DEAR DR. FOX: In a recent column, you printed a letter from G.R.R. of Buffalo, New York, that included so-called statistics that claimed that feral cats kill 1.3 to 4 billion birds and 6.3 to 22.3 billion mammals annually in the United States.

Those numbers are bogus and from a discredited study, but they have been passed around as gospel for years. Any statistic that has a range of accuracy of 300 percent is not a useful statistic -- it is a wild guess. The author of this letter also states that cats represent far and away the major killer when compared to other human-related causes of death to birds and mammals. That is just false.

Probably the biggest killer of wildlife is the American lawn, a green desert infused with dangerous chemicals. Lawn grass is one of the biggest crops grown in America, and it is useless and dangerous territory to birds and other wildlife. Millions of birds and mammals are slaughtered by hunters for fun in the United States every year. Window strikes and vehicle collisions are a major cause of death to birds, especially during migration. Destruction of habitat for farming and development is a much bigger threat to all wildlife than predation.

I grew up next to a hay field where bobolinks nested for the last 60 years, and many years before that. Five years ago, Bristol, Connecticut, built a new school where the hay field used to be. Bobolinks survived feral cats, but even though they are a species of special concern, an elementary school that could have been built elsewhere destroyed the bobolinks nesting area.

G.R.R. cites reduced numbers of meadowlarks, vesper sparrows, field sparrows and grasshopper sparrows, all of which have been affected by the loss of farms to development, not by feral cats.

People find it easy to blame cats rather than take on hunters and developers, but birds have evolved with predators, not humans with guns and bulldozers. If any bird species goes extinct, the extinction is caused by man's greed and stupidity, not by cats. -- S.W.B., Waldorf, Maryland

DEAR S.W.B.: Thank you for your summary of the many factors pushing bird and other wildlife species and communities across the nation into extinction. I was not aware that the cat predation bird mortality study had been discredited. Regardless, the cat incursion is but one aspect of relentless worldwide human invasion and destruction, which must be stopped. Nor should we ignore the demise of the oceans, now at grave risk from oil drilling, overfishing, acidification and rare-mineral dredge-mining. Few dare mention human birth control as one preventive measure!

I live in Minnesota, where greed, as in other states, seems unquenchable. For instance, producers of GMO corn and soybeans for the livestock and poultry industries and for export have destroyed vast acreages of prairie and other wildlife habitat. They have now planted so much that they have overproduced and shrunk their own profits. As for lawns and golf courses and the chemicals used on them, I have documented their harms in past columns and regard them as culturally unexamined abominations!

CHECK OUT TAP WATER FOR HEALTH’S SAKE

The municipal water and public health crisis of tap water contamination with lead in Flint, Michigan, was a wake-up call and underscores the 2017 report from the Natural Resources Defense Council that U.S. residents have a 1-in-4 chance that their tap water is either unsafe to drink or has not been properly monitored for contaminants. Visit nrdc.org/sites/default/files/whats-in-your-water-flint-beyond-report.pdf for more information.

I am especially concerned about cats and dogs drinking unpurified tap water and standing water outdoors, both of which can make them seriously ill and even die. For details, see my article "Pure Water for Cats and Dogs and All,” posted on my website, DrFoxVet.net.

THE TYPE OF MEAT EVANGER’S USED

Pet food monitor Susan Thixton reports, “It was more than inedible, the meat supplier Evanger’s Pet Food purchased from was a dead animal carcass processor. This is a company that removes dead animals from farms (including euthanized horses) and processes the meat from those dead animals for sale to pet food. This was why and how the euthanasia drug pentobarbital got in to some dog foods." (Visit truthaboutpetfood.com/the-type-of-meat-evangers-really-used/ for more information.)

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 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 READERS: I am concerned that the ubiquity of pet insurance providers, aligned with the corporate consolidation of companion animal veterinary practices, could lead to overtreatment, unwarranted and costly diagnostics and exclusive promotion and sale of particular manufactured pet foods. Some critics call this a one-size-fits-all medical assembly line.

I was recently solicited by a public relations firm to write about pet health insurance, the communication stating: “I’d like to offer you a story idea about the true cost of pet care. We love our pets and spare little or no cost to keep them healthy, but that can rack up quite a bill. For example, a report from Healthy Paws Pet Insurance about the cost of caring for pets shows that the most common illness for dogs and cats is stomach issues, which can lead to these costs: digital X-rays: $150 to $400; endoscopy: $800 to $1,000; biopsy: up to $1,500; ultrasound: $300 to $500; CT scan: $3,000. Total: up to $6,400 -- for stomach issues!”

Yet this “most common illness for dogs and cats” can be prevented, and often effectively treated, simply by providing biologically appropriate, healthful diets rather than feeding many of the manufactured cat and dog foods on the market and often sold by veterinarians that can cause “nutrigenic” (diet-associated) diseases.

The world’s largest pet food manufacturer, candy company Mars Inc., recently acquired VCA Antech Animal Hospitals -- with 780 animal hospitals in 43 states. This is coupled with the acquisition of some 900 Banfield Pet Hospitals in 2007 and of BluePearl, the nation’s biggest chain of companion animal specialty and emergency care clinics -- with 53 locations in the U.S -- in 2015. With Banfield’s Optimal Wellness Plans, Mars may next become a player in marketing its own pet health insurance plans.

While such corporate consolidation of veterinary hospitals may have limited benefits for pet owners, an estimated 85 to 95 percent of veterinary hospitals are still owned independently, some merging to create their own collaborative private corporations to reap the benefits of economies of scale and increased profitability by pooling equipment and other capital expenses and integrating specialist referral services. It is my hope that companion animal health care will not go the way of the increasingly profit-driven and dysfunctional human health care industry, where monopolistic drug companies inflate prescription drug prices (as they do also with veterinary medicines) and where diagnostic errors and medical mistakes lead to more than 250,000 deaths each year in hospitals, according to a 2016 Johns Hopkins University study.

Visit veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com for veterinarians’ views on whether corporatization of their services means better or worse patient care and client satisfaction.

Owners of companion animals must accept responsibility for their animals’ health with annual wellness appointments with veterinarians who embrace the principles of preventive and alternative, integrative medicine, as advocated by the American Holistic Veterinary Association.

DEAR DR. FOX: My question is regarding my rescued Jindo dog, Angie, who has been in the family for 10 years now and is 12 years old. I am a very gentle and patient owner, and I let her walk me for as long as she wants. She enjoys being off the leash with her doggie friends.

When frightened by lawn mowers or an aggressive dog (she was brutally attacked by two off-leash dogs), she has twice bitten me. These are serious bites, drawing lots of blood. She has no clue. I treated the wounds myself, so I would not have problems. The vet put her on a daily dose of fluoxetine, and she has not bitten me since she has been on the medication.

Why did this little Jindo girl bite me twice? -- I.H., Arlington, Virginia

DEAR I.H.: What you experienced was a fear-biter's defensive behavior being redirected. Quite often, when two dogs who live together are barking at another dog on the other side of their fence, one of the two dogs may lunge at and mock-attack the companion, and in some instances actually bite and start a fight. This is also seen in cats who are upset by a cat outside.

Experienced animal handlers are aware of such redirected or "spill-over" aggression and take precautions when a situation could arise where redirected aggression may be triggered.

It is not rational behavior, and in that panicked state, the animal cannot be reasoned with until he or she calms down. The medication your veterinarian prescribed essentially dampens the panic reaction, which is more likely to occur in animals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and specific phobias.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 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 2 1/2-year-old cat has spent most of her life indoors. She makes the usual chattering noise when she sees a bird, is very interested in watching the squirrels, goes from window to window to watch a bunny hopping by, doesn't care much about dogs sniffing around and she rarely mews, but chirps.

My son and I were astounded when, while looking out the window, she spotted a cat and started howling and hissing. So, here's the question: How did she know it was a cat and that howling was the way to go? -- J.S., Moorhead, Minnesota

DEAR J.S.: You seem to be asking how your cat knows that it was a cat outside and not some other creature. Animals have self-awareness, and one cat seeing another outside most often perceives the other cat as a threatening invader of territory, but not a rabbit or dog.

Your cat, like most, has a significant repertoire of vocal sounds for different situations to express her emotional states and cognition. When you live with more than one cat, you may find that one does most of the "talking" and that some varieties, such as Siamese, are very vocal indeed.

You may also see how cats do recognize and respond to each other's different vocal sounds. One of my cats would generally ignore the other, who was twittering and chirping at birds and squirrels on the other side of the window, but would come running to see when a low growl-yowl was given at a free-roaming cat or a less intense vocalization at a raccoon or groundhog.

Your cat could have heard the other cat giving threatening calls and smelled the cat's spray, which free-roaming cats often do around the homes of other cats. This can be very distressing for in-home cats and in many instances can make them start to spray indoors, become house-soilers and even attack each other.

MILLENIALS TOP PET OWNERSHIP

Pet ownership is up, according to the American Pet Products Association’s 2017-2018 National Pet Owners Survey. It reports 68 percent of American households now own a pet, accounting for 84.6 million pet-owning households, up from 79.7 million pet-owning households in 2015. Millennial pet ownership surpassed that of baby boomers by 3 percentage points, and the younger segment includes more than 50 percent of reptile, small-animal and saltwater-fish owners.

I would urge people of all ages not to purchase reptiles or other exotic warm-blooded animals that cannot be provided a proper habitat in unstimulating environments that are facsimiles of their true natures, analogous to zombies. Like many wild bird species, these exotic reptiles are part of a lucrative worldwide industry that causes many to die before they get into the pet stores for uninformed consumers to buy on impulse.

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(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 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.)