Almost everyone knows someone with a fear or phobia. Examples of causes are heights, spiders, crowds or open spaces. Dogs and Cats also exhibit these behaviours at times and some need help. Dogs and cats exhibit changes in body language when afraid and may tend to flee, freeze or fight to escape the stimuli they encounter. Anxiety is the anticipation of future danger or misfortune. This can lead to panic attacks and although the fear is generally irrational the perception of the danger is real. Phobia is an irrational intense, persistent fear of certain thing(s). Some common examples: Separation anxiety when the pet becomes anxious & distressed showing vocalisation, destruction, house soiling sometimes vomiting & diarrhoea when their attachment figure (person or other pet) leaves. Fear of noises can be viewed as an anxiety and provoke similar responses to fireworks, thunder, cars backfiring, & gunshots. Spraying and other elimination problems are the most common behavioural problem in Cats. Spraying is a marking behaviour often associated with anxiety. A single cat at home may become anxious about perceived territorial competitors and a multi cat home can have aggression and pecking order problems. All of these behavioural conditions can have physical disease factors that either cause or predispose to the outcome. All pets can have their problem(s) controlled with a thorough & systematic approach to the diagnosis and elimination of the cause(s) plus targeted management and sometimes periods of medication. There is not a magic pill to solve these problems.

Mackie Family Pet Health
Centre's Cat Boarding