DEAR DR. FOX: My cats have been scratching themselves continually for the last few weeks. I thought it was from fleas, so I purchased flea medication and applied it to their necks. It didn’t do anything for them. I bought flea and tick traps, but caught nothing.

I read your recent column about itchiness possibly being food-related, and I will try your recipe for a feeding alternative. They currently eat Fancy Feast canned, Meow Mix Tender Favorites, and Blue Buffalo Adult Salmon and Brown Rice.

I hope your recipe will help them. -- Diane S., Lake Worth Beach, Florida

DEAR D.S.: When two or more animals in the same household develop the same symptoms, you have a provisional diagnosis of a shared condition. The possibility of fleas should be determined using a flea comb: check the fur for flea poop, which looks like shiny black particles of coal dust. Put some of these particles on a wet piece of white paper, and if they make a reddish-brown stain, you have the answer: digested cat blood in the flea poop.

Too many people apply anti-flea pesticides to their cats and dogs as soon as they see them scratching. That can make the animals ill, or even kill them, and may not have been warranted in the first place. There are other reasons why animals start to scratch themselves and lick and groom excessively.

Any new floor and upholstery cleaners used in the household, or air fresheners/deodorizers, could trigger such behavior in your cats -- cats are highly chemical-sensitive. A new carpet can release irritating volatile chemicals; carpets have caused cats to begin to self-mutilate from excessive scratching and self-grooming.

You may be correct that both cats have a food allergy or intolerance. You need to be sure that the problem is not the fish or beef, especially, in the canned food you are feeding to them: Many cats are allergic to beef and do not like fish. Also, beware of the phrase “meat byproducts” on the label, as that can mean other animal protein from pigs and rendered remains of dead, diseased and dying animals were recycled into the cat food.

Try my home-prepared cat food diet or freeze-dried cat foods from The Honest Kitchen. Cats are generally finicky eaters, so it is important to transition them gradually onto a new diet.

I presume you are a responsible cat caregiver, and do not allow your cats to roam free outdoors, where they could pick up heaven-knows-what -- especially allergy-triggering pollens -- and suffer the consequences.

DEAR DR. FOX: Errors of fact abound in the letter from “R.Q., Tulsa” published in one of your recent columns.

Sadly, your reply was also riddled with counterfactual assertions. You missed a golden opportunity to reassure your readers with facts and give perspective on life with some common sense.

I recommend to you Hans Rosling’s book “Factfulness,” which documents, with government data, a steady improvement in the state of the world for the last 200 years. I also recommend Matt Ridley of The Rational Optimist, whose column “We’ve Just Had the Best Decade in Human History. Seriously” was just published on Dec. 21, 2019.

R.Q.’s despair about the “extinction crisis worldwide” is simply not in the real-world data. Estimates on the number of species worldwide range from 8 to 10 million, with thousands of new species discovered yearly. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has documented the extinction of about 560 species. Most of those actual extinctions were in the 16th through the 19th centuries, on islands newly visited by hungry sailors with dogs, carried by ships with rats.

This is not to say that overfishing is not a problem. It deserves attention and careful stewardship, but not despair.

Likewise with all the problems mentioned in R.Q.’s letter and your response: All of them deserve care and attention. None of them warrant panic and despair.

Rosling’s excellent book documents the phenomenal improvements in air quality over the last 200 years. I can testify to that myself. The pea-soup fogs (actually coal-smoke smog) of London, the foul air of the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia, the biting industrial atmosphere I knew in St. Louis in the 1960s -- all gone. The snow in Pittsburgh is white in winter, not black with cinders, as it was in the 1940s. Likewise, the nation has the cleanest water since the Industrial Revolution. Water-borne diseases such as typhus, cholera, etc. are horror stories from the past, not present threats. And to describe the minor policy tweaks of the present political administration to reduce the EPA’s overreach as “gutting the Environmental Protection Agency” is counterfactual hyperbole.

You close by advocating “principles of planetary and cultural CPR.” CPR is given to people in cardiac arrest who are about to die. The planet is not about to die. To perform CPR on a patient who is not in cardiac arrest is medical malpractice. To advocate “planetary CPR” on a beautiful world as healthy as ours is shameful panic-mongering. -- D.R.McI., Tulsa, Oklahoma

DEAR D.R.McI.: I had to shorten your communication for the column.

Unfortunately, my own knowledge base, drawn from reading the scientific literature in several areas -- from biophysics and biodiversity to evaluations of the release of pesticides, GMOs, industrial pollutants, plastics and, more recently, electropollution -- does not make me feel as good as you do about the rapidly deteriorating state of planet Earth.

To respond to two of your points:

The snow in Pittsburgh may be white now, but now -- as recently discovered as far away as the Arctic -- snow contains microplastics. As for the “pea-soup fogs of London,” which I experienced as a student: London and other cities now have lung-damaging microparticulate matter in the air and increasing intensities of electro-smog, which will intensify with 5G telecommunications, Amazon’s drone deliveries, self-driving “smart cars” and public surveillance systems.

I am neither a “rational optimist” nor a pessimist, but a realist -- yes, an apocalyptarian, if you wish! Nowhere in your deliberated communication, which I appreciate, did you mention the core issue of human overpopulation and, where there is more income, overconsumption. My often-used term “planetary and cultural CPR” refers to Conservation, Protection and Restoration: actions long overdue to save biological and cultural diversity in this beautiful world.

(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 DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: About 2 1/2 years ago, I lost my beloved cat; he was 18 years old.

The house seemed so empty and quiet, so I thought I would go out and adopt two cats (littermates). I found a foster-cat agency, looked on their website and it was love at first sight: There were two cats, a black-and-white tabby and an orange-and-white tabby, brother and sister, 6 months old.

We had a home visit from the agency, and after we were approved, we went to the foster mom’s house. I brought a carrier with me, and told her that I was interested in both cats.

When the time came to put them in the carrier, the foster mom got a blanket, cornered them and wrapped them in it, then transported them into the carrier. At first, I thought nothing about this behavior. But I realized when I brought them home that we could not touch them.

I thought maybe it was fear of the new surroundings, but this has gone on for over a year. I worked with the two cats diligently, and now I can pet them briefly, but as soon as they see my hand come near their faces, they run. I think they were abused and no one said anything to me.

I would never give these two up for any reason. My question is: What can I do to pick these cats up and hold them -- in other words, get them to trust me? Is there anything I can do to correct this problem, or is it something that I have to accept?

My fear is that I will have to take them to the vet for a checkup and I won’t be able to get them in the carrier. I don’t want to do what the foster mom did with the blanket, in case that would make them afraid of going to the vet.

Another thing that I fear is that I won’t be able to pick up the cats in case we have to evacuate the house for any reason. Recently, every smoke alarm in the house went off due to a malfunction. I called the fire department and they told us to get out of the house ASAP, so I had to leave the cats in the house, which bothered me tremendously. Thank God it turned out OK.

This has been bothering me since Day 1. Why was I never told that these cats would not let us pick them up and hold them? Is there anything I can do? -- L.S., Manchester, New Jersey

DEAR L.S.: My guess is that the kittens were never properly socialized to people.

You cannot force yourself on a cat. The cat must come to you. Our latest rescued cat, who has been with us for a year now, does not like to be picked up. Many cats are like that. Most like to be stroked, and I can now stroke her briefly, either when she is eating or occasionally when she is in bed -- that would be my chance to pick her up and put her in a crate in an emergency.

Try just touching your cats when you put their food down. This may help desensitize them with the conditioned reward of food, or some yummy favorite treat. Our cat enjoys chasing a bunch of feathers tied to a 4-foot cane, with which I can gently pat her. I put this wand under a sheet of newspaper and move it around underneath and she goes wild, leaping and “killing” it. Your cats may enjoy chasing a laser light, too.

Cat play in the evening has a bonding function. Also, try them on catnip. Some cats get quite “high” and become very contact-seeking!

KIDS WITH DOGS MIGHT HAVE LOWER RISK OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

Children younger than 13 who have a dog in the home might be less likely than their peers who don’t have a dog to develop schizophrenia, particularly if exposure to a dog occurs before age 3, researchers reported in PLOS One.

The researchers say more studies are needed to verify the finding, but the phenomenon could be explained by immune system changes that occur with childhood exposure to pets, although the effect was not observed with bipolar disorder risk. (Dec. 19)

(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 DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: The predicted extinction crisis is now being confirmed by scientists around the world. There are documented precipitous declines in the numbers and known species of insects, amphibians, reptiles, fish and birds in more “dead spots” around the world, while biodiversity hot spots, notably America’s national parks, are threatened by invasive species.

President Trump seeking to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement is a step back from what is needed at this time in our biological history. The establishment of a United Environmental Nations is called for: a collaborative organization that can resist being paralyzed by party politics; subverted by the corrupting forces of fear, greed, ignorance and denial; and not be divided by wars over natural resources or overwhelmed by the heartbreaking burden of political, economic and environmental refugees.

As a veterinarian and biologist, I see the current politicization of environmental and animal protection issues, and the denial of climate change, as protecting vested interests that have no place in a democracy -- or in any society concerned with the long-term health and quality of life for all. Socialism and capitalism make poor bedfellows, but the challenge of democracy is to live with both to help ensure the common good. Our capacity to become fully human is limited when respect for all life is lacking, and when compassion is just a noun and not a word of action and virtue.

INVASIVE SPECIES IN NATIONAL PARKS

Rats, feral hogs and other non-native animals are making themselves at home in America’s national parks, to the detriment of native wildlife and plants, according to research published in the journal Biological Invasions.

The report’s authors call for a coordinated, system-wide approach to managing invasive species; the approach would include visitors, park neighbors, National Park Service leaders and everyone in between. (CNN, Dec. 4)

DEAR DR. FOX: I know an elderly lady with a huge feral cat problem and, sadly, no way or means to control it.

I’ve just heard about a cat birth control product -- a powder to put in their food -- called FeralStat, which contains Nonovulin (megestrol acetate) and lactose. It is a synthetic progestin and approved by the FDA. Is it available through veterinarians? It appears the developer has passed away, and I have been unable to find any current information on the product.

I hope you can help locate availability of this, as it could end the overpopulation of cats that cannot be caught, and stop the disease, starvation and death of the poor creatures. -- M.A.W., Medford, Oregon

DEAR M.A.W.: I appreciate your concern. Indeed, there are countless numbers of people who put food out for cats which then, if not neutered, multiply -- creating a big problem for neighbors, wildlife and the cats and kittens themselves, who may be in need of veterinary care and are too fearful to be caught for treatment.

Such misguided altruism can go one step further into the psycho-pathology of animal hoarding when people lure cats into their homes, where they continue to multiply until local health authorities, police and animal protection agents intervene.

The product you describe, megestrol acetate, could be supplied by a veterinarian, but my concerns are many. First, getting the right oral dose for each female cat would call for separate feeding stations and careful monitoring. Another concern is that the cats are still out there, probably killing wildlife, even if they are well fed and the females are on this medicine and not reproducing. Cats are super-predators and can live for several years, their impact on local wildlife often being devastating.

For details on this hormone treatment, which I would only endorse as a last resort in low- to zero-wildlife areas -- such as some urban housing, warehouses and developing communities -- visit birthcontrolforcats.com.

At this very moment of writing to you, on the winter solstice, we have yet another stray cat on our deck: a very large and handsome black “panther,” who has set off alarm calls by the squirrels. He is taking a nap, eyeing our dog and rescued cat Fanny through the sliding glass door after consuming a lot of food we just put out for him.

Our next step with him, as with nearly a dozen other cats, will be to catch him and take him to the local veterinary hospital to be tested for feline immunodeficiency disease and feline viral leukemia. If he tests negative, he will be neutered, dewormed, checked for fleas and given anti-rabies vaccinations. Then we will put him in a large cage in our living area with a bed, litter box, food and water; with time, he will most likely become another very affectionate and adoptable in-home companion.

It is amazing how all of the cats we have rescued, and whom animal shelter “experts” would deem feral and unadoptable, can be “reprogrammed” to enjoy life indoors, with some being more amenable to being picked up than others. Not all are “cuddle-pusses,” but none have ever tried to get back outdoors to roam and hunt once they feel secure and are well fed under our roof!

(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 DrFoxOneHealth.com.)