Dear Dr. Fox — We have lost two precious, wonderful, beautiful German shepherds, apparently due to health problems. Both dogs suffered crippling hind-leg deterioration. In both cases, the overall strength in their hind legs and lower back appeared to simply give out.

Is there any way we can prevent this from happening to future German shepherds?

If you go to Germany, you will see what the standards are before anyone with a registered German shepherd is permitted to breed the dog and sell any of the puppies as certified pedigree offspring.

What American breeders have done to this breed is one of the tragedies of the past century — selectively breeding dogs with sharply sloping hindquarters as a desirable breed standard. In actuality, they created weak-legged dogs prone to hip and spinal problems. In Germany, the breed club is not permitted to breed a dog like that and sell the pups.

I will never forget seeing a pathetic — but otherwise healthy and spirited — American-bred German-shepherd pup of 16 weeks dragging and flapping his deformed hindquarters as he tried to play with my dogs in the local park. At least he had been neutered. Much can be done to help such dogs, especially massage therapy, physical therapy, especially swimming, acupuncture, and anti-inflammatory herbal supplements when there is pain, one of my choices being New Chapter's Zyflamend.

Dear Dr. Fox — I have a 4-year-old male cat that I rescued. My vet said he might have irritable bowel syndrome. He gave him prednisone for a while and prescribed Science Diet m/d food. He defecates half in the litter box and half on the floor next to the box. His stool is loose.

I have tried to give him cooked rice mixed into his food, but he eats around it. Is there anything I can give him to bind up his stool?

This condition termed inflammatory or irritable bowel syndrome is extremely common in cats today, largely owing to various wholly unnatural and biologically inappropriate ingredients that are put into most manufactured cat foods. The kinds of cat food being sold in McVeterinary hospitals play a major role in this distressing feline epidemic of inflammatory bowel disease.

Weaning cats off their regular food that contains corn, soy and other possible culprit ingredients is a first step. For details and a list of prepared cat foods that are less hazardous, visit my website. For those cat owners without a computer, my co-authored book "Not Fit for a Dog: The Truth About Manufactured Dog and Cat Foods" provides insights and a basic recipe for cats like yours. On my website, you and other cat owners will also find a link to the website (fnes.org) for the nonprofit Feline Nutrition Education Society that is enlightening.

Gradually transition to a more natural, ideally raw food diet; and give probiotics — 1/2 teaspoon of fish oil in food and 50 to100 mg. of glutamine twice daily between meals may help.



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Dr. Fox, c/o "Animal Doctor," United Features Syndicate, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016