DEAR DR. FOX: I have had a rescue cat named Louis for over two months. I have rescued cats for around 20 years, but have never seen one quite like Louis.

He was never a totally feral cat. However, after being in a cage for two months -- a huge cage, big enough for a litter box, food and water -- he still doesn’t seem ready to come out.

I have gotten into the cage daily with him and brushed him, talked to him and cut his claws. Then, when I let him out, he goes and hides. When I discover him, he hisses at me. I’m afraid to pick him up when he does this, so I net him and put him back in his cage.

He is neutered now and has had all his shots. He has a good appetite, and is nice as long as he is in the cage. I have six of my own cats, which Louis couldn’t care less about. I want to find him a good home, but he is not ready for adoption with his behavior of hiding. I’ve had other cats that hid, but they stopped after a while. Louis just reverts back to being “wild” and hiding.

I welcome your opinion on Louis. I’ve tried to block off his hiding area, but he manages to weasel his way back behind the furniture. -- D.A., St. Louis, Missouri

DEAR D.A.: When a semi-socialized cat has places to hide, the process of recovery will be protracted. Try following some of the steps of introducing a new cat into a cat-household, as posted on my website. Often, keeping the cat in a large cage as you have, in full view of the other cats, can help. Also have some cat condos and catwalks/shelves in your main living area, and keep the new cat in there. One or two boxes or “dens” where the scared cat can hide -- but still be in the same room and be able to see the other cats -- will give him security and facilitate habituation. Let the cat see you playing with the other cats and grooming them.

This can take weeks, but keep the faith.

DEAR DR. FOX: I always have tried to adopt my pets from the shelter. My latest dog, Skittles, is a beagle/Boston terrier mix. She is smart, full of life and love, and will never have the breathing problems of a purebred Boston terrier because she does not have the smushed snout.

Her coat is mostly black. At first glance, you can only see some white on her feet. Statistics have shown that black dogs are the least adopted dogs from shelters; this is too bad, because I could not have made a better choice than my Skittles.

Please tell your readers to give black dogs a chance when they go to the shelter. I had an unconscious prejudice, and I do not know why -- my only guess is that black is considered “evil” in our culture, and white is not. Black cats are considered unlucky, etc. -- L.P., Naples, Florida

DEAR L.P.: You raise an interesting fact about black dogs and cats being chosen less often for adoption, the grounds for such prejudice being beyond my comprehension.

This calls for a cultural anthropologist to investigate, since in some cultures black animals are good luck, and in others, bad luck. As Indian veterinarian Dr. M. Sugumaran describes in the book “India’s Animals: Helping the Sacred and the Suffering” (by my wife, Deanna Krantz), villagers have a different regard for the indigenous “pariah” dogs according to their color, which may also be linked to temperament. Black dogs are regarded as good luck, able to sense when ghosts or evil spirits are close, and are thought to bark louder than other dogs when cautioning people of danger.

(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: Our rescued cattle dog, Kota, like millions of other dogs, is given regular anti-heartworm medication. But for her own health reasons, she is given no other insecticidal and anti-parasitic drugs, only an as-needed spritz with an herbal insect repellant such as PetzLife’s Herbal Defense.

Many drugs are widely prescribed by veterinarians and sold over the counter to treat and prevent internal and external parasites, from hookworms to fleas and ticks -- which we should rightly fear and seek to prevent, with the rise of tick- and flea-borne diseases accelerating with climate change. But in the process, there are inevitable harmful side effects from such drugs on our pets, as well as environmental contamination and the possibility of drug-resistance evolving rapidly in target species.

These drugs are even more widely used by the livestock and poultry industries, along with antibiotics and other production-enhancing drugs and hormones. These substances are then found in the animals’ excrement, contaminating the environment and killing scatophagous (waste-removing) insects. This disrupts the ecosystem’s various cycles. All such excrement from treated animals should be collected for biodegradation in manure containment or non-leaching landfill facilities.

As for dog poop, it is best disposed of in garden compost pits, where the heat generated kills off harmful organisms, or with household garbage in contained landfills. Many different chemicals and pharmaceutical products are in our dogs’ feces and urine, as well as in our own -- from prescription drugs to food additives to contaminants. These substances render such excretions harmful to the bacteria and other microorganisms that make for healthful soils, and inevitably affect our water quality.

We must all pick up our dogs’ poop for reasons of environmental and public health, and to protect other dogs from parasites they could pick up. When we adopted Kota from the Minnesota Animal Humane Society, she was released to us as a “healthy dog,” but actually had hookworm, whipworm and giardia. So it is advisable to have dogs’ stools checked for parasites on a regular basis to help stop possible transmission to other dogs in the community -- and people, too.

DEAR DR. FOX: Since you recently shared your views about there being a Heaven, and us being with our loved ones, including our pets, in the afterlife, what is your take on the notion of reincarnation? Some religions, including Buddhism, I think, say it is a fact of life. -- R.K., Washington, D.C.

DEAR R.K.: I embrace the core of Buddhism with the belief that the highest and only religion is loving-kindness toward all sentient beings. I devoutly pray for this for my kind, and strive to follow that ideal myself in these challenging times.

Buddhism recognizes our kinship with all life, over which we have no kingship. It embraces the concept of the transmigration of the soul, or spark of consciousness, from one life to the next -- and also from one species to the next. For instance: Be kind to the street dog, because she could have been your mother in a past life, and is a mother in this life to other souls who may become human in the future.

Hinduism also accepts reincarnation as a fact of life, although some believers have used it for sociopolitical purposes to preserve caste systems. Fatalism and predeterminism promote acceptance of one’s position in life, saying that with good conduct, one will reincarnate at a higher level. (This is not to imply that other religious traditions do not also have pernicious and sophisticated ways of maintaining social control.)

URGENT APPEAL FROM THE NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL

A petition from the Nation Resources Defense Council (NRDC) urges readers to call on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to protect Alaska’s bears, wolves, coyotes and other native predators from being brutally hunted and killed on our public lands. According to the NRDC, the administration is “considering rolling back critical protections that prohibit cruel and aggressive hunting practices in Alaska’s National Preserves.”

If these regulations are repealed, the group says, “it will become legal to:

-- lure grizzly bears and black bears with bait so they can be shot point-blank;

-- use dogs to hunt black bears;

-- kill hibernating black bear mothers and cubs;

-- slaughter wolves and coyotes and their pups during denning season, when the young animals are still dependent on their parents.”

Why? So that the state of Alaska can conduct “predator control” -- a scientifically indefensible method of population control that involves killing off native carnivores to artificially boost populations of deer, moose and other prey animals for hunters to shoot. Predator control is cruel and unethical, and it threatens the natural diversity of Alaska’s fragile ecosystems and wildlife.

Tell Secretary Zinke to reject this misguided plan and uphold protections for Alaska’s iconic wildlife. For more, and to sign the petition, visit nrdc.org.

(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.)

Thanks to the Institute for Responsible Technology, my earlier published concerns over the inclusion of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and pesticides in pet foods have galvanized a very informative short documentary film. In it, several veterinarians express their concerns and evidence-based clinical findings on the subject. Visit petsandgmos.com and click “Videos.”

More than 50 percent of our beloved, loyal and trusting canine companions are likely to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. A host of their other health problems have been effectively remedied simply by providing them with more healthful foods. As human ailments often mirror pet ailments, they have become our sentinels, like the canaries down in the coal mines -- alerting us to dangers in the environment, especially in the food sources we share.

Genetic susceptibility to cancer and other diseases aside (notably in “purebred” dogs), we humans are primarily responsible. Medical research focuses on early diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other “anthropogenic” diseases, which coincidentally promise great profits for the manufacturers of “cures” -- even involving gene-editing and genetically engineered, cloned farmed animals to produce biopharmaceuticals. But there will be no end to disease until significant efforts are taken by governments and consumers to essentially detoxify our poisoned planet.

We owe no less to other species -- aquatic and terrestrial, plant, animal, insect and microorganism -- as members of the life community who help keep ecosystems and even our own digestive and immune systems healthy. Otherwise, future generations will continue to suffer under increasingly pathogenic conditions that could and should have been prevented by all of us, their predecessors.

One significant step is to be vegan or vegetarian, and eating Certified Organic vegetables, fruits, nuts and cereal rather than continuing as serial killers of predators, “pests” and of billions of animals raised for our consumption.

DEAR DR. FOX: I just read your column about giving melatonin for separation and confinement anxiety issues. We have a 15-pound rat terrier with both these problems. Would melatonin be of any benefit? If so, what would be the correct dosage? -- J.M., Glade Valley, North Carolina

DEAR J.M.: I would give your dog 3 mg of melatonin, both in the morning and before bedtime. A few drops of essential oil of lavender on his bed and on a bandanna around his neck may also help. In addition, while you are away, leave on a radio or TV channel with lots of human talk at a fairly low volume. Give your dog a rubber Kong with some peanut butter or cream cheese inside it, so he will have some enjoyment and distraction when he is alone.

You can also try desensitization by going out for a few minutes and coming back in, repeatedly, at intervals of every hour or so over a weekend. Ignore the dog when you come in, and don’t make your returning a big deal. But give the dog a tiny treat, say freeze-dried chicken, every time you leave, so he associates your leaving with a reward.

ASSESSMENT OF PAIN IN HORSES WITH AND WITHOUT A BIT

I recently posted my concern over the evident suffering of the horses in the royal wedding of Prince Harry, pointing out the metal bits in their mouths. My concerns appeared in the veterinary and public press in the U.K. (as well as stateside). Soon after, veterinarians Drs. W.R. Cook and M. Kibbler published in the journal Equine Veterinary Education an assessment of the effects of having bits in horses’ mouths.

It was found that an average of 23 pain signals were evident from bit-related pain, which negatively affected balance, posture, coordination and movement, as well as inducing “bit lameness.” When bit-free, risk for the riders was minimized by preventing avoidable suffering on the part of the horses.

(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.)