At North Hills Animal Hospital in Sherwood, our veterinarian is trained to identify and treat behavioral conditions in pets. Some common behavioral issues that we see in pet behavioral medicine include anxiety and aggression. These behavioral conditions can present problems down the road in completing basic animal care tasks like grooming, going for walks, and visiting the vet.
To ensure that your pet has the best quality of life possible, we encourage you to visit our office when you notice your pet displaying signs of behavioral health issues. As you’ll read below, behavioral health is just as important for a pet’s well-being as physical health. In fact, behavioral health issues can sometimes point to physical health issues. For your pet’s safety and overall well-being, any change in behavior or appearance is worth mentioning to the vets at our office.
Common Behavioral Conditions for Pets
Depending on the type of pet, there are certain behavioral conditions that may be more common than others. For both cats and dogs, aggression is a common behavioral condition that we see in our office. This can be a scary condition for pet owners and their families to experience. After all, it puts those around the pet at risk of harm.
It also puts the pet owner at risk of legal problems if the pet escalates to the point of hurting others. Treating aggression quickly ensures that the worst-case scenarios for an aggressive pet may be avoided. It can also make it easier to keep a pet rather than rehoming if the aggression presents a problem for the owners. For cat owners, cat-to-cat aggression is common and treatable with proven methods.
Additional Issues
Another common behavioral issue we see in pets is elimination disorders in cats. These types of disorders refer to marking areas with urine and eliminating waste outside of the litterbox. In these cases, we always check to make sure there isn’t an underlying physical cause that may make it harder for the cat to use the litterbox properly. We may recommend changes to the cat’s environment, like increasing litterboxes, cleaning the litterbox more regularly, and switching to a different litter.
General behavioral conditions for pets include separation anxiety and noise phobia. Separation anxiety can be subtle, so watching your pet over video at least once a year can make it easier to spot. Panting, excessive grooming in cats, and hiding may indicate noise phobia. Both of these disorders have treatment options.
Treat Behavioral Conditions in Pets Right Away
To relieve your pet’s behavioral health symptoms, call North Hills Animal Hospital in Sherwood at (501) 835-3577 to schedule an appointment today.