DEAR READERS: Andrew Jacobs, in his July 9 New York Times article “Opposition to Breast-feeding Resolution by U.S. Stuns World Health Officials,” reports that “the U.S. delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended deliberations” at a United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly of hundreds of global government delegates.

The topic was a resolution, based on decades of research, ”that mother’s milk is healthiest for children, and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes.” Countries such as Ecuador were threatened with punishing trade measures and withdrawal of U.S. military aid if they did not withdraw the resolution.

So can ”we the people” in the United States trust government regulatory agencies when it comes to other matters? These include the safety and efficacy of vaccines for our children and pets; the risks of pesticides on the crops that we and farmed animals consume; and the quality and safety of manufactured pet foods and baby foods. Trust, transparency and accountability are the hallmarks of democracy and corporate responsibility.

Such an exhibition of U.S. pandering to, and bullying for, corporate interests at this international world health gathering gives new credence to the term “ugly American.” It is up to us, the people, to make America first in ethics, honesty, justice and compassion -- rather than a nation of corporate hegemony and corruption.

DEAR DR. FOX: Our 11-year-old female Yorkie has been diagnosed with glomerulonephritis (GN). We have started her on benazepril and fish oil. I have increased the oatmeal and reduced the protein in the homemade patties I make for her, using an adaptation of your recipe. She also gets a small amount of Organix dry kibble for small dogs mixed in.

What is your advice for this condition? Are there other things we can do to prevent further progress of this condition?

As a side note, she has had urinary problems all of her life. After bringing her to multiple vets, it was determined that she needed added estrogen to help control incontinence. She received the hormone until two years ago, when she became very ill for a reason that was never discovered and she had to come off of everything. There were no problems after taking her off the hormone, so it was discontinued permanently. The illness and her refusal of commercial prescription dog food resulted in my starting her on the homemade dog food mixed with natural kibble, which has resulted in better health aside from the kidney problem. -- M.W., Naples, Florida

DEAR M.W.: You are on the right track with your dog, and I must say that good nutrition from the start could possibly have prevented her chronic renal health problem. You also confirm an all-too-common problem with manufactured prescription diets: Many dogs and cats refuse to eat them.

Do not give her much kibble, because there is evidence that kibble can upset the immune system and trigger inflammatory responses. I like some of the freeze-dried dog foods like Stella and Chewy’s, Sojo’s and The Honest Kitchen. Cornucopia (cornucopiapetfoods.com) is one of the top-rated canned foods for dogs and cats.

On my website, you will find steps to take for dogs with chronic kidney issues, which will help you keep your dog as healthy as possible with this condition.

DEAR DR. FOX: I wrote you in 2014 that I adopted two feral kittens by throwing treats to them and gaining their trust. Now the white one has tested positive for FLV/FIV: feline leukemia and the other immunodeficiency virus.

He was eating fine up until two weeks ago. When he skipped a meal entirely on June 21, after eating many unenthusiastically, I took him in. They gave me three options: euthanasia, chemotherapy and prednisolone. I took the latter. He is declining fast, and I’m taking him in tomorrow for an ultrasound. My regular vet thinks he has cancer and will look into cancer drugs, depending on what the ultrasound shows.

Right now, he’s in extreme pain often, and has to lie flat for it to subside. I think it has to do with pressure caused by eating, bowel movements and moving. In fact, I think he had this a year ago and even earlier! I was carrying him back home one time and he started crying in pain. I set him down on the ground and he laid out flat, then recovered after a few seconds, just like he’s doing now. In fact, I told the vet about this last August (after bringing him in for scratching for fleas) and she said she didn’t know why he was in pain.

I think last year this should have been considered as a possible serious problem. Bloodwork and an ultrasound were in order, and might have revealed FLV/FIV way earlier, giving us more time to try treatments. -- D.L., Maryland Heights, Missouri

DEAR D.L.: I am sorry to hear about your cat testing positive for these diseases.

In my opinion, all cats and kittens rescued from the outdoors should be tested for these two contagious feline diseases: feline leukemia virus (FLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) on their first appointment with a veterinarian. It blows my mind that animal rescue organizations, such as the Animal Humane Society in Minnesota, are releasing cats into our communities, as are many other shelters and cat rescue organizations across the country, without checking them for these two contagious feline diseases.

Cats testing positive should be quarantined, and other cats living with them should also be tested to see if they are infected. Infected cats can be helped in many instances by avoiding stress, giving lysine and other supplements, and avoiding immune system-compromising additional vaccines. Prednisolone helps subdue an over-reactive immune system. Because of the added stress, both physical and psychological, to most cats, I am not an advocate of repeated invasive treatments such as chemotherapy.

The questions of quality of life, and of “doing everything possible” in diagnosing and treating disease, which may not be in the animal’s best interest, is a central issue in a recently convened European veterinary ethics working party. But this is no consolation to you at this time.

From the declining state of your poor cat, I would advise euthanasia, along with having the other cat tested for possible infection.

(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: 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.)