DEAR DR. FOX: I am thoroughly enjoying your column since its addition to my local paper. I have read your book "Dog Body, Dog Mind," and am currently reading "Mental Health and Well-Being in Animals," edited by Franklin D. McMillan, DVM. I am grateful for your encouragement of philosophies that respect all species and the environment.

My question pertains to a recent column about anal gland issues: You'd mentioned that for many dogs, exercise before eating was preferred to exercising after meals. I have always walked our dogs after meals, thinking that eating would stimulate bladder and bowel motility.

I am interested in your rationale for swapping the timing of these activities, since I'd like to adopt the practices that are the most beneficial to my pets. -- D.C., Erie, Pennsylvania

DEAR D.C.: I am so glad that you raised this question, which is important for several reasons: optimizing dogs' digestion, avoiding gastric torsion in some breeds, and also reducing constipation and anal gland problems.

My rule of thumb -- for healthy adult dogs who are fed a small meal in the morning and a larger meal around dinnertime -- is to give them a brief walk before breakfast to pee (the dog may or may not poop at this time). I then take my dog for a long walk after breakfast, when she poops the digested meal she had the night before.

Then before the evening meal, a long walk, jog, games or a visit to a dog park is called for; dogs are active scavenging and hunting before they eat. I take my dog for a final quick walk, usually just to pee, before bedtime.

Older dogs, who may be drinking more because of kidney and other health issues, and puppies eating several small meals a day obviously need to get out more frequently to evacuate. The best times are 1. as soon as they wake up from a nap and 2. soon after they have eaten.

People who are incapacitated and cannot get out should hire a dog-walker or find a volunteer.

I hope this makes things clear for you, and am so glad that you are enjoying diving into understanding animals' mental health: a long-neglected topic reflective of our anthropocentrism and denial of other animals having emotions and cognitive awareness.

DEAR DR. FOX: I have a question regarding the Waggie collar for dogs: Is it safe to use on puppies? Would you use it on your own dogs? I also want to get your opinion on the PetHonesty Flea and Tick Defense chews for dogs. Seems like they have some good stuff in them.

Any information would help, as it is scary to navigate all the pet products out there. -- D.M., Trenton, New Jersey

DEAR D.M.: I have looked at the website for the Waggie collar product, and in my opinion, it is probably one of the safer insect repellants on the market. I do have some concerns about these volatile natural oils around the dog's neck interfering with their sense of smell, and therefore with the enjoyment of exploratory sniffing and the spatial/tracking orientation enabled by dogs' highly evolved olfactory system. They may habituate to these odors, but I have my doubts, and lavender can be sedating!

See my article on preventing fleas, ticks and mosquitoes on my website (drfoxonehealth.com), which offers a number of safe and effective measures you can take.

The ingredients listed in the PetHonesty Flea and Tick Defense chews are ones I frequently mention in my column as beneficial for dogs and cats -- with the exception of garlic for cats because it can cause anemia. This has my full approval.

(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 pet population is on the rise, but with fewer pets per household in 2020 than in 2016, according to a survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association. The AVMA estimates there are 83.7 million dogs and 60 million cats in the United States. Of households with pets, 56% own just one cat, and 65% own just one dog. Of pets acquired in 2020, an estimated 38% of dogs and 40% of cats were adopted from shelters, while 42% of dogs and 43% of cats came from commercial sellers (JAVMA, Dec. 1).

Some fear that shelters may fill up with surrendered dogs and cats when people go back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately subsides. But there are resources available -- which every animal shelter and veterinary practice should be able to provide -- to help people leave their animals at home and avoid house-soiling, damage and pet separation anxiety. I also urge one-dog and one-cat homes to adopt another dog or cat for social and environmental enrichment. Details can be found in these posts on my website: drfoxonehealth.com/post/introducing-a-new-cat and drfoxonehealth.com/post/introducing-a-dog-into-cats-home.

Many people were disturbed when Pope Francis voiced concerns about couples not having children, and about the social and economic ramifications of population declines in some countries. He lamented young couples having "dogs and cats that take the place of children," according to Washington Post reporter Amy Cheng ("Pope warns of birthrate decline," Jan. 6). To separate our love for other animals over our love for our own kind, demeaning one and lauding the other, is to deny the illimitable, spiritual nature of love. It is from such love that boundless compassion arises, which is too often deficient in human-centered religious traditions. For details, see my book "The Boundless Circle: Caring for Creatures and Creation."

The arrival of immigrants to countries with declining populations should ease the demographic concerns the pope raised. The climate crisis means dramatic demographic shifts in populations displaced by floods and droughts, lack of food and internecine strife. The harmful consequences of the Roman Catholic Church banning any "artificial" means of birth control on New Year's Eve 1930 cannot be denied.

Educated young people are delaying having children, choosing to adopt or, like one couple in my neighborhood, deciding not to bring a child into this chaotic world and instead rescuing animals. My neighbors now have eight rabbits in their loving care as part of their family. Situational ethics, in my opinion, make any criticism or comparison of money spent on animal companions and child care odious at best.

Published in 2015, the pope's encyclical "Laudato Si" was heralded as a ray of hope by animal and environmental protectionists in its call for compassionate stewardship -- where humankind is an integral part of life on Earth, rather than somehow separate and above it.

DEAR DR. FOX: Regarding your recent column about ear problems in dogs, let me share a 40-year-old vignette. I was at an otitis lecture by Dr. Bob Kirk at Cornell University's vet college. During the Q&A, someone in the lecture hall asked Kirk's opinion about plucking the hair from dogs' ears.

His response was that if God put hair in the ears, there is a purpose for it, and we should leave it alone.

I raised my hand and reminded the professor that God invented the wolf, whereas humans developed hairy-eared dogs. I had no idea that Kirk had just become a born-again Christian. He didn't speak to me for years after that. -- Richard Stein, DVM, Bonita Springs, Florida

DEAR R.S.: I appreciate your amusing, but fundamentally disturbing, story. It shows that all beliefs, religious and secular, need to be examined. Progress in society, in science and in human and veterinary medicine is in large part determined by objectivity: an examination of the facts with an open mind.

The current closing of the American mind is most alarming. My late friend Wendell Berry's book "The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture," published in 1977, is a classic and timeless contribution to a more united state of affairs.

I am astounded and disgusted by the distortions of truth and by some political ideologies evident in the U.S., especially in response to serious environmental issues and the COVID-19 pandemic. Fascism feeds on disinformation and the convergence of beliefs that are anti-science and anti-democratic. Beliefs that reject the truth can cause discord and dystopia -- along with dysbiosis when harmful consequences are dismissed, or even accepted as outweighed by purported benefits. This is exemplified by the misuse of pesticides, antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals in industrial commodity crop and animal agriculture.

DEAR DR. FOX: Thank you for your advocacy of respecting all living creatures and nature. I eschew meat consumption and understand the importance of eating various incomplete proteins to get the complete proteins we need to survive. Does this concept apply to dogs? (No, I am not thinking of making a vegetarian out of my dog. Just asking out of curiosity.) -- B.C.S., Nassau, Bahamas

DEAR B.C.S.: Dogs are omnivores and can get the proteins they need from nonmeat sources, including dairy products -- cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir and various cheeses -- and eggs, all ideally from free-range, humanely treated animals and all organically certified. Essential fats can be provided by coconut, olive, canola, sesame and flaxseed oils, as well as organic butter.

I do give our dog a canned sardine every other day and will feed her insect-enriched dog foods when they come on the market -- a relatively humane and sustainable source of fats and proteins from various grubs "upcycling" human food wastes.

(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 are part of the seamless web of life in our biosphere's constantly evolving matrix of being and becoming; of competing and cooperating; and of symbiotic wills and relationships. We have a duty to care. When we harm our relations and connections within this web we call nature, pathogens, predators and pollutants become problems.

We are now, as a species, in danger of creating more harm as we strive to restore those broken connections, which drugs, pesticides, bioengineering and artificial intelligence are not healing. Otherwise, we would surely have fewer pandemics, less pandemonium and less violence within and between nations.

An empathetic eco-centrism is called for: a metanoia transforming our anthropocentrism to embrace the wisdom, beauty and mystery of nature's interconnected web. We may then have grounds to celebrate our saving of the great apes -- our closest relatives -- and other endangered species, cultures and communities, great and small.

PREVENTION CHEAPER THAN THE CURES

Zoonotic diseases account for more than 70% of emerging and reemerging pathogens, and experts in animal, human and environmental health must collaborate to reduce risk of future pandemics. So writes veterinarian Deborah Kochevar, a professor at Tufts University's School of Veterinary Medicine, along with Guilherme Werneck, a professor of epidemiology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

A recent analysis found that the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 dwarfs the estimated cost of mitigating viral spillover at high-risk human-animal interfaces using One Health principles and forest conservation. (Full story: TheConversation.com, Nov. 3)

In an October op-ed in the Minnesota Star Tribune, former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health Edward P. Ehlinger writes: "Too much money ($3.6 trillion per year) is spent on medical care (less than 3% going to prevention) with many treatments doing more harm than good. Approximately 25% of total health care costs are spent on wasteful activities, and about 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical errors, making 'iatrogenic' conditions the third leading cause of death." ("Defund the health care system," Star Tribune, Oct. 20)

GOOD NEWS FOR WILD ANIMALS IN FRANCE

Many countries now ban the exploitation of wild animals in circuses. (For details, visit four-paws.org/campaigns-topics/topics/wild-animals/worldwide-circus-bans.)

Now France has passed legislation, co-sponsored by veterinarian Dr. Loic Dombreval, to ban the use of wild animals in circuses, along with captive dolphin shows and mink farming. Activists regret there is no ban yet on bullfighting.

The U.S. is far behind in taking such humane measures, where money still seems to take precedence over protecting animals, the environment and public health and safety.

DEAR DR. FOX: I own a Neapolitan mastiff. We got her as a rescue, and they do not know where she came from. Ever since we got her, she gets aggressive when touched on the hind legs or when woken up. She immediately barks, growls or attacks our other dog, but snaps out of it in a few minutes.

My father can't take the stress, but I love her to death, and have already lost too many loved ones from cancer or other illnesses. I am begging you to please give me some advice, for I cannot lose her. -- S.B., Trenton, New Jersey

DEAR S.B.: You have a powerful and potentially dangerous dog in your home, who should not be threatening family members, including your other dog. They could get into a terribly injurious fight and you could get bitten trying to break it up.

You know nothing of this unstable mastiff's past, and her aggressive behavior may be defensive -- possibly due to PTSD from prior abuse or neglect. There could well be some underlying physical issue causing fear and pain, such as hip dysplasia or endocrine disturbance of thyroid function.

For a start, I would give the dog 9 mg of melatonin and 400 mg L-Theanine with a little meaty canned food in the late evening, and 6 mg of melatonin midmorning. This may help calm the dog down after a few days. A veterinary appointment is called for to rule out possible medical conditions, but you need to get a muzzle secured on the dog before any veterinarian will run the risk of examining this poor animal.

(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.)