anxiety Archives - Life on Four Legs

02/12 |

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas……

So Christmas is nearly upon us (scarily again!) – this time of year can be full of festive cheer for our furry friends, but please remember to look out for their health at this time.

Christmas can be fun for your furry friends (although I am not sure Brioche agrees!)

Around Christmas time there are lots of things that can keep us vets busy, many of which can easily be avoided, so for top tips on things to avoid this festive season to keep your pet safe read on…

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me….

Tick Paralysis

These horrible ticks are grey in colour and are common on Sydney’s Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches as well as the South Coast. Remember to always use tick prevention in your pets no matter where they are in Sydney (as they can appear in places you least expect).

Paralysis tick prevention should be used summer long

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me….

Chocolate toxicity

Remember, as delicious as it is to us,chocolate is toxic to dogs. Please contact you vet if your pampered pooch grabs any of the holiday stash to check if they have eaten a dangerous dose!

Dark chocolate is the biggest threat, but any chocolate can cause a problem if enough is eaten! (Picture www.cadbury.com.au)

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Heat stoke

Remember our furry friends as temperatures soar in Sydney around Christmas. Always provide them with shade, fresh water and never leave dogs unattended in hot cars.

Avoid walking your dog in the heat of the day, instead opt for evening strolls like Loulou and Dr Julie!

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

Macadamia nut poisoning

When planning your festive fare remember macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs and can cause muscle weakness, vomiting and lethargy. Please contact your vet if any nuts are eaten by your dog.

As yummy as they are, macadamia nuts can cause trouble for our furry friends. (photo – www.nuts.com.au)

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me..

Gastrointestinal surgery!

Remember to keep cooked bones, Christmas decorations and presents away from both dogs and cats. If eaten, these strange objects can get stuck in the windpipe, food tube and anywhere in between the mouth and the bottom in our pets, often needing surgery to be retrieved.

A munch on cooked bones or Christmas decorations can land your pet in hospital – so keep them away! (photo www.petclinicsd.com)

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Raisin or grape toxicity

Raisins are almost ubiquitous in our Christmas dinners and grapes often make a guest appearance on cheese boards. Remember that both raisins and grapes in any quantity (even one or two) can cause kidney failure – so keep the mince pies and Christmas pud away from your furry friends!!!

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Poinsettia toxicity

Poinsettia are those beautiful red Christmas plants that often adorn our tables at Christmas. Pretty as they are did you know that eating them can result in vomiting and diarrhoea? And the sap is very irritant to animals skin. So keep them separate from your family pet.

Other plants to look out for include pine needles, lilies, holly and mistletoe to name a few.

Poinsettia and other plants can be toxic to pets if eaten. (Picture www.lowes.com)

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Anxiety

Being a behaviour vet I am acutely aware of the strains we put on our pets at Christmas time. Expecting them to happily accept rowdy parties and long days alone in the house. Always allow your pet somewhere to take themselves away from scary situations and be mindful what effect your plans can have on your dog or cat.

Holiday time can be terrifying for our furry friends with people coming and going and lots of new things to experience.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Electrocution

Christmas lights are often just too irresistible for cats and dogs alike. Always keep wires away from sharp teeth as chewing cables can cause both electrical burns and electrocution.

Christmas lights may look pretty but if chewed can be fatal to our furry friends. (picture www.legalsigns.co.uk)

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Pancreatitis

Eating fatty foods in dogs has been directly linked to the development of pancreatitis – an inflammation of the pancreas causing vomiting, lethargy and abdominal pain. So please refrain from spoiling your pet too much with human food over the holiday season.

Dr Julie’s Christmas ham might be delicious to us, but if too much is consumed pancreatitis might be the result in at risk dogs.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Firework and noise phobia

Please be mindful of fireworks around this holiday season. Provide your pet somewhere safe to hide and comfort them if this helps. If your pet’s anxiety around noises is severe please contact your veterinarian to discuss drug options that may help.

Fireworks may be pretty to us, but they can strike fear into our furry friends 🙁 (picture www.youtube.com)

And finally on the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Batteries…

Batteries are used in many new toys that will be bought around this time. Please keep them away from pets as ingestion can cause burns to the gastrointestinal tract and can be fatal 🙁

Batteries cause more of an issue if chewed on the way down. However ingestion can be fatal so please contact a veterinarian asap if you believe you pet has eaten one. (pic www.boutonveterinaryhospital.com)

So now you know what to look forward to please enjoy a happy healthy festive period with your furry friends 🙂

Dr Julie is a veterinarian and behaviourist and works in Sydney

17/11 |

Help my cat is scratching everything and ruining my house…..!!!

Help… my cat is ruining my sofa, bed, wicker laundry basket (insert prized furniture possession here)! This is a call I receive almost weekly. Why oh why are our furry feline friends so intent on destroying our belongings? Is it out of spite? Malice? Or something else?

Why do cats scratch?

Scratching is a normal feline behaviour and they do it for a number of reasons:

Maintenance of claws –old claw coverings are shed when cats scratch. It also sharpens and shortens the claws.
Stretching – ever notice that a cat will often scratch after it has woken up? It is our equivalent of a satisfying morning stretch!
Muscle maintenance – scratching is a way of keeping their hunting leg muscles in tip top shape.
Marking – scratching provides both a visual signal (the scratches themselves) and a pheromonal signal to other cats. Cats have lots of scent glands between their toes and scratching is a way of saying ‘come read my message over here!’ Scratching behaviour can sometimes increase in times of stress and be seen in ‘socially important’ areas to the cat.

Picking a scratching post

Many commercially available scratching posts are totally unsuitable for cats. When trying to stop your feline scratching your furniture, you need to make sure you have provided them somewhere appropriate to carry out this innate behaviour.

Things to look for:

Sufficient size – the scratching post should be 1.5 x the length of the cat when standing on their hind legs and stretching up.
Sufficiently sturdy – Many scratching posts are flimsy and will wobble when leant on by the cat, which will scare them! Make sure the scratching post can easily take 100% of your cat’s weight.
Consider a horizontal post – some cats prefer horizontal scratching posts – if your cat is scratching your rug think of getting one of these!
Look for a vertical weave – cats like to scratch in vertical motions. Lots of commercially available scratching posts are horizontal (e.g. rope wrapped around a post) – meaning cats can’t get a good grip and will be less likely to use it.
Consider the type of material your cat is enjoying scratching and try to provide this in another setting. Corrugated cardboard, wood, carpet and wicker can all make great scratching posts.

A good scratching post might be all that is needed to stop your lounge looking like this!!!

You can entice your cat to use the new scratching post by using cat nip, dangling wand toys over them and by rewarding them (food and positive interaction) when they scratch the correct area.During this retraining time, they should not be allowed access to the problem area.

If you have followed my top tips for picking a scratching post and are still having issues with a scratching moggy, contact me for more help. Scratching can be a symptom of an anxiety disorder, so it is important not to ignore it!

10/09 |

Don’t Panic!!!

Have you ever had a panic attack? No? Has your pet?

A lovely client of mine emailed a video of her dog during the big Sydney storm we had two weeks ago. There is no other way to describe it except for a panic attack. The poor dog was running around, howling, drooling and trying to break down a door to get out of the house. The video ended with him vomiting in the house ☹ Nobody would argue that this dog was distressed.

Now, not all animals will show such an intense response – but studies suggest up to 50% of our household dogs are scared of thunder. This can develop for various reasons such as a genetic sensitivity, a traumatic experience during a thunder storm, social transmission (learning from another storm-phobic animal) or as a result of a generalized anxiety disorder.

www.ericteske.com

What can we do?

Prevention

Studies have shown that positive exposure to sounds including fireworks, engine noises and thunder in the first 6 months of life can be protective against phobia development at a later stage. 1

Playing with your puppy while introducing these sounds means they accept the noise as normal and so are less likely to develop fear responses as they get older.

Introducing puppies in a positive way to noises such as thunder may prevent a phobia developing

Too late for prevention – so what next?

If you already have a dog with a storm phobia it is not a lost cause!

Medication

For some dogs, like my client’s dog above, the phobia is too intense and medication helps him cope with any up-coming storms. If your dog is getting very stressed talk to your veterinarian or vet behaviourist about whether medication is the right choice for your pet.

Consider getting an Adaptil diffuser or collar to use on your dog.

Manage the situation

When a storm hits there are a number of things you can do to help your dog:
• Minimise exposure to lightning by closing the blinds or curtains.
• If your pet wants to hide, let it. If hiding is their preferred choice of coping, provide them with a box or a place to hide.
• Try distracting your pet with treats and a game. You could even throw a ‘thunder party’! Get your pet excited, play with them, throw treats and make the storm event a great time.
• Consider a thunder jacket.These can help some dogs by making them feel safe and secure.
• Play music.Either calming music such as classical, or even music with a distracting beat (such as rap – Snoop Dog) are anecdotally the best.
• If cuddles help, go ahead! Remember you can’t reinforce fear! If a cuddle helps calm your dog down then go for it.

And then?

The ultimate aim of managing a dog with storm phobia is to stop the phobic responses entirely or at least reduce the intensity of their panic.

We do this by going through a process of desensitisation and counter conditioning. This basically means we take the thing they are scared of (loud thunder noise), make it small, so small that they don’t react fearfully (by playing it very quietly) and pair it with something good (a yummy treat or a game). This is a slow process, but it enables us to teach the dog that thunder isn’t so scary and is actually something pretty good – as it predicts the arrival of treats!

As with all behaviour modification, it is crucial that this process is undertaken in a controlled, consistent manner So for further information on how to make your pet’s life that bit better contact me at Julie@Lifeonfourlegs.com.au.

1. (Appleby DL, Bradshaw JWS, Casey RA. Relationship between aggressive and avoidance behaviours by dogs and their experience in the first 6 months of life. Vet Rc 2002; 150:434-8)

09/03 |

Does your dog worry when they are left alone?

If your immediate reaction to the question above was “no”, it might just be necessary to think again.

Separation Related Behaviour is the name given to those behaviours dogs exhibit when left alone. These needn’t always be bad – they can be positive – but it is typically those that are negative and become a problem for both dog and owner that attract most attention – manifesting as “Separation Related Distress”.

Spotting the signs

Identifying symptoms of Separation Related Distress is usually easy. However, connecting the dots and diagnosing the cause can be more difficult as the signs can also result from other causes (illness, pain, other anxieties).

Typical Separation Related Distress signs when left alone include:

Vocalisation (crying, howling, barking)
Locomotor hyperactivity – pacing, trying to escape
Destructive behaviour – chewing or scratching things
Toileting in the house
Excessive salivating
Shaking/trembling
Vomiting (rare)
Freezing or total inactivity

Other signs suggestive of Separation Related Distress include anxiety when you are getting ready to go out. For example, dogs can follow their owners around the house whilst panting and seeking attention when you are putting on your shoes, picking up keys etc. They will have identified these as activities that precede a negative event (their owner leaving) and are reacting to them.

Finally, an overly-excited greeting when you return may also be a sign your dog has been anxious whilst left alone.

But surely it’s not that common?

These types of behaviours are far more common that most owners realise, with at least 1 in 5 dogs exhibiting Separation Related Distress when left alone. Concerningly, this statistic comes from two UK-based studies based on owner-submitted reports meaning it only includes people who identified their dog has an issue.

Even more worrying was a small-scale study by Dr Casey (University of Bristol, UK) that filmed 40 dogs when left alone and reported a whopping 80% as exhibiting Separation Related Distress.

But how can I tell if my dog is distressed?

The easiest way to tell if your own dog suffers from Separation Related Distress is to video them when he or she is left alone. Hopefully you will see him or her chewing on a Kong, settling into their bed and falling asleep. If they don’t do this though, it is not a total disaster – help is at hand.

What should I do next?

If you are worried your dog may be suffering from Separation Related Distress, the first step is to book an appointment with your Veterinarian for a full health check.

With medical causes eliminated, an appointment to see a qualified Behaviourist or Behaviour Veterinarian will allow for a full assessment followed by development of a treatment plan.

For further advice or to discuss a particular case please do not hesitate to contact Dr Julie at Life on Four Legs.

1. Bradshaw, J.W.S., Blackwell, E.J., Rooney, N.J. and Casey, R.A. (2002). Prevalence of separation related behaviour in dogs in southern England. In: Proceedings of the 8th ESVCE Meeting on Veterinary Behavioural Medicine, Granada, Spain. Eds. J. Dehasse, E. Biosca Marce. Publibook, France. Pp 189-193.
2. Bradshaw, J.W.S., McPherson, J.A., Casey, R.A. and Larter, I.S. (2002). Aetiology of separation related behaviour in the domestic dog. Veterinary Record, 151, 43-46.