DEAR DR. FOX: I live in a senior community where TNR (trap-neuter-release) is practiced. The cats feed in our dump, and some residents also choose to feed them. The house next door to me is unoccupied at this time. Several cats reside under the house, where they come and go at will.

They use the garden alongside my home as their personal space, urinating and pooping. I never realized this until my husband brought it to my attention while I was pulling weeds. His concern was COVID: We had just read your article stating that TNR programs by animal shelters should be curtailed during this pandemic.

I brought this cat issue to our community’s general manager and to the board. The GM said he contacted some health agency, and was told this should not be a concern. Please inform me of any information you have regarding this issue. -- L.S., Cape Coral, Florida

DEAR L.S.: You are referring to my warning about keeping cats indoors, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is crucial because they can get the viral infection from humans, and then possibly carry it outdoors and infect other cats and susceptible wildlife. This precautionary measure is one of many reasons cats should never be allowed to roam free.

Cat feces can contain pathogens transmissible to humans and other species, wild and domesticated, be they around farms or in rural, suburban or urban communities. There are several diseases that can be passed to humans from cat feces, detailed by Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine -- notably salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis, and diseases caused by hookworms and other parasites called Toxocara.

As yet, no cat with COVID-19 has been reported to have infected people. However, a mutated strain in mink, contracted from infected workers in fur farms, has infected people. Thousands of mink routinely escape from these fur farms, and virologists are concerned that infected mink could pass the virus on to other wildlife. It is also notable that cats can get some strains of the influenza virus from people, and in turn, pass the infection on to other people.

So I am simply calling for the commonsense application of the precautionary principle: Keep owned cats indoors. Those living outdoors should be trapped, neutered, enclosed and either rehomed or placed in sanctuaries. Wear gloves while gardening and wash your hands afterward, as well as after cleaning litter boxes for indoor cats.

I hope this clears up any confusion for you and others during this time of disinformation and of the harmful politicization of preventive public health measures.

DEAR DR. FOX: Can we catch poison ivy from the fur of our cats and dogs? -- H.A.R., Palm Beach, Florida

DEAR H.A.R.: Yes, the oils from poison ivy can indeed be transferred from our pets to our skin. Several years ago, my son got poison ivy after playing with our malamute mix, who had been out running with us earlier in the woods.

My basic advice for all dog owners is to keep them on the trails when outdoors, and away from vegetation where they can pick up not only poison ivy oils, but also a much worse threat to public health: ticks. Especially worrisome is the rapidly spreading Lone Star tick, which can transmit Lyme and other diseases to humans, dogs and other animals.

Always check your animals with a flea comb and look between their toes and ears after an outdoor venture where there is natural vegetation and known tick infestation.

(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 tiny saw-whet owl who was caught in the 75-foot Norway spruce now standing (and dying) in New York City’s Rockefeller Center has been rehabilitated from her terrifying ordeal and released back into the wild. She serves as a message to us all to reflect on her plight, and on why we kill trees to celebrate Christmas.

Climate change, disease and invasive insects have now destroyed more than half the white-bark pines -- trees that can live for a thousand years -- in the highlands of the Northwest. In light of this, and of the broader climate and extinction crises we now face, it may be more ecologically prudent and appropriate for all Christians to buy a live tree at Christmas, then later plant and decorate it at Easter.

For many, the real celebration is the winter solstice: the shortest day of the year and the longest night before the return of the sun, which some see as the god of life and light. Christmas celebrations should not include the sacrifice of trees, but rather the generosity of a truly Christian spirit through ahimsa: avoiding causing harm to any living being and helping those in need. This “agape” faith can connect everyone with the living world and the miracles of creation.

The Christmases that I can remember from 80 years ago were not commercialized to any significant degree. Today, with night-blinding, energy-wasting electric Christmas lights now covering many homes across America, and gifts wrapped in nonrecyclable plastics, I wonder if we will ever reconnect spiritually and recover the meaning and sanctity of life.

DEAR DR. FOX: After reading your latest article you are obviously just another anti-Trump eliteist (sic). You should stick to animals although I wonder about your expertise in that field. -- P.G., Manahawkin, New Jersey

DEAR DR. FOX: In your recent column, you said some are complaining because you are too political. I feel just the opposite. We don’t have house pets (or any animals), so I never read you until I noticed your ecological messages. Thank you and keep up the good work. -- D.R., Springfield, Missouri

DEAR P.G. AND D.R.: You and other readers of my column affirm how divided Americans are: some praising me for raising concerns about animal health, welfare and conservation -- and proposing some solutions -- while others lambaste me as an “anti-Trumper,” a liberal socialist and even a communist.

There is so much information surfacing now that scientists are investigating the interfaces among humans, nonhumans and the environment from the “One Health” perspective. The problem lies in translating this science-based data into effective public and political action when there is so much denial and anti-science sentiment.

This is nothing new to me. Back in the 1980s, after the Smithsonian magazine did a profile of my work investigating factory farms and feedlots, generating a lot of media attention, I was informed that a Texas state senator said that to get such publicity, I must have been supported by a foreign communist cell working to overthrow American agriculture.

Disinformation is all too commonplace today. The politicization of issues is one effective way to protect the economic status quo of vested interests, avoid responsibility and delay corrective action. For instance, the politicization of wearing masks to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 -- with millions asserting that enforcement would violate their personal freedoms -- illustrates the absurdity of a society where reason, common sense, empathy and personal responsibility are withering on the vine.

(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: We may have learned something about karma and the laws of consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic. We should not forget that the virus responsible for this global calamity came from animals as a result of human exploitation.

International trade in animals -- wild and domesticated, dead and alive -- for human consumption should be curtailed as a public health service, as well as for national security and animal health and welfare. Farmed animal production and trade within nations should be tempered to help reduce this major industry’s contribution to the climate and extinction crises and the decline in public health. This industry also plays a role in rural poverty, as small, sustainable producers are marginalized and veterinary services primarily directed to large commercial operations.

A team of Vietnamese scientists, along with Amanda Fine and Sarah Olson of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, tested field rats harvested for human consumption for coronavirus at different points along the wildlife supply chain in Vietnam. They found that the infection rates increased markedly as the rats went down the chain: 20.7% of rats handled by wildlife traders tested positive compared to 32% of rats in marketplaces and 55.6% of rats in restaurants. The team also found that about 75% of bats on guano farms (constructed roosts where people collect and sell bat droppings for fertilizer) were infected with coronavirus -- more than 10 times the infection rate (6.7%) in naturally roosting bats. (Full story: “Coronavirus testing indicates transmission risk increases along wildlife supply chains for human consumption in Vietnam,” PLOS ONE)

According to a Nov. 27 article in The Guardian (London), a few thousand mink escape Denmark’s fur farms every year -- and it’s possible some carrying SARS-CoV-2 are now in the wild, says Sten Mortensen, veterinary research manager at Denmark’s Veterinary and Food Administration. Mink are solitary animals, but an infected mink could transmit the virus to ferrets, raccoon dogs (an invasive species related to foxes) and possibly domestic cats.

All who live or work with animals, or come close to them in any way, must now practice preventive measures. Many mammalian species could be infected by humans and become a source of human reinfection.

DEAR DR. FOX: I just read your column entitled “Animal Spirits and Alternative Realities.” The letter from T.G. in San Diego describes the very same experience I had after the death of my 16-year-old cat, Rocco.

I never told anyone about it for fear people would think I was crazy or dreaming at the time. I was awake, but kept my eyes closed during Rocco’s “visitation” because I was afraid he would vanish if I opened my eyes. The experience gave me comfort in a time of deep grieving.

Since T.G. had never owned a cat, I am curious about the retirement community he moved into three years ago. I’m specifically wondering about the previous owner of the condo: Did that person have a much-loved cat who is attached to the place? I have lived with cats and dogs since I was 4 years old, and I feel cats are more attached to places than to people -- the opposite of dogs. -- C.F., Mishawaka, Indiana

DEAR C.F.: I appreciate you sharing your experience with your deceased cat. Many people having after-life experiences with their animal companions share your feeling of being comforted by such visitations, especially during the grieving period.

With T.G.’s experience, there was probably a cat living in the place sometime prior to his occupancy. Another couple has told me that they had frequent visitations, feeling a cat jump on their bed at night, before coming to learn that the prior owners of their home did indeed have a cat.

As a rational person with the skeptical objectivity of a scientist, I am drawn to the metaphysics of these existential phenomena. Many people have also reported their surviving pets’ reactions and responses to visitations from recently deceased pets, as documented in two of my books: “Cat Body, Cat Mind” and “Dog Body, Dog Mind.”

HOOKWORMS PREVALENT IN PETS THROUGHOUT U.S.

In July, the Companion Animal Parasite Council reported continued increases in the presence of hookworms, with the highest monthly increases in canine or feline hookworm infections occurring in Georgia, South Dakota and California.

“This demonstrates how vital it is for dogs and cats to be protected against hookworm parasites with broad-spectrum, year-round preventatives and, at a minimum, biannual testing,” said veterinarian Craig Prior, a CAPC board member. “By protecting your pet, you are protecting other pets, your family, other families and your entire community.” (Full story: Veterinary Practice News, Aug. 18)

An evaluation of dog parasites in parks across the country has confirmed the need to have dogs’ stool samples routinely tested as part of at least one wellness examination every year. Ideally, this would be done twice yearly.

(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.)