Continued Pesticide Concerns – The Animal Doctor
Dear doctor. Fox: I’ve read your book, “The Healing Touch for Cats,” and it’s a great book. I have an 18 year old cat with poor teeth and gums, and she always asks for a vigorous belly rub after every meal. Her digestion is unpredictable. She eats raw food most of the time and does not get along well with psyllium husks.
Is there a massage technique that helps calm her stomach and make it regular? I do my best to keep her healthy. — SC, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, UK
Dear SC: You confirm what many cat caregivers have told me after they read Therapeutic Touch for Cats: Once they learn my basic massage routine, their cats soon begin to demand it! The benefits are manifold, especially for older animals (including dogs, according to my related book, “Therapeutic Touch for Dogs”).
Constipation in older cats can be relieved by deep, gentle, circular, clockwise massage on the abdomen. The animal should be lying on its back, resting on your thighs (or two pillows).
You mentioned that you tried psyllium husks, but I wouldn’t recommend that for easier bowel movements. Many cat owners have reported good results from mixing a teaspoon of mashed canned lima beans or unsweetened pumpkin into their cat’s regular wet food.
Dear doctor. FOX: I know a woman who rescued a puppy that was not only thrown away, but also had its mouth tied with rope and a gag, causing deep lacerations. The pup is now under vet care for cuts and infections, and wears a plastic collar to keep her from scratching.
The puppy recovers physically, but continues to have nightmares while she sleeps. Should my friend do anything for her when this happens, or just let the nightmares fade away? – L.H., Cleveland, Ohio
Dear LH: Judging from my experience with my dog Kota—who, after living on the streets of Alabama, ended up in an animal shelter with a litter of puppies and several wounds from dog fights—your friend’s poor abused puppy will do just that. She will likely suffer from nightmares for the rest of her life. But with love and safety, and having been rescued at such a young age, it is possible for her to recover from PTSD.
There are skeptics who deny that dogs and other animals can suffer from PTSD, or even that they have emotions. Such situations can justify and facilitate a lot of animal cruelty, which should be prosecuted as a felony, not just a misdemeanor. Our judicial system is behind the times and has not kept up with the science of animal consciousness.
Kota sleeps next to me, and when she has a nightmare, I comfort her as best I can. Your friend should also strive to calm her puppy down.
Book Review: “SOULMATE DOG”, Michelle B. Slater, Ph.D.
Whether or not you believe in telepathic communication, which is what this book details, you will enjoy reading it. It is a deeply emotional and reflective philosophical saga of a young woman’s relationship with her German shepherd, Brady. This book opens the doors of our perception, feelings and understanding. It describes one step towards what I call empathy. (For more details, see: drfoxonehealth.com/post/the-empathosphere-animal-prescience-and-remote-sensing.)
Given the ways in which so many animals, both wild and domesticated, are mistreated today, the doors of our awareness seem to be closed. My thanks to Dr. Slater for providing this engaging book to help open those doors. I hope everyone can experience the love of an animal other than a human, and then return that love and respect to all creatures, great and small.
New research on word understanding in dogs
A recently published study shows that we are not the only species with the cognitive ability to understand language. The study assessed dogs’ brainwave activity in response to spoken words that indicated specific objects for them to retrieve. The results, say the study authors, provide “the first neural evidence for object word knowledge in a non-human animal.” (For more details, see the study “Neural Evidence for Referential Comprehension of Object Words in Dogs” by Marianna Burros et al., published in Current Biology, March 2024.)
(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 does not permit personal responses, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in the columns Coming.
Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)
