DEAR DR. FOX: Many thanks for your recent column addressing how cruel TNR is, and offering alternative solutions, which city councilors are always wanting to hear. I forwarded the article to the Animal Welfare Commission of Tulsa, which will soon be providing a recommendation about the TNR issue to the city council. I also copied all of the city council members.

Many thanks again for this timely article and for all your fabulous advocacy -- sorely needed! -- P.G., Tulsa, Oklahoma

DEAR P.G.: I hope more people who really care for cats will step up to the plate and get their city councils to prohibit such activities in their communities, especially where wildlife is at risk from free-roaming cats. TNR (trap, neuter, release) is well-intended, but ethically questionable and scientifically (biologically and ecologically) unacceptable.

Cats are super-predators, and while predation -- one animal killing another for food -- is a natural biological activity and the ecological role of indigenous predators, the domestic cat is an invasive species. Like other invasive species, animal and plant, cats need to be controlled to help protect and restore regional biodiversity, improve ecosystems and maintain public health.

Do keep me posted as to your progress, and I hope other people who share our concerns will support you in Tulsa and other municipalities. Those wanting more information can reach me via my newspaper column or visit my website for science- and experience-based articles concerning cats and their proper care.

MOST UK CAT OWNERS DON’T MIND WILDLIFE ‘GIFTS’

Cat owners’ attitudes about their pets’ hunting behavior fall into one of five categories, ranging from concern to tolerance to indifference, according to a recent study. Most cat owners in the U.K. allow their cats to go outdoors, and oppose the idea of keeping them indoors to protect wildlife, says lead author Sarah Crowley. (Full story: HealthDay News, 9/7)

This culturally embedded practice and attitude is not confronted fairly or fully by the British Veterinary Association, of which I am a member. That group’s current president has stated that some cats with certain medical conditions should be allowed out, while the rest be kept in as a precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic. My recent letter to the BVA Veterinary Record journal, which pointed out various remedies for the conditions she identified, was never published.

DEAR DR. FOX: I have been reading your animal columns for over 30 years, and sometimes send them to my children and friends with animals. The advice you have given has helped so many animals over the years, along with educating us about them and the environment. Keep it up. What keeps you going, and when did you start your animal advocacy? -- R.E., Washington, D.C.

DEAR R.E.: What keeps me going is my love and concern for animals wild and domesticated, and the natural environment we seem incapable of sharing. I am also driven by the mistreatment of both. Animals are not our inferiors. To anyone who claims that their god says animals and nature were created for human use, I say, to hell with that!

What started me were several experiences during my formative years, detailed in my autobiographical essay “My Life for the Animals” (posted on my website, drfoxonehealth.com). One defining moment was during World War II in England, seeing two trash cans brimming over with euthanized cats and dogs, including puppies and kittens, behind a veterinary hospital. (Curiosity on my walk home from grade school had made me take a look, after the loud buzzing of flies on a hot afternoon caught my attention.)

The memory is as clear as it was that day -- a sad reality of the war, when people could not afford to care for their animals. Food was in short supply and rationed, spay/neuter programs were nonexistent, and nobody wanted to adopt a puppy or kitten. But my mother helped me rescue any animal in need while my father was in southeast Asia with the Royal Air Force. We shared our food, saving crumbs and leftovers for the birds -- and for a wild hedgehog who came by many mornings to enjoy the fresh cow’s milk from the local farm, which I hated to drink!

(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: Recent studies have furthered our knowledge on the connections between children’s allergies and pets. Some recent highlights:

One-third of infants living in a home with a furry pet (dog, cat or rabbit) had animal-specific bacteria in their fecal samples, compared to 14% of those living in a pet-free home. At 6 months old, none of the infants that had animal-specific bacteria in their fecal samples tested positive for allergies.

Exposure to animal-specific microbes has beneficial effects, including potentially strengthening infants’ immune systems. A 2017 study from the University of Alberta found a lower incidence of obesity, as well as allergies and asthma, in children born into families with animals.

Some of these findings have been helpfully summarized by veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker at healthypets.mercola.com.

In my opinion, the developing immune system “interrogates” viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms that enter our bodies, and is coupled with the microbiome in our guts. The more diverse the microbial population, the better the immune system is “educated” to function against allergens and potentially harmful microorganisms. Otherwise it may overreact, creating what is termed a “cytokine storm” -- common in children and seemingly healthy young adults -- which can make a mild influenza infection fatal, or nearly so.

In addition, children who live with animals have been shown to have improved intellectual and social development. Many children are growing up with a lack of exposure to a diversity of microbial life, thanks to our sanitized environments and lack of contact with the outdoors and other animals. Sanitizing surfaces may therefore do more harm than good.

DEAR DR. FOX: My 10-year-old cockapoo, Daisy, has warts all over her body, ranging from small to large. What can we do for her? -- G.B.D., Boca Raton, Florida

DEAR G.B.D.: Warts are caused by a papilloma virus (one not transmissible to humans) invading the dog’s skin. They are common in puppies and in older dogs, some breeds more than others. To be on the safe side, a veterinary visit is in order, since your diagnosis of warts could be wrong: Dogs like yours are prone to developing benign sebaceous tumors of the skin glands and hair follicles, which call for different treatment protocols.

Assuming they are warts, these can often be removed -- provided they are not near the eyes, and the dog cannot lick or scratch them -- with human anti-wart treatments such as silver nitrate or salicylic acid. Some people report that “painting” the warts daily with apple cider vinegar, or with two drops of essential oil of thyme or frankincense mixed into a half-teaspoon of olive oil, removes them. These treatments kill the papilloma viruses in the growths.

Discuss all of this with your veterinarian, but be on the alert: I know of one reader who was charged over $1,000 to have a few small warts removed from her schnauzer. A general anesthetic, extensive blood tests, etc., are not called for unless the warts are large, ulcerating and/or bleeding, or if the dog cannot seem to stop scratching them. Growths around the eyes and eyelids are dangerous, as well. In these cases, surgery might be called for.

After treatment, your dog may need to wear an “Elizabethan collar”/”neck lampshade” to stop her from licking and scratching the treated areas.

I would boost her immune system and skin condition with a few drops of fish oil in her food daily, or a canned sardine and one-half of a crushed-up human daily multivitamin tablet.

Funny story: When I was a child, I had a wart on the end of my nose to which, under a doctor’s advice, silver nitrate was applied. This just turned the wart black and did not remove it, so it looked like I had snot on my nose at school! Shortly thereafter, the man who delivered our morning milk (from his own cows) gave my mother a horse hair to tie around my wart. All that weekend, I walked around with a whisker on the end of my nose, which my mother kept tightening. Come Monday, the wart had fallen off and I could go back to school without being teased!

SUNSHINE MILLS RECALLS DOG FOOD DUE TO AFLATOXIN

Sunshine Mills recalled three varieties of dog food due to high levels of aflatoxin, a naturally occurring byproduct of mold that can cause lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea and jaundice if ingested. No cases of illness linked to the food have been reported, and dogs that show signs of exposure should be seen by a veterinarian, the FDA says. (Full story: CNN, 9/5)

This and other toxic molds are a problem exacerbated, in part, by climate change. Increased rainfall and humidity around harvest time leads to greater costs to effectively dry high-moisture-content grains before storage. Most are genetically engineered, which has been shown to increase crop vulnerability to such harmful organisms.

(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: I have a friend who has many feral cats in his backyard. A previous neighbor (who has since moved away) used to feed these cats, leaving a problem for my friend. Being a good Christian, he just couldn’t cut off their food source. You can imagine the major problem he now has. Is there any agency or organization that handles these kinds of problems? -- J.H., Matawan, N.J.

DEAR J.H.: Yes, being a “good Christian” -- or good Samaritan, or whatever you want to call acts of compassion -- can indeed have adverse, unintended consequences. Sometimes we do more harm than good, which supports the truism that “no good deed goes unpunished.” Yet it is also true that “evil flourishes where good people do nothing.”

As I learned helping my wife at her animal refuge in India, one can become a “captive” of one’s compassion, and we must be courageous and prepared to accept the burden of having to euthanize healthy animals that have no place to go when the ark is full. Deanna reduced that burden by neutering and vaccinating all the dogs in surrounding villages and tribal settlements.

Now, those dogs were not wildlife predators, and were either indifferent or protective around chickens, calves, lambs and baby goats. But cats everywhere are predators, so neutering them to stop them from multiplying is only a partial solution. Your friend who inherited a feral cat problem on his property could enlist the help of a local humane society and the municipal public health authority.

Each cat will have to be trapped, if not amenable to being picked up and put in a carrier. A local animal charity or fundraising drive could help defray the costs of the necessary veterinary services.

After that, some cats may not be adoptable after all, and would be euthanized. Perhaps your friend would consider setting up a large cat enclosure on his property, or at some other location, for these cats to live out their lives in security and comfort. For this, he could seek the support of other cat lovers in his community.

This is a problem in so many places. Now that we know cats can be infected with the COVID-19 virus (for which there is no vaccine yet), and with the plague and rabies (for which there are), public health authorities need heightened vigilance regarding free-roaming cats.

A VISIONARY STATEMENT AND APPEAL FROM TWO DOCTORS

The following is excerpted from “What the COVID-19 Crisis Is Telling Humanity,” by D.O. Wiebers and V.L. Feigin, which appeared this summer in the journal Neuroepidemiology.

“The time has come for us to rethink our relationship with all life on this planet -- other humans, nonhumans, and the Earth, a life form in itself. What is good for nonhumans and the Earth is virtually always in the best interests of humans, given the profound interconnectedness of all life. All that we do depends upon abundant plant and animal life, as well as clean air and water. Each of us can have a positive impact upon these fundamentals by demonstrating and inspiring an enhanced mindfulness, beginning most basically with what we eat and how all of our daily choices and actions may be affecting animals and natural habitats. Ultimately, the survival, not only of other life forms on this planet, but also of our own, will depend upon humanity’s ability to recognize the oneness of all that exists and the importance and deeper significance of compassion for all life.”

I would add that we urgently need much greater international collaboration and coordination to end this pandemic, and to establish policies and practices to prevent future pandemics. We need much more involvement of the veterinary profession, and of wildlife and conservation experts, in these processes.

(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.)