BAD BEHAVIOR
The causes of destructive or unruly actions in pets and advice to readers.
Pet Health
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If your dog is becoming destructive or unruly, it may not
just be his disposition.
He may be sick.
By Andrea Looney, D.V.M.
Human households have condomestic animals for thousands of
years. At present, no less than 61% of U.S. households have
animals, and more than half have more than one animal. The
popular literature has extolled the beneficial consequences
of contact with animals for human health. During the past
decade, television, radio, and the print media have
discussed the value pets have in lowering blood pressure,
providing aging folks with constant companionship,
improving survival after a heart attack, and making people
of all ages feel brighter and less lonely. Various studies
have demonstrated that household pets are perceived to be
family members.
Given these facts, it's almost impossible to believe that
in 1990 alone, about 10 million dogs and 8 million cats
were euthanized in animal shelters across the United
States. And think of all the pets that have perished on the
streets without becoming a statistic. Unwanted behavior was
the number one cause for premature death of three-fourths
of these animals. Only 12% of them were euthanized because
of disease or old age. Most dogs and cats become unwanted
and homeless when owners can no longer cope with behavior
problems—behavior that is no longer acceptable to
owners, neighbors, or society.
These sad statistics are why behavior management is fast
becoming an extremely important function and responsibility
of veterinarians. As important as it is to vaccinate,
neuter, spay, and manage kidney and heart disease in to
day's pets, it's just as important that veterinarians
consider their responsibility to help clients and their
pets deal with unwanted and unac ceptable behavior. In
fact, veterinary hospitals are often the first place to
seek counseling for behavior problems in pets because of
the importance in ruling out primary or secondary medical
problems that may be the root of the unwanted behavior.
Some examples of natural behaviors of dogs and cats that
are often unacceptable to people are chasing, biting,
growling, and other forms of aggression, marking with
urine, pulling at collars, territorial aggression, barking,
jumping, roaming, and digging.
The first generality in dealing with truly troublesome
behavior problems is this: Seek veterinary help first! I
can't tell you the number of animals I've seen with medical
problems that actually cause unwanted behaviors. My
favorite example is the family who brings in their ancient
feline companion for euthanasia because "she's been
urinating outside the litter box all week and she's old
anyway." Upon further questioning, it becomes apparent that
the cat actually has a cystitis, or bladder infection,
confirmed by a simple urine analysis, common in older
patients, and treatable with appropriate nutritional
counseling and antibiotic therapy.
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