in my book, "Cat Body, Cat Mind."

Some cats are more needy and knead more than others. This behavior is exacerbated when cats are weaned from the mother too soon, and it is an anxious cat's way of seeking contact comfort. Also, many cats with no anxiety or early-weaning issues will start this behavior as a self-comforting ritual on a caregiver's arm or ear lobe, blanket, cushion and in some instances on another accepting cat, and in your case, an indulgent dog. It is an instinctual behavior seen in every kitten nursing and kneading the teat area of the mother with the front paws, which can persist into adulthood, often accompanied by drooling.

It is not a behavior to discipline but to accept, as your old Labrador retriever dog does, with patient understanding, gently pushing the cat away when you have had enough. Some cats will even suck on their own tails and flanks. This can become an obsessive-compulsive activity until the cat goes to sleep; intervention tends to increase the anxiety level and makes the cat more motivated to engage in this self-comforting activity.

EMPATHY, SYMPATHY AND ETHICAL SENSIBILITY

"Empathy" and "sympathy" are two words that are often confused and regarded as synonymous. But without empathy, there can be no true sympathy. Being sympathetic is the expression of empathic concern, the consequence of empathizing with another living being, human or non-human. I regard empathy as a physiological (neuroendocrine) and psychological (emotional and cognitive) response to the perceived condition, behavior and situation of another sentient being that is witnessed and felt for. Philosopher Martin Buber termed this enjoining the "I and Thou" relationship.

We are not the only species to show empathic sensitivity, as a mother cat will respond to the cries of a lost kitten, and a dog responds to a human companion who is depressed or in pain. Such behavior, well documented in the caregiving and rescuing actions of many species, even toward members of other species, implies that we are also not the only species possessing moral and ethical sensibility.

A 1992 article in the Weekly World News, "Pet's Amazing Feat Proves Animals Can Think," documented how a dog empathized before she responded sympathetically and did the right thing for her owner, 75-year-old Jack Fyfe. She brought him water for nine days before he was discovered lying in his bed paralyzed by a stroke. The miniature white poodle soaked a towel in her water dish and passed the end of the towel to Jack to suck. He would otherwise have died from dehydration.

On Oct. 6, 2016, CBS News reported that a potent combination of brain disorders meant that Glen Schallman commonly experienced seizures, and that his 1-year-old adopted cat Blake has become attuned to the issue, biting Schallman's toes to wake him when the man experiences a dangerous nighttime seizure while sleeping, which could lead to fatal arrest of breathing. This cat had not been trained as a service animal, but he has taken on that role, even honing the ability to detect when a seizure is brewing. More details about animals' ability to empathize are given in my book "Animals and 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.net.)