DEAR DR. FOX: Our dog is a very anxious 8-year-old Morkie (a Yorkshire-Maltese mix).

In your opinion, would there be any advantage to giving her a drop of CBD during anxious activities such as flying? Would it be safe to give her a drop every day? -- J.J.E., Estero, Florida

DEAR J.J.E.: First, get your dog used to being in an airline-approved dog crate. Keep it open, with soft bedding and a few treats inside, so it becomes like her den.

As for your query, I asked veterinarian Dr. Robert J. Silver to respond. I have known him for many years, and he is one of the pioneers of integrative veterinary medicine and the application of cannabis in veterinary medicine.

Here is his response:

"Your question is a good one. It is known that CBD has a calming but not sedating effect on dogs, and it works pretty well at much lower doses than we would use if your dog was in pain, had epilepsy or cancer.

"When you ask if a drop a day would help, that is an impossible question to answer for these two reasons:

"1) I have no idea what the potency and concentration are of the CBD oil you have in mind; and,

"2) I have no idea what size (weight in pounds or kilograms) your dog is, since the most successful way to give CBD is by basing the dosage on the body weight of the animal.

"Another issue here is that with the incredible popularity of CBD, there are some shysters out there who just want to take your money and give you a bogus product. So look carefully at the CBD oil you are interested in and see if there is a contact number on the bottle. There should be. Call that number and ask for a Certificate of Analysis (CoA) that will tell you what the laboratory tests said in terms of how much CBD is in the formula, and if there is any THC in it. THC can be very troubling to dogs, so we want to give them only the very small amount that is found in hemp oil, which should be less than 0.3 percent THC.

"A good starting dose for calming your Morkie is 0.1 mg of CBD for each pound of body weight twice daily. The best way to give the oil is just into the mouth, so it absorbs through the oral mucous membranes.

"I hope this is helpful. All the best to you and your four-legged companion." -- Robert J. Silver DVM, MS, CVA; Boulder, Colorado

(You can check out Dr. Silver's blog at NurseYourPet.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: Please help me settle a discussion I had recently with a relative. She claims you cannot bring a new cat into a house that already has a cat (cats). I have heard of cases where one cat gets so bored all day alone that a new cat would be welcome. What say you? -- C.D., Naples, Florida

DEAR C.D: I really appreciate your question because it is a common misconception that you cannot introduce a cat into a home where there is already one or more cats.

You are right that cats can suffer from extreme boredom when left alone for hours during the workweek and not getting the kind of stimulation another cat could give. This can contribute to obesity and other health and behavioral problems. As I document in my book, "Cat Body, Cat Mind," two cats living harmoniously together are generally happier and healthier than those living alone.

As to your contention that a cat will get bored when home alone all day, this I can confirm from a photo just sent to me from the family who adopted our latest rescue cat, Black Bean. The photo shows Black Bean hugging his buddy cat, Zorro, who my wife and I also rescued. This family adopted Zorro a year before Black Bean.

After following the basic steps of helping the cats get to know each other and develop trust, the new owners reported a month later that Zorro is more alert and losing weight, even though he was living with a family with two young children and an old dog. And his new companion Black Bean loves to leap, chase and play.

For details of the steps best taken to introduce a new cat to the home, see my article on this topic at drfoxvet.net.

(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.)

One of the world's most horrendous forms of animal exploitation is China's lucrative collection of bear bile for traditional medicine. Bears' abdomens are opened to collect bile on a regular basis, which causes chronic infection and liver disease. The animals are kept in small iron crates that are so cramped they cannot even stand up their entire lives. The confinement causes skeletal and other deformities.

Many of these bears die young, while others suffer for decades. There are an estimated 100 large-scale farms, which are legal in China, with the largest holding over a thousand bears.

Trade between countries continues to be condoned where there is human slavery and other violations of human rights, inhumane treatment of animals and destruction of wildlife habitat, and environmental pollution. Without broader harmonization of bioethical standards, "free" trade and the current tariff wars ignore the core issues of ethics and sustainability.

The consequences of such ethical blindness are increasingly evident on almost every continent today and are epitomized by the suffering of these bears. An abomination indeed, and a shame on China.

To learn how you can help stop this practice, visit animalsasia.org.

DEAR DR. FOX: I adopted a 5-year-old rat terrier mix last September, and potty-training has been difficult. She had not had an accident for about a month until the other night, when she urinated on my lap. I apparently missed her signals. Still, why would a dog urinate on her human? What steps should I take to make sure this doesn't happen again? -- C.B., Raleigh, North Carolina

DEAR C.B.: Good for you for adopting a dog in need of a forever-home. But what a surprise you must have had when she urinated on your lap! If this happens again -- before you check in with the vet -- do not punish her in any way. Quietly clean it up.

She could have cystitis, inflammation and possibly infection of the bladder or other urinary tract problems. Some dogs, especially after being spayed, have weaker sphincter control and will leak urine on occasion. Intermittent treatment for the latter condition with diethylstilbestrol, a replacement hormone, is generally most effective, but some veterinarians have reservations about this drug. In my experience with this hormone-replacement therapy, long-term use for this condition is not necessary, thus reducing possible harmful side effects.

But first, a full wellness examination is called for, and your veterinarian can help you find a solution. It is possible that she really needed to go out to urinate, and as soon as she relaxed on your lap the pressure of her full bladder was too much for her. So she may have no evident medical issues after all!

RESEARCHERS MEASURE LEVELS OF TRACE METALS IN DRY DOG FOODS

Researchers at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine found aluminum, chromium and molybdenum in commercial dry dog foods at higher concentrations than would typically be consumed by a person. Though researchers say the levels appear to be safe, the elements can cause health problems at high levels, and more research is needed. (From American Veterinarian, Dec. 24.)

(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.)

As people have been welcoming in 2019, there is a pervasive aura of trepidation in many circles. The new year will be challenging on many fronts, concerning animal welfare and environmental protection, both too often sacrificed for short-term profits and short-lived jobs. But we can all do something in the communities and states where we live and work.

For instance, I live in Minnesota, where more people are raising concerns about mining and water quality, the environmental effects of expanding animal feed-crop production, and our shrinking and ever-more-polluted lakes and rivers. To these issues we can add chronic wasting disease in deer and the rising incidence of Lyme and other insect-borne diseases in humans. All these issues are indicative of ecological, environmental and socio-economic dystopias.

Perhaps the core issue of jobs and productivity versus conservation and sustainability will be closer to resolution with 20/20 vision in 2020. Planetary CPR is urgently needed -- the resuscitation of our planet Earth through conservation, protection and restoration. Such CPR is part of the nascent One Health Initiative embraced by many veterinary and public health professionals. For more information on this movement, go to onehealthinitiative.com.

DEAR DR. FOX: My son has serious health problems, so I have had his 4-year-old rescue cat, Tippy, for two months. She never comes out of her room. She is terrified of anyone other than my son, and he had great difficulty getting her into a carrier to bring her to me.

She has a combination of dry, hard stools and soft, messy stools. Is there a medication that would calm her enough to help get her to a veterinarian?

I worry about what to do if I can't keep her. I wouldn't trust a so-called "no kill" facility, and it is very doubtful that my son would ever be able to take her back. -- C.K., St. Louis

DEAR C.K.: I am sorry to hear about your son and hope all turns out for the best for him. But good for you for taking in this rescued cat.

Feral cats, when not properly socialized earlier in life with humans, do come around eventually, but not in all instances. As you say, the cat eventually lost her fear of your son but is now afraid of you.

My wife and I are dealing with a similar situation with the latest feral cat we have rescued and brought into our home. She is fearful of me because I was the one who caught her outdoors this cold winter. (She was released by the Animal Humane Society to fend for herself.) These survival instincts of self-protection, fear-avoidance and predatory behavior will take time to subdue; the best you can do is give her a quiet place to make her refuge. Keep the litter box close and feed her four small meals of moist, grain-free canned cat food like Halo or Wellness. Call her name repeatedly before setting the food down where she can see it from her safe place.

Our rescued cat does come when called for food and pirouettes in a solicitous display, but hisses when I try to touch her. Contact may take weeks. The rule with cats is to let them come to you. In the evenings, ours will play a little with a tuft of feathers tied to a string on a cane, which you may later want to try.

Accept that you have a reclusive, fearful little soul; it took six months for another one of our rescued cats to allow me to touch him, and when that happened, it was like a dam breaking. He became a devoted companion.

Take stool samples in to the vet to check for possible parasites. If medication is needed, hide it in food the cat really enjoys, such as canned sardines or meaty baby food.

Get a cat-carrying crate and put a soft towel inside it and another towel draped over it. Put the crate near where she likes to hide. She may come to see this as her "den," making it easier to get her to a veterinarian when the occasion arises -- especially if she goes inside to hide when she's afraid.

(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.)