DEAR DR. FOX: My cat passed away a few weeks ago. She had been drinking lots of water, and the vet wanted us to measure how much, but I found that difficult and didn’t follow through. Everything else seemed OK, except she would occasionally vomit if she ate too fast.

She ate canned cat food, mostly the fish kinds, though she would usually just eat the gravy and very little fish. I was wasting a lot of food. I would rotate between the turkey and salmon varieties of the more expensive brands, plus smaller cans of different kind of grilled fish with gravy.

One day, I accidentally picked up several cans of the beef kind. I had never tried her on beef, but I gave her a small amount of it. I figured she could handle a little bit. She loved it and ate it, gravy and all, immediately. I was so happy to see her enjoy her food and eat the whole thing that I let her eat the rest of the small can without any gradual transition from the fish. A couple of days later, in the middle of the night, she became very ill. My husband took her to the emergency vet hospital, but she died on the way.

My question is: Did I kill my cat by feeding her beef without slowly transitioning from fish? And do you think feeding her mostly fish could have raised her mercury levels too high?

I am so sorry I didn’t do a better job of taking care of her. I have only been a cat parent when they choose me, and several have. Now I am living with regret, and am asking you to please help me understand what might have happened. We didn’t do an autopsy, so there is no way to know for sure. -- C.T., Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

DEAR C.T.: I am so sorry about the loss of your cat. She most likely had chronic kidney disease, which is why she was drinking so much water, possibly complicated by diabetes.

Regarding her diet: Many cats do not like fish, and tuna should be avoided since it is high in brain- and kidney-damaging mercury. I doubt this was an acute allergic reaction to beef. Most likely, her kidneys could not handle the high protein load from the beef she ate, which lead to uremic poisoning. It is unfortunate that the veterinarian did not test your cat’s kidney function early on, and put her on a special renal diet to avoid this health crisis.

Do not blame yourself. You did your best for your beloved feline companion.

DEAR DR. FOX: Scott Loss and I mentioned you in our article in Tulsa Pets Magazine, which refuted a prior article that had supported TNR (trap, neuter, release). I wanted to share the article with you: 4legspublishing.com/magazines/TulsaPets-Magazine-March-2021/14/

Thanks for all your continued great work on behalf of animal welfare! How is the cat sanctuary project going? -- P.G., Tulsa, Oklahoma

DEAR P.G.: You wrote an excellent article in this very beautiful and informative publication. I wish every large city could have such publications to educate residents about dogs, cats, wildlife and “pest” issues.

I will send your letter on to Julie Marvets, who is building a larger cat sanctuary in Minnesota (furballfarmpetsanctuary.com), effectively re-homing over 80% of cats that had been released by TNR-practicing animal shelters. I am also sending it to local leaders in the TRE movement -- trap, neuter, enclose -- which works in opposition to the annual release of some 1,000 cats by shelters and animal societies here in our area of Minnesota.

(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: Making America “green,” with clean air, clean water and safe, nutritious food for all, calls for government administrations that do not roll back protective rules and regulations, allowing industries to pollute our environment and harm our health. There is no lack of evidence of linkages between environmental pollutants and a host of diseases. All should determine if their worldview and actions cause more harm than good beyond the narrow circle of their vested interests and investors.

America can be great again, but not until individual liberties are coupled with individual and corporate responsibility for environmental protection, conservation, restoration, animal rights and related public health. We especially need to make international trade “green.” America should not, for instance, be importing beef from Brazil if that country is destroying the Amazon forest to raise cattle and livestock feed.

Here are some critical issues that call for international collaboration to arrest climate change and loss of biodiversity, which imperil our own future and quality of life on Earth.

-- Our forests are the main “carbon sinks” that absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and give off life-sustaining oxygen. Warming temperatures are fueling the expansion of pine and spruce beetle outbreaks across North America, Europe and Siberia, ravaging tens of thousands of square miles of woodlands. Scientists warn that some forest ecosystems may never recover.

-- Because pesticides leach into groundwater and eventually into lakes and rivers, and are also lifted into the air in dust particles, they tend to spread to remote regions. This is why neonicotinoids -- banned in Europe, and implicated in causing birth defects in deer, birds and other animals -- have been found in deer throughout Minnesota and other states. These pesticides are used on commodity crops like corn and soybeans for animal feed and for export, and are responsible for the poisoning and decline of some birds and other insectivores, as well as many beneficial insects -- including pollinators. Insects most likely to survive are those whose larvae are protected inside the trees: the bark beetles. Millions of acres of dead and dying forests mean more devastating forest fires and more air pollution.

-- Particulate air pollution comes, especially, from the burning of fossil fuels. According to the EPA, this pollution causes early death (from both short-term and long-term exposure); cardiovascular harm (heart attacks, strokes, heart disease, congestive heart failure); respiratory harm (worsened asthma, worsened COPD, inflammation); may cause cancer and reproductive and developmental harm; and cause inflammatory and degenerative changes in brain, pancreatic and other organ functions.

-- Polluted cities mean less sunlight and solar-sourced vitamin D for inhabitants, which can increase their susceptibility to infection. So-called philanthropist Bill Gates is promoting another global “solution” that may cause far more harm than good by blocking UV light: He is now funding research proposing millions of tons of chalk dust be spread in the upper atmosphere to shade the Earth from the sun.

-- Exposure to DNA-damaging and immunosuppressing electropollution by telecommunication and other devices emitting nonionizing radiation and electromagnetic fields of varying intensity put people at risk where they live and work. 5G is of particular concern -- it is close to microwave cooking energy and is documented to kill insects.

-- The COVID-19 pandemic pales before the enormity of the issue of plastic pollution. Plastics are burned in many countries, releasing cancer- and birth defect-causing, lung- and brain-damaging dioxins and other chemicals into the air that eventually settle on the crops we eat and the waters we drink. Plastics in our oceans break down into microparticles, and are in the fish we eat, the water we drink and air we breathe, along with toxic chemicals that adhere to these microparticles.

Scientists have linked ocean microplastics with declines in ocean phytoplankton, which are a major source of atmospheric oxygen and a “sink” for absorbing carbon dioxide -- ecological services similar to what our declining forests provide for all life on planet Earth. Phytoplankton -- along with zooplankton, which are also harmed by microplastics -- are the foundation of the marine food chain, the other end of which is threatened by overfishing. A huge amount of carbon stored at the bottom of the ocean is released every year as massive fishing nets are dragged along the sea bed, whirling up marine sediment. Scientists estimate that carbon dioxide emissions from bottom-trawling amounts to 1 billion tons per year, on average -- exceeding carbon emissions from global air travel.

The COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic socioeconomic recovery should not distract us from the urgency of addressing the above interconnected issues in order to secure some quality of life for whatever generations are to inherit this Earth.

(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: Millennia before the advent of Christianity, Easter began as a pagan festival to celebrate the advent of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Like Christmas, Easter has now been commercialized and degraded.

Millions of hatchling chicks and ducklings, along with crates of baby rabbits, are shipped around the U.S. as Easter presents for children. Those few animals who survive are often put up for adoption shortly after the holiday. Children are at risk for infections acquired from these Easter presents, especially salmonellosis, and some are hospitalized with such infections. The U.S. government should prohibit this seasonal market in animal suffering and public health risk.

A more empathy-driven Easter would help the Greening of America. It could be a time to plant more trees and to turn our chemical lawns and bug-free flower gardens into buzzing, singing sanctuaries for harmless, beneficial and increasingly displaced indigenous plants and animals.

Easter, for me, is celebrating the return of spring -- first in the wood mosses greening through the melting snow of Minnesota. We have a cottontail rabbit family living in our former front lawn -- now a rewilded plot -- and the toads will soon be singing again. It is a time for community and ecology recovery and renewal.

DEAR DR. FOX: I run a holistic cat grooming business in the U.K. I groom cats in the comfort of their own homes, as I believe this is best for their mental well-being and reduces stress during the process.

I am currently reading your book “The Healing Touch for Cats,” which I am thoroughly enjoying. I’ve believed for many years that massage can benefit our feline friends hugely. I massage my own cats: One in particular absolutely loves it, and it’s helping her recover from emotional trauma.

I’m wanting to incorporate some massage techniques into my grooming work to make the groom as enjoyable and beneficial as possible, and I would love to teach my clients some tips so that they can help their own cats. I am qualified in basic massage techniques and have a good understanding of feline anatomy.

I notice the world is full of training courses for canine massage techniques, but there is little info on feline massage work. There’s probably a lot of people out there who wouldn’t even think massage would be something a cat could enjoy.

I’d be very grateful for your thoughts on this matter. -- E.C., Skipton, Yorkshire, U.K.

DEAR E.C.: I have found over the years that some cats become addicted to receiving slow, deep massages on a daily basis, while others prefer a gentle, less invasive touch. Cats are rather like people in these varied preferences. In many instances, cats come to accept deeper muscle and abdominal massage after first getting used to more superficial massages.

It is always good to make a few strokes initially, then pause and breathe slowly in harmony with the cat. The cat may then stretch and readjust, or start to knead with the front paws -- a real sign of relaxation and reversion to kittenish self-comforting behavior -- and even roll over and allow abdominal and paw massage.

Some cats have certain body areas they do not like to be touched, often around the base of the tail or the tummy. This may change when the cat becomes more trusting of the process. Some cats, whether because of temperament, prior trauma or underlying medical conditions (such as hyperthyroidism), may never accept being stroked for more than a few seconds, if that. Massage therapy may remain out of the question for such cats.

Studies have shown that massage can improve humans’ immune systems and help in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. By logical extension, my massage routine for cats will help the many suffering from often-undiagnosed arthritis, poor circulation, obesity and depression.

I urge you to incorporate into your grooming business some tips from my “Healing Touch for Cats” book, which has improved the lives of countless felines and their humans over the years. Many owners should be amenable to learning by observation as you show them how much pressure to apply.

Do take extra precautions during this COVID-19 pandemic -- and even when it is over -- because cats can be infected by people with the coronavirus. It may be only a matter of time before a mutant strain from cats infects people, as has happened on mink fur farms.

(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.)