Identifying Negative Emotions in your Pet Of the seven emotional behavioural circuits in the brain, three are negative; frustration, fear/anxiety and panic/grief. When faced with a “trigger” or stimulus that evokes a negative emotional response a pet can chose one of four behavioural responses; avoidance, repulsion, inhibition or appeasement. What an owner does in response […]
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 […]
New Tricks Carrie and I spent last week in our old stomping grounds at Sydney University. Over five full days of lectures we learnt how behavioural medicine is now an accepted and integrated part of veterinary medicine. Australian specialist veterinary behaviourists, Kersti Seksel and Jacqui Ley were joined by the UK’s Sarah Heath. The Take […]
Fear is a Powerful Motivator Mediated by a small almond shaped structure deep within the brain called the amygdala, threatened animals have an almost instantaneous surge in heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and metabolism. This so called “fight or flight reflex” is the subjective state of fear and dysregulation of this “fear pathway” […]
