The most important thing to do if your pet has a behavior problem
Plus a relevant tangent in which I talk about birds
At my veterinary behavior clinic in Chicago, we see dogs and cats with a wide range of behavioral issues—from dogs that panic and chew through walls when left home alone, to those that are so petrified of fireworks they refuse to go outside at night all summer long, as well as dogs and cats that bite their beloved human (and non-human) housemates. These are just a few examples of typical cases that make up our day-to-day, but you get the drift. We treat serious issues and the pets and their human families we meet are in significant distress.
While our practice’s primary focus is to address the behavioral concerns that clients bring to us, we cannot do so without addressing their pet’s physical health. I always like to say that I am a veterinarian first and foremost (it’s one of the things I love about my job) but sometimes this leads us down seemingly confusing topic changes during consultations:
I know you’re here to talk about Fluffy’s separation issues, but can I ask you about the way they’re sitting right now…?
Why these seemingly random segues? Because we cannot separate the brain and mental health from the rest of the body. All the body’s systems are interconnected and they influence one another. When one system isn’t operating well, it impacts all the others, including the brain.
When it comes to behavioral issues, the diseases we tend to focus on most are those that might be causing pain or discomfort, such as arthritis, gastrointestinal issues, and allergies. There are plenty of other diseases that can influence behavior, but in the young “seemingly healthy” animals we see, these are the most common culprits. If you’ve ever dealt with chronic pain and discomfort yourself, I’m sure you can attest to how that impacts your mood, motivation, and response to stress. I personally have a few chronic issues that cause me intermittent but significant discomfort too. You wouldn’t know it from just looking at me because my symptoms aren’t obvious, but those who know me well can tell when I’m in physical discomfort because my mood and attitude change significantly. Discomfort from chronic illness usually makes us more distracted, less tolerant, and more reactive. The same holds true for non-human animals, and there are actually some fancy scientific terms to describe this: allostasis and allostatic overload.
Allostasis is used to describe how the systems of our bodies are constantly adjusting themselves to meet the demands of the external environment. Allostasis is essential to any organism’s survival, as the external environment is constantly changing in both predictable and unpredictable ways. In other words, all living organisms are designed to deal with and adjust to the demands of short-term stressors.
The Bar-tailed Godwit, a beautiful long-distance migratory shorebird, provides an extreme example of allostasis in action. Every year these amazing birds fly over 7000 miles from Alaska and New Zealand on a non-stop journey—one that takes them 8 days to complete. Allostatic mechanisms are at work both before and during the flight. Two weeks before departure, the Godwits double their body weight. During the flight, their digestive organs atrophy and their pectoral muscles and heart double in mass. Talk about stress! And yet everything works out just great if the demands of allostasis are short-lived. If the Bar-tailed Godwits get to their destinations in New Zealand and Australia and can find safety and plenty of food, they recover and repeat the trip in reverse just a few months later.
While we may not be capable of such amazing feats, the same principle applies to us and our companion animals—experiencing stress is a normal part of living and our bodies can handle and recover from short-term stressors. Things don’t go so well however if the body’s stress response system works too long, too hard, or too frequently. That’s what we call allostatic overload, and it’s why chronic disease, pain, and discomfort are such a problem.
If the Bar-tailed Godwit finds that at their destination their food supply is no longer available or that their habitat has been destroyed, then they’re going to be pushed into a state of allostatic overload as they try to find new habitat. For them, whose bodies have undergone such extreme short-term challenges, the result of that allostatic overload is likely death. For us and our companion animals who have ready access to food, water, and shelter, allostatic overload is likely to lower our resistance to disease, affect our cognitive functioning, and impact our mental health, resulting in chronic fear and anxiety—not such great outcomes either.
Here’s an actionable step you can take today:
If you are dealing with behavioral issues in your pet, your best first step is to take them to your veterinarian for a thorough evaluation. Get them checked out for any illnesses that might be causing chronic stress. Start with a physical exam, and talk to your vet about any issues you’re noticing. Issues we’re always screening for at our practice are regular soft stools, “picky” eating habits, eating non-food items, changes in your pet’s ability or willingness to climb, jump, or walk, irritability during handling, or regular licking, chewing or scratching.
These sometimes seem like mild issues, but they can have big impacts on your pet’s overall wellbeing. My team and I are constantly amazed by how much our patients improve once we get their physical illnesses under better control—sometimes the solution to a complex behavioral issue is as simple as relieving the pet’s itch, treating their undiagnosed pain, or addressing their chronic gastrointestinal discomfort. And even when physical illness is just a small piece of the puzzle, we get better outcomes when we approach the animal holistically, rather than just assuming it’s all in their heads.
Next week I’ll start diving into common behavioral issues that often have a physical cause, including the symptoms to look out for and bring up to your vet.
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