SacPaws.com

DEAR DR. FOX: In early June, I took my 5-year-old Yorkie for her annual checkup. Her routine stool sample revealed hookworm. She was placed on a granular deworming medication for three days. We then waited two weeks and took in another stool sample, which, again, revealed hookworm. She was put on the same medication for five days. Another sample, examined more closely, revealed something our vet of more than 30 years said he had never seen before. I looked into the microscope, as well. We both saw something buglike with pincers all around it. The stool was teeming with those creatures. The sample was sent out for further examination. Two days later, the results were in.
My little Yorkie was infested with grain mites, but she does not have any symptoms of the illness. The vet believed they came from her dry food. Unknowingly, I had been re-infecting my dog each time I fed her!
I contacted Purina via telephone, and they immediately said this had never been brought to their attention before. They agreed to refund the two bags of food I had left, but denied the cause could be their product.
As I was cleaning out the cabinet where the food was stored, I noticed a brown dust coating the bags and surrounding area. After an Internet search, I found this is called "mite dust" and indicates a heavy infestation. Beneful was mentioned as a carrier of these creatures, as well as Ol' Roy dog food. Both my vet and the research lab state that there is no treatment for grain mites. Hopefully, the dog's immune system will stay strong until the body rids itself of these mites within a month or so.
Why are vets not aware of this? Surely, the dog-food manufacturers are aware of this issue, as several letters were posted on the Internet about sickened dogs with bloody diarrhea and weight loss; a few even died. All the letters I read on that Web site indicated their dogs were being fed either Beneful or Ol' Roy. None, however, mentioned the "grain mites" as the culprit -- they just said the vets didn't know what it was and they changed their pets' diets. Thanks for all you do for "all of God's creatures, great and small." -- K.R.K., Indianapolis, Ind.

DEAR K.R.K.: My guess is that the grain mites in your dog's stool were dead. They do not parasitize internally, and I doubt they could survive the digestive processes. In this respect, I believe they are harmless -- your dog showed no ill effects. But they do produce various proteins that could trigger allergic reactions, including intestinal inflammation and diarrhea.
For the grain mites to be so numerous, it makes me wonder how old the pet food you purchased was. I also wonder about the hygiene at the point of manufacture and the quality of the ingredients that could have come from heaven knows where, giving you even more reason to purchase ingredients yourself and make your own dog food.


DEAR DR. FOX: I am the proud owner of a fawn Queen Isabella Doberman. He is 7 years old and very calm and gentle. We have dry Costco Premium dog food out for him all day, but feed him real food in the evening: chicken, rice and vegetables.
The problem is that he licks his rear foot. We tried bitter apple, but he just licks it off. He has a sore 2 inches long where the skin is licked off, along with a long lump that the vet said is due to the reaction of the saliva on his skin.
I tried the bitter apple wrapped with gauze and tape, but he still licks it. The vet says there is nothing I can do. Any suggestions? -- A.S., Stratford, Conn.

DEAR A.S.: Your dog has what is called a lick granuloma, or acral lick dermatitis. Some dogs will keep licking on a sore so much that it never heals and begins to spread, almost like a tumor.
Constantly motivating the dog with safe chew toys, raw beef bones, lots of exercise and even Prozac (to deal with the obsessive-compulsive nature of this malady) may help.
Every effort should be made to keep the granuloma covered -- even bandaging the opposite leg to distract the dog. Oral antibiotic treatment and injections with Vetalog or Depo-Medrol often help, too.
Discuss having the granuloma cryosurgically desensitized with your vet. You could also try using essential oils like helichrysum, lavender (angustifolia), frankincense and myrrh (five drops each in 50 drops of almond oil). These oils have remarkable healing properties and should be applied two to three times daily. Dilute with more almond oil if the inflammation gets worse. Wipe clean after two to three hours, and apply aloe-vera gel that you wipe off just before giving the next essential-oils treatment.
Your dog may have to wear a lampshade or Elizabethan collar so he can't lick the sore. This is a very common canine skin problem that takes time and patience to heal.


DEAR DR. FOX: Our 9-year-old cat is an obese 16 pounds. She was a rescue kitty we got from our veterinarian when she was about 5 months old. She has never had a litter and was spayed when we got her. The vet started her on Hill's Science Diet dry food and suggested that we continue. She was fed Hill's for years and began gaining weight at about 4 years of age. She also drank tremendous amounts of water.
We then put her on Hill's dry for weight control, per the vet's recommendation. Never satisfied, she ate twice as much and still gained weight, so we put her back on Hill's regular, and she seemed more satisfied and didn't eat as much. However, weight gain continued.
She loves her canned-chicken cat food. We are weaning her off the dry, which is not easy since she was raised on the stuff and still loves it.
However, owing to her excess weight, she is now having elimination problems. The vet had to express her anal sacs periodically. She has also developed urinary incontinence.
We always thought her problems were food-related, but we don't know how to deal with it or what to do next to get her healthy again. -- A. & D.C., Barker, Texas

DEAR A. & D.C.: I rarely make phone calls in response to readers' letters, but I did to this one.
I advised them to feed my cat-food recipe and purchase Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins' book "Your Cat" (St. Martin's Press). We were in agreement that the veterinarians involved unknowingly helped make the cat fatter and sicker (and suffer more) with the Hill's dry food for weight control.
My concern is that vets are doing this around the world where high-cereal-content dry cat foods are being sold, and the harmful consequences incorrectly addressed with inadequate prescription diets. Dr. Hodgkins' book sets the record straight -- she used to be the head veterinarian at Hill's, and her cat became diabetic on manufactured dry food before she knew how cats should be fed.


To order Dr. Michael W. Fox's newsletter, Animal Doctor, on providing the best care for your animal companion, send a check or money order for $2 and a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Send your questions to Dr. Fox in care of this newspaper. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Copyright 2008, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.