Importance of Behavior in Veterinary Medicine

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Veterinary behavioral medicine (VBM) also known as clinical behavioral medicine of animals, is a new discipline within the branch of veterinary medicine. The field of veterinary behavioral medicine deals with diagnosing, treating, and preventing behavioral disorders in animals.

Behavioral Problems in companion animals are a significant cause of abandonment, ergo animal behavior and animal welfare share a silver lining.

What is Behavior?

The activity of an organism interacting with its environment is behavior (Doron and Parot, 1999). Animals also experience behavioral issues. Cats and dogs inculcate various behavioral disorders which are due to the owners’ inefficiency in providing care, food, and temperament, and providing the animals’ essential requirements (needs for movement, game, exercise, diversity of habitat, social contact, etc.).

Animal Behavior is dictated by the genetic makeup, experiences, and environment (epigenetics), and there is a relation between behavioral problems, pain, endocrine diseases, neurological problems, vomeronasal organ alterations, and cardiac disorders. Hormonal Disturbances (predominantly thyroid, and cortisol levels) may cause behavioral disorders,

Behavior is undesirable, there are three levels of consideration in companion animals, which are as follows:

i) Behaviors within the normal range.

ii) Behaviors that are more challenging and beyond the normal range.

iii) Behaviors that are abnormal and pathological due to emotional or mental health issues.

Behavioral problems are categorized based on medical problems, which can change behavior directly or indirectly. These problems include: – Preventing the perception of the environment (Blindness). – Changing the processing of perceived information (Intracranial tumor). – Preventing the expression of behavior (Fractured leg). – Problems that produce a stress response that can modify behavior (Pain).

Behavior within normal range, the pet parent requires exceptional guidance to effectively handle these behaviors. When the behaviors go beyond normal ranges, we’re talking about things like urination, mouthing, mounting, barking, chasing, predation, or overactivity. Such cases call for serious counseling, and in the worst scenarios, the animal may require environmental, managemental, and behavioral modifications.

Aggression, Separation Anxiety Disorder (SADs), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Phobias are outward manifestations of behavioral disturbances, that your pet experiences.

What can you do as a Parent?

• Understand the needs of your pet – the attention your pet requires, and fulfillment of the essentials.
• Observation is key – Observing the change in the behavior of pets is essential in developing behavioral disorders.
• Training – It is as crucial as nutrition. Involvement in early activity reduces the changes of behavioral disturbances.
• Positive Reinforcement – DO NOT USE FORCE/ Negative Reinforcement instead use Positive Reinforcement. Award with treats when responding to your command.
• Dissociate Good and Bad Behavior – Drawing a thin line between good and bad behavior exhibited by your pet (biting, barking) will eventually reduce the chances of bad behavior.
• Involvement in daily exercise – Specially with sporting or hunting breeds a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise is as important as water.

What can you do as a Veterinarian?

• Ask Behavior-related questions – many of the conditions can arise due to changes in the behavior of the pet. During consult. behavioral-related questions should also be asked, any changes in the behavior (excessive barking, growling, biting, aggression).
• Not everything will be a pathological condition – frequent urination or salivation can indicate an underlying pathological condition, and urination can also indicate behavioral disorder – fear, separation anxiety, phobia, etc.
• Observation of the pet activities in the examination room, and asking the client for videos of the dog or cat’s activity can help in the diagnosis of the disorder.
• Some of the well-known signs of behavioral disorders in companion animals are Gastritis, Colitis, and Lower urinary tract infection. The species-specific disorders are Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC) due to stress in the Felines, Pshycogenic Allopesia and Acral granulomas in Canines are medical conditions that are outward manifestations of behavioral disorders.

These are some of the signs that you can look for in your furry friend –

1. Dogs’ ears are facing backward or flattened, and other signs of fear or stress include a lowered posture, a lowered or even tucked tail, panting, increased salivation, trembling, and the emptying of the anal glands, while cats shrink themselves. Pupils are extremely dilated, and the tail is kept near the body. In cats, tail swaying indicates agitation, annoyance, or a high level of arousal.
2. Cats may crouch, hold their ears downwards, hiss, or squeal when displaying stress levels, but they can also stand on tiptoes, holding their tail stiffly upwards or downwards, and appearing larger due to piloerection. Aggression is imminent when the pupils are oblong and the inner pinna is displayed.

Abandonment of Pets can be abandoned with proper behavioral training, patience, and understanding of the needs of pets. The metabolic needs have to be met as well as psychological needs.

Behavioral disorders need a little more attention than the medical disorders.

THE GEEK VETERINARIAN