11 Mar 2025
Anita Dowe
Job Title
Image: © Mary Swift / Adobe Stock
It is a common discussion point between veterinarians that the prevalence of behaviour struggles in dogs and cats has increased over the past few years.
As a direct result of this, more often general practitioners are being asked for behaviour advice during routine consultations, which can result in us putting more pressure on ourselves to have the appropriate knowledge so we can advise our clients appropriately, but it also puts more pressure on time management – especially in a 15-minute consultation.
But these pressures aside, behaviour (or brain health) is an important piece of the puzzle for achieving optimal overall health in all of our patients.
Every dog or cat’s brain is made up of a number of different areas of potential skill. One breed will have stronger skills in certain areas and weaker skills in others compared to a different breed, but there will also be individual differences in skill sets within a given breed.
This set of skills is what they have to use when making day-to-day choices. And just like humans, if they are put into situations that require a higher level of skill than they currently have, they will “fail” and not be able to make a great choice. These not-great choices – reacting to dogs or people, separation struggles, intolerance of physical touch, just to name a few – are simply a symptom of a lack of skills.
Unfortunately, quite often, these pets are repeatedly put into situations that are too challenging for their current skill set, expected to make a different choice and then given some unhelpful label to explain why they’re a “bad” dog or “just being a cat”. But if they’re not building the skills they need, how can they be expected to make a different choice?
The exciting thing is that every dog and cat can build skills – no matter the breed or age, how long they’ve had the behaviour struggle, or how many different trainers or behaviourists they’ve been to. Every brain can be reshaped. Every pet can achieve behaviour transformation.
You have so much power for change in your consultation room.
The Behavet team conducts more than 500 remote behaviour consultations each month. Based on our data, almost 50% of the cases our clinicians see have a concurrent health issue that, once controlled or resolved, has a positive impact on their behaviour. This means that as their primary veterinarian, you can already start their behaviour transformation by identifying abnormalities and initiating investigations or treatment plans.
The top three health complaints we refer our patients back to their primary veterinarian for are:
Gastrointestinal symptoms. These can range from chronic poor appetite or lack of food drive or chronic, intermittent soft stools, to more obvious symptoms of regular vomiting or diarrhoea. Depending on the symptoms, our team may recommend a faecal analysis, including Giardia species (repeated following treatment to confirm resolution), baseline bloods or more directed panels, food trials on a hydrolysed diet or a medication trial, to mention a few. The stomach is known as the second brain for a reason. An unhealthy gastrointestinal system has a direct impact on brain health, as this is the site of L-tryptophan absorption. L-tryptophan is converted to serotonin, which has a detrimental effect on brain health, and therefore, behaviour, when out of balance. Alongside absorption issues is the pain and discomfort that comes along with gastrointestinal disorders, which also has a negative effect on behaviour.
Pain. This is quite often the cause of sudden behavioural changes, but it can also be the cause of slow, insidious behaviour changes. The difficulty with pain is that each individual will respond differently, and a clinical examination is not a reliable way to confidently rule out pain, nor is imaging. Unless there is a contraindication to do so, a pain relief trial with an appropriate medication for the individual for a minimum of two to four weeks can be carried out, to allow you to confidently rule out pain as a compounding factor.
Skin. Itchy skin, regular ear infections or chronically inflamed eyes all have a detrimental effect on behaviour. Skin complaints can be painful, they can have a negative impact on the quality and quantity of sleep, and are a constant source of mental stimulation. Just like gastrointestinal health and pain, for some cases, getting the itchy skin under control can have a dramatic effect on their behaviour.
With its current set of skills, putting a dog or cat into the same situation, time and time again, is going to end up with the same choice being made and the same action being taken.
The first big step to transformation is identifying the bottleneck in the animal’s day where not great choices get made, and modify this situation. Reducing the rehearsal of unwanted behaviours is an important initial step to achieving transformation.
Putting it simply, the more our animals make a certain choice or take a certain action, the more they are going to do it – resulting in them growing themselves in the wrong direction time and time again. So, this is where you can step in and give the owners some actionable management strategies to reduce the rehearsal and, therefore, stop that neural pathway being used time and time again.
Yes, this is management, but every behaviour case will need a level of management in place during the initial period while they are building up the required skills. We can’t effectively teach an animal new skills while they are in a situation beyond their current skill set – imagine trying to teach a drowning person how to swim: not the right time and not the right priority; they need a floatation device first.
The language that we use with our clients can also have a big impact on their perception of their pet’s behaviour, and their motivation and optimism to transform it.
As their primary veterinarian, it is important to know that age, breed, length of time with a given behaviour struggle, whether they were rescued or bought as a puppy/kitten, have no impact on whether a behaviour transformation is possible or not. But it can take as little as a single throw away comment such as, “Well, he’s a spaniel, what can you expect?” for an owner to lose all hope.
Our words are so powerful and, when used with intention, they can truly transform a pet’s life by empowering their owner that change is possible.
Identifying behaviour struggles and normalising referring earlier is an amazing habit to have.
So many owners who own dogs or cats with behaviour struggles feel embarrassed, judged and isolated, which often results in them waiting until they can’t take it anymore and so they finally ask for help.
Starting the conversation with owners early can be as simple as asking some questions while you are doing the physical exam; for example, “How does Buddy do interacting with other dogs or when he meets new people? How is he with noises or when he is left alone?”
Or maybe you don’t need to ask any questions because poor Buddy is petrified and frozen, or is barking and lunging at you in your consult room.
Quite often, behaviour struggles in their milder presentations are perceived as “normal”. As they progress, owners can often give up and think: “This is just the way they are”. But, just like many health conditions, the sooner we can transform the behaviour, the better. Car journeys don’t need to be scary. Walks don’t need to be overwhelming. Vet visits don’t need to be torture for all involved.
The assumed long wait times of three to six months can be off putting for many clients, as they’re struggling and need the support now. At Behavet, we understand this need, and that is why we have a structure in place to allow us to see cases within two weeks of referral – sooner for urgent cases.
Behaviour challenges have the biggest influence on the quality of life for both the owner and the animal. But with this being said, even though the investment is well worth it, being able to pay upfront for referral services can be a challenge for many clients.
Behaviour transformation should be accessible for everyone, and this is why we offer direct claims and interest-free payment plans. In many situations, an owner will have tried countless trainers or behaviourists at great expense with little impact on their pet’s behaviour, when an earlier referral would have been appropriate and more economical.
Knowing who to refer your behaviour cases to can be a bit of a minefield. First and foremost, you want to be sure you are referring to someone who only uses positive reinforcement methods (not “balanced”) and is up to date with current research (dominance theory does not belong here). You also want your client to be getting on-going support and for you, as their primary veterinarian, to be kept up to date on their progress.
As the UK’s largest behaviour referral service, our team of clinical animal behaviourists see more than 500 cases each month from more than 300 referring practices.
We offer a 100% remote service that allows clients and their pets to be in the comfort of their own home during the consultation process. This results in owners and pets being much more relaxed, and the clients being able to take in all the information.
While the more traditional school of thought is that behaviour consultations need to be in-person to be effective, over the past 10 years and thousands of consults, we’ve found the exact opposite to be true.
We see many second, third and fourth opinion cases from all over the world, where the owners have tried lots of methods with lots of people and they haven’t achieved behaviour transformation – until they come to us.
In the ideal scenario, starting behaviour medications would be postponed until the animal has had a consultation with a behaviourist.
But there are some situations where short-acting behaviour medication is indicated until they can be seen, to protect their well-being. The medication of choice will be determined by the behaviour struggle, signalment and existing health conditions.
Gabapentin and trazodone, although not currently licensed for dogs and cats, are often used in combination for vet visits or extended car journeys, but can also be used for dogs which are in a reactive state and need some brain health support urgently while waiting for a referral.
Sileo (Orion Pharma) is most commonly used for noise sensitivity in dogs – especially around fireworks season. This is first given prior to the event and can be repeated every two hours.
Tessie (Orion Pharma) is the newest product to be added to our tool kit for dogs. This is a great choice for situational use for dogs which struggle with noise reactivity (think fireworks) or for those dogs who have separation-related behaviours, but need to be left alone now and then. It can be an easier option than Sileo for some owners, as this is given orally instead of having to be applied to the gums. This can also be combined with other behaviour medications such as fluoxetine at a lower dose.
The anxiety and fear that many cats experience on the way to or during vet visits can often go under appreciated. The good news is that there is a new addition to behavioural medications for cats. Bonqat (Orion Corporation) is specifically licensed to alleviate acute anxiety and fear associated with transportation and vet visits.
This product is often more readily accepted by cats, as it is only a small amount of liquid which can be given with a small amount of food, which makes the process a lot easier for owners.
For ongoing support, there is also the option of long-term medication (for example, fluoxetine and clomipramine in dogs) that can be used alongside programmes to support behavioural transformation.
If you have a case that you would like some advice regarding medication choice, please contact our team at [email protected] and one of our clinicians will be able to help you.
Our ultimate goal as behaviourists is that, one day, we will become redundant because every pet owner has the knowledge to set their dogs and cats up for success.
Until then, we can continue to share our knowledge and to increase the awareness that there is always hope of a behaviour transformation, and every dog and cat owner can achieve their pet owning dream.
