Smitten by Kittens? With “kitten” season just around the corner here is an update for potential owners on how to select behaviourally resilient and cuddly kittens and to limit conflict in multi-cat households. How Cats Think Cats, unlike dogs or humans, are not socially obligate. This doesn’t mean that they cannot establish or maintain healthy […]
Bad Behaviour A pet’s behaviour is an outward expression of their underlying emotional motivations and is strongly influenced by learning. Pets with behavioural problems display inappropriate behaviours [eg barking, aggression or escape or destructive behaviour] in response to trigger stimuli eg certain events, places, people, pets, noises or objects. The stimuli are considered innocuous so […]
Risky Business? Several studies in the Occupational Medicine Journal analysing significant injuries to Australian veterinarians have concluded that we face “an unacceptably high risk of injury”. It was found that vets face a nine times greater risk of serious injury when compared to human medical practitioners. In the preceding 12 months, 48% of vets reported […]
Doggy Body Movin Successfully interpreting what your dog is trying to communicate through their body language allows you to respond appropriately to their underlying emotional motivations. Hearing It is unusual for dogs to vocalise a lot when they interact. Their main form of communication is through body language and smells. Behaviourist think they bark, growl […]
Do Emotions Affect Behaviour? While it is useful in behavioural management to know the context or “the with whom, when and where” a pet displays their problem behaviour, the more important question to ask may be why? The “why” helps both vets and behavioural trainers plan long term management and allows owners to predict and […]
Doggy Dementia Advances in canine nutrition, disease prevention and treatment has led to an aging population of dogs that commonly live into their late teens. Now age is not a disease but it does take its toll on the circulatory, renal, hepatic, musculoskeletal and central nervous systems [CNS]. Changes in the canine CNS include beta […]
Noise Phobias Fireworks and thunderstorm related fears are common in the dog. Symptoms of sound related fears include whining, panting, salivation and escape or hiding behaviour. The milder symptoms prompt many owners to attempt self-management. If handled inappropriately these dogs can become complicated via learning and contextualisation then often end up with a generalised anxiety […]
The Eyes Have It! They may be the window to the soul but for such an important and intricately complex organ, eyes have quite limited expressions of disease. Confusingly, disease in different parts of the eye often presents with the same symptoms of; pain [squinting or holding eyelids tightly closed], ocular discharge and inflammation or […]
Lets Hopey It’s Not Atopy Doggy Hay Fever Atopic dermatitis is a common chronic relapsing itchy skin disease of dogs. Affected dogs first show symptoms between 6 months and 3 years of age and then itch more or less for the rest of their life. The easiest analogy to a human disease is “hay fever” […]
Things Visitourists with Pets Should Know Firstly, welcome and enjoy, the south coast is a relaxed and laidback region but local dog lovers have had to fight for, and are understandably protective of, their dogs’ right of access to on and off leash beaches. Whilst visiting please respect their hard won gains. On and Off […]
