Louisa Beal, DVM

If you have ever seen a dog or cat with heat stroke, you won’t forget it.  But what if you have never seen it?  What do you look for?  The signs of heatstroke are listed below, however, in an emergency, lists tend to slip away from our memory.  Is it red gums or gray gums?  Lots of salivation or dry mouth?  Thumping heart or thready pulse?

Whatever time you take to go thumbing through a first aid book or googling ‘heat stroke’ means another minute that you pet’s brain and other vital organs are being cooked.

Just remember this:

Don’t panic.

If it is hot and you pet isn’t acting right, get to a vet.

Your veterinarian has injectable medications that can help treat heat stroke.  They can also monitor and treat any injury to the kidneys or other vital organs.  Besides brain damage and kidney damage, heat stroke can trigger a dangerous bleeding disorder called disseminated intravascular coagulation.  Follow up care to prevent permanent damage is important.

Of course, in the meantime, you want to do what you can to shut that internal oven off.  Even if it isn’t heatstroke, these measures won’t do any harm.

• Cool water or alcohol to the paws.  (This is the only place they can sweat.)
• Cool water to hairless areas, like the armpits and belly.  (Don’t use ice or alcohol here.  They can constrict the capillaries and impede body cooling.)
• Fans can help cool the air your pet is breathing.  (Let’s hope this is the air conditioner in the car on your way to the vet.)
• Don’t use ice unless you are monitoring the rectal temperature.  It is possible to cool them too much.  Cooling efforts should stop when the rectal temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit.  Normal temperature for a dog or cat is about 101 to 102 degrees.

Symptoms of heat stroke include:

• Excessive panting
• Thick saliva
• Increased heart rate
• Depression
• Stupor or appearing in a daze
• Collapse
• Seizures
• Coma

Things to remember:

• Cats don’t normally pant.  A panting cat is in trouble.
• Brachycephalic breeds (snub nose dogs and cats such as Pugs, Bulldogs and Persians) are more susceptible to overheating.
• It isn’t just hot cars in the summer.  Any dog that is active on a warm day may succumb to heat stroke if they become dehydrated.  Pets in cage dryers without monitoring or water can get heat stroke.
• Just because your car is nice and cool when you leave, it can heat up rapidly once the air conditioner is off.  Opening a window is not sufficient.

Prevention of heat stroke is best of all.  Provide shade and plenty of water.  Be aware of your pet’s environment, both inside and outside.  Everything begins with awareness.

Some time ago, I wrote an article titled Pass It On, Redirected Aggression in Cats and Dogs.  In that article, I wrote: “Redirection of a behavior is one of three forms of conflict behavior seen in animals, and humans.  The other two forms of conflict behavior are “approach-withdraw” and “displacement behavior,” which I’ll discuss in future blog entries.”  But I never did… so let’s talk about the other two now.

The example that I gave in that earlier blog was: “(conflict) behaviors are methods for resolving internal conflicts: a hungry dog, faced with a bowl of food and an aggressive canine owner of the food might express any of these three ways of resolving a conflict between approaching for food and fleeing the aggressive owner of the food.”  Another example might be a dog which has been severely frightened.  One of the ways of resolving this internal conflict in drives and motivation, in fact physiological and neurological demands, is familiar to most of us: approach-withdraw, or “flight or fight” as it is commonly, but incorrectly, called.  The other, like redirected behavior, is less well known, the least well known and often the most confusing option: displacement behavior.

Flight or fight: I guess “flight” is ok as a term: dogs and cats don’t actually take flight, but the use of the term “flight” to mean a hurried departure is quite correct.  Animals, including humans, placed into a conflict situation, will often attempt to resolve that conflict through a sudden, almost desperate, withdrawal, a “flight” from the conflict, or by a sudden, again almost desperate and totally out of character, attack or “fight”.  Thus, one example of an “aggressive” dog.  Is this an aggressive dog?  Sure, by the strict definition of aggression, a dog approaching a person or other dog, clearly behaving in such a way as to drive away or remove that person or dog.  But what is also important, in establishing risk or in treating the aggressive behavior, is the motivation: if this is a conflict-resolution behavior, that tells me something much different than if I can establish that it is a habit, a learned behavior, a genetic trait, a function of early deprivation, or any of the other myriads of possible causes and triggers for aggression.

One characteristic of this approach-withdraw behavior that I often see in this behavior is perseveration: the animal (and I know a few people like this) will run away, a little ways, stop, gain their nerve, begin to return and “fight”, lose their nerve, back away into a “flight”, and often hit a balance point, almost rocking back and forth in this conflict situation.

Another behavior that I have seen in these situations, and not one I recommend intentionally testing for, is when a dog in this conflict situation does attack, you can frequently turn the behavior off very quickly by simply shifting the behavior back over the balance point into a flight.  A loud “Hey!” in the face of such an attack has generated a sudden stop, turn, and run on more than one occasion.  The dog, and I have had cats like this too, was in a conflict situation, decided to attack (“fight”) but could easily be switched back to the flight decision by an increase in the scariness of the stimulus.  Again, not an effect that you want to count on, just in case it’s NOT conflict behavior, but it can save the day once in a while, and help you to explain what happened to your client.

How about the third form of conflict resolution, displacement behavior?  It’s an odd one, and more controversial as to its value and cause.  Perhaps you have been in a situation in which there is a conflict, some stress, a dog that is unsure of what it should do.  That dog’s body language signals will be in conflict, flicking from fearful and anxious to aggressive.  Suddenly, the dog will… urinate… or stop and eat a flower… or sit up and beg, or do some seemingly totally unrelated behavior.  This is displacement behavior, an outlet to the conflict.  We see it in humans all the time: some conflict, a disagreement at home among spouses, and suddenly one of them will jump up and light candles, or start to fold laundry.

The animal (or husband?) is in conflict and needs to resolve that conflict, and there are three ways of doing so: approach or withdraw from the stimulus perceived to be causing the conflict (“flight or fight”), redirecting behavior towards another target (often aggressively, in dogs and cats), or take your mind off it, by exhibiting a displacement behavior.  Watch for all three of these in the animals (husbands, wives, and kids count) in your life: your dog, your cat, animals at the dog park, or at the zoo.  Examples are common!  And maybe understanding these sometimes-puzzling behaviors can make our lives a little bit better, or at least a little less confusing.

I like to consider myself a fairly non-judgmental person.  People may do things to their pets that I think are horrible, but I cannot judge them, since, in the past, I have done most of those things myself.  We all grow and learn and change.

However, there are two things that get under my skin and make me want to slap folks upside the head.  Or at least sting them with my sarcasm.  All of my caring, nurturing and willingness to help simply fly out the window.  I end up jamming my fist down my throat so that I don’t say anything that I will regret.

Number one pet peeve.  “I’ve tried everything.”  Really.  Everything?  Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do now, is there?  No place to go from here.  Thanks for calling and have a nice life.  I suppose what they really mean to say is “I am desperate and need you to help me.”  Okay.  But do they think I wouldn’t help them unless they were desperate?  This is my profession.  I want to help.  Desperation merely gets in the way.

Maybe the underlying message is:  “I’ve tried everything I can think of.”  Better.  At least they give me a chance to think of something.  But it still does not give me much information.   What was tried?   How did the pet respond?  Even if medication was tried with no success, there are many reasons why that might be the case.  What was the dosage?  Too much or too little medication can have unsatisfactory results.  How long was the medication given?  Some medications require a month before full effects are seen.  How was the medication given?  Ear gels may not deliver the needed quantity of the medication to reach therapeutic blood levels.  There is the possibility that a different approach to medication may help.

So, my request is to please give me some information that I can process.  Let me know what has been tried.   Let me know the results.

Number two pet peeve.  “I think he is jealous.”  My first snarky impulse is to say, “Well then, I think you should stop catting around.”  But, I hold my tongue.  I take a deep breath and ask, “What is he doing?”

Jealousy is an emotion that we may or may not be able to ascribe to animals. We may be able to tell if a pet is feeling good or feeling bad, but to assign a nuanced emotion like jealousy is not really helpful.  Are we talking about bitterness or suspicion?   Possessiveness or demanding attention?  Even if I could get the cat or dog to lie down on the couch, I still can’t discuss with them any feelings of abandonment or inadequacy.  I can’t get them to understand that they don’t need to feel that way.  And even if I could somehow communicate that to them, it wouldn’t help.

You see, jealousy isn’t the problem.  It is the behavior that is the problem.  What is the pet doing that you don’t want them to do?   Urinating inappropriately?  Chewing things up?  Tearing things down?  Now those are behaviors that I can address.   Ultimately, it is the behavior we want to change.  And unless I know which behaviors are the problem, there isn’t much I can do.   I often deal with changing a pet’s emotions, but even then, I rely on body language to let me know how the pet is feeling.  Ear position, eye position, body posture and vocalizations are all reflections of emotions.  These are the things we can change.  Jealousy is not one of them.

Well, I gotta go.  I have to feed my cats, walk my dog and water my peeves.

The Association of Pet Dog Trainers has declared January to be National Train Your Dog Month.  Too often, owners relinquish their dogs to shelters because an untrained puppy is no big deal, but an untrained dog begins exhibiting behavior problems if the unwanted behavior is allowed to continue. How many phone calls have I received from owners complaining that their dog is attacking people at the front door or won’t come when called resulting in the dog getting into all kinds of trouble? When I ask these owners if they’ve taught their dogs what to do instead, I often hear a description of punishment for bad behavior instead of a description of how their own dog training efforts failed.

Now we know that if you’re reading this blog, you’re a responsible dog owner. You walk your dog, provide lots of environmental enrichment for your dog and train your dog. In fact, the best environmental enrichment for most dogs is training. When I ask owners what environmental enrichment they provide for their dogs, the first thing most owners mention is exercise. I know, I know, a certain famous dog trainer has convinced dog owners that they must exercise their dogs into the ground to be a responsible owner, but I’ve got good news. Domesticated dogs need 30 to 45 minutes of vigorous exercise per day, just like us. Have you ever seen wild wolves exercising? Geez. What dogs are missing in their daily, domesticated lives, is the opportunity to analyze, decision make, and act. You know this is true if you’ve ever tried getting your dog’s attention when he’s stalking or chasing a squirrel. January is a great time to think about exercising your dog’s brain. What better time to tire out our brains than when the weather is bad?

Owners don’t train their dogs for any number of reasons: I don’t have time, I don’t know how, training is boring, my dog is fine the way he is, etc. Well, let’s take these excuses one at a time. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 10,000 times, if we all just trained our dogs for 5 minutes a day, we’d have beautifully behaved dogs. Trust me, 5 minutes a day will get you the best trained dog in town.

If you don’t know how to train dogs, that’s OK. I don’t know how to fix my car, repair my plumbing, or remodel my house. If I had the inclination, I could buy books, DVDs or take classes to learn how to do these things, but I choose to hire professionals. That’s why we offer Day Training services to our Companion Animal Solutions clients. We train our clients’ dogs for them and then we conduct hand off sessions with our clients to teach them how to maintain the training that we’ve installed. Once most owners see how smart their dogs are and how quickly they learn, they become excited about training their dogs. Some even sign up for dog training classes to learn more.

If you’re the “do it yourself” type because of temperament or budget constraints, check out our Book and DVD Recommendations on the Companion Animal Solutions web site. If you want to take a class, search for classes that use positive reinforcement based training and don’t forget to look for fun classes like agility, fly ball, tracking or tricks.

Now for that pesky “dog training is boring” excuse; Of course dog training is boring if all you ever do with your dog is sit, stay, come, and heel. Try some trick training instead! Trick training is incredibly fun while you’re doing it but it’s also fun to show off your dog’s trick repertoire to your friends and family. If you want to learn how to teach your dog tricks, I highly recommend the 101 Dog Tricks book/DVD set. I also love the Take A Bow Wow DVD.

Lastly, the old, “my dog is fine the way he is” excuse; Well, yes, your dog is wonderful but your dog would be so much happier and the bond you share with your dog would be so much deeper if you communicated with your dog for 5 minutes a day. Training a dog (or any animal) is communication, pure and simple. It’s such an exhilarating feeling when you see the light bulb of understanding dawn on a dog’s face. You wouldn’t expect your relationships with your family members or co-workers to be sustainable without at least 5 minutes of communication a day, so why expect a truly good relationship with your dog to exist with less?

And for all of you cat and parrot owners out there, training is wonderful environmental enrichment for your pets too. Many cat owners are stunned when I recommend clicker training for their cat’s increased environmental enrichment (or to solve a behavior problem). Don’t let those cats fool you. They are highly trainable. Check out our Cat Behavior and Training Recommendations on the Companion Animal Solutions web site. I especially like the Clicker Training Cats kit for beginners. Let’s not forget the owners of our feathered friends either. We have Parrot DVD and Book recommendations for you too.

The same principles of training and learning apply whether you’re training a dolphin, horse, parrot, cat, or dog. So at Companion Animal Solutions, we’re declaring January to be Train Your Pet Month. Please send us your stories and videos of your training experiences. We’d love to share your journey of learning and bonding with your pets. We hope that one of your New Years Resolutions will be to get clicking!

Back in the fall of 2008, I presented a blog titled A Reading List in Animal Behavior, Part One. I went on in that article to say, “So here I present a highly personal reading list in ethology.  In this entry, I suggest some reading in basic ethology, and in a later entry, I will focus in readings in applied animal behavior.”

But it never happened.. no follow-up blog on the most relevant material, applied ethology!  So, forthwith, the rest of my list… the disclaimer, as before: this is a personal list.  These are the sort of readings, applied in this case, that I would, and have, “required of students of this field, beginning at the undergraduate level and right on through graduate or board-certification work in ethology.  These are the books that my students, graduate and undergraduate, read.  And these would provide the foundation for an excellent library in animal behavior.” Note: We’ve made book and DVD recommendations about dog behavior, cat behavior, and parrot behavior on the Companion Animal Solutions web site under the Books & DVDs section. For the books below, we’ve linked the titles of these books to places you can order them.

Applied Animal Behavior for the Lay Audience

These are books for the educated owner: I hope that most trainers, veterinarian technician and veterinarian with an interest in behavior have read these. The first three are simply classic, must-reads: I strongly encourage all dog owners, and all of my behavior-issue clients to read these.

Donaldson, Jean.  1997.  Culture Clash. James and Kenneth. This book focuses on the differences between primate [human] and dog behavior, social organization, and communication. Jean’s other fantastic books include Dogs Are From Neptune, Oh Behave! Dog From Pavlov to Pinker, and practical problem solving books like Mine! and Fight!

McConnell, Patricia.  2002.  The Other End of the Leash. Ballantine Books.  This book focuses on dog-primate communication, or the lack thereof.  Based on Trish’s PhD dissertation work and a lifetime of learning about dogs and humans.

Pryor, Karen. 1999.  Don’t Shoot the Dog!  The New Art of Teaching and Training. Bantam. This is the original book that defined the new field of positive-approach dog training.

There are some follow-ups to the themes described in the books above:

McConnell, Patricia.  Various. Trish has an extensive series of How To booklets, all of which are excellent: Cautious Canine, Feisty Fido, Surviving a Multi-Dog Household, I’ll Be Home Soon, et al.  These build, in more practical terms, on the ideas developed in her best-seller books.

Reid, P.J., 1996.  Excel-erated Learning: Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn and How  Best To Teach Them.  James and Kenneth Publishers, Oakland, CA

Ryan, T. 1998.  The Toolbox for Remodeling Your Problem Dog. Howell Book House, New York.

These two books are by leading canine learning specialists, and build on the concepts of a positive reinforcement approach, and understanding the broader behavior of your dog, the context in which your dog behaves.

Wright, J. C. 1994.  Is Your Cat Crazy? Macmillan Publishing Co., New York.

Wright, J. C. 1999.  The Dog Who Would Be King.  Rodale Press,  Emmaus, PA.

And then, how does all this conceptual material come together: first, John’s books bring you into the world of a behavior specialist, an academic bringing the science that we have learned about dogs, and cats, to bear on specific behavior problems… and at the same time, educating about dog behavior and learning in an entertaining way.

Markowitz, H. 1981.  Behavioral Enrichment in the Zoo, Van Nostrand Reinhold. Finally, as an ethologist, I find this book to be fascinating: applied animal behavior principles, but with application to exotic animals.  This is the behind-the-scenes story of a series of imaginative, and highly successful, attempts to produce natural behaviors in captive animals.

Puppies and Puppy Selection

Then how about the big issue: what kind of dog should I get?  Here are two good suggestions for reading on this subject, again based on good science.

Hart, B.L. & Hart, L.A. 1988.  The Perfect Puppy. How to Choose a Dog by Its Behavior.  W.H. Freeman, New York.

Rutherford, C. & Neil, D.H.  1992.  How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With, 2nd Ed. Alpine Pub., Loveland.

More Advanced and Professional Books

There are many references used by behavior specialists, certified applied animal behaviorists and board-certified veterinary behaviorists: these are a few of the more accessible ones.

Askew, H.R., 1996. Treatment of Behavior Problems in Dogs and Cats. Blackwell Science, Cambridge, MA.

Bradshaw, J.W.S.  1992.  The Behaviour of the Domestic Cat.  C.A.B. International, UK.

Fraser, A.F.  1992.  The Behaviour of the Horse.  C.A.B. International, UK.

Hart, B.L. 1985. The Behavior of Domestic Animals.  W.H. Freeman and Co., New York.

Hetts, S.  1999.  Pet Behavior Protocols.  What To Say, What To Do and When To Refer. AAHA Press, Lakewood, CO.

Voith, V.L. and P.L.Borchelt, Eds. 1996.  Readings in Companion Animal Behavior. Veterinary Learning Systems, Trenton, NJ.

Serpell, J., Ed. 1995.  The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People. Cambridge Univ. Press, New York.

Thorne, C., Ed.  1992.  The Waltham Book of Cat and Dog Behaviour. Pergamon Press, New York.

Turner, D.C. & Bateson, P., Eds. 1988. The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour. Cambridge University Press, New York.

Waring, G.H.  1983.  Horse Behavior. Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ.

So that’s my reading list in applied animal behavior, from both an academic and a popular view.  Combining the books in this list with the previously listed readings in general ethology would generate an impressive library in ethology with a focus on applied animal behavior.

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have a favorite book to recommend, or a question about a book you’ve seen or read, or a specific topic in animal behavior for which you would like a reading recommendation.  Time to read!

** I must credit my colleague, Daniel Estep, PhD, for developing the original form of these reading lists, which I have modified and annotated considerably.  Any changes and added editorial opinions are strictly my own, unless Dan likes any of them.

The writing has been on the wall for years. First came the September 2007 citizens committee report calling shelter conditions in King County “deplorable”. If you’ve followed the KCACC oversight committee education work being done at kcaccexposed.org, you know that the staff that works at Animal Care and Control and at the shelters are doing everything they can within a broken system. Many critics of the way KCACC has been run claim that the $1 million dollar one time allocation to fix the system wasn’t enough because of tragically bad management and failed oversight at KCACC. Now I’m reading the announcement on the Metropolitan King County Council web site dated September 24, 2009 that is titled Council member commends Executive for implementing their call to get King County out of the shelter business. What does this mean exactly? Well, as with all governmental issues, it means several things. (click on the image above to see video of the KOMO Problem Solvers’ story on this issue).

For one, it means that because the county is facing a $56 million budget short fall, it’s going to look for a private organization to fulfill the county’s public safety function of Animal Care and Control. “Last year, we stated publicly that the King County Animal Shelter system was so broken that it could not be fixed and asked the Executive to consider a new system. I commend him for taking decisive action to implement our request,” said Council Chair Constantine. “King County has been failing in its obligation to provide humane care for the animals in our custody. This solution will shift sheltering services to a proven community provider.” The problem is that our interim Executive is not implementing a solution. He’s simply shutting down the shelters, without an alternative solution in place, and he’s doing it soon.

When this happens (and the Kent shelter is scheduled to be shut down on November 1st), the Seattle Animal Shelter, the Seattle/King County Humane Society, and every private rescue group in King County is going to be literally over run with homeless animals and all of these organizations are inundated already. The county has been talking to the Humane Society for years about taking over these responsibilities for the county, but how is the Humane Society supposed to pay for the services the county wants them to provide? If a $1 million infusion couldn’t solve the problem, how is a non-profit organization supposed to step up and solve the problem over night, with no additional funding?

Some county employees, volunteers, and animal advocates argue that the animals of King County would be better served by turning over Animal Care and Control and sheltering services to a private organization. I’m not disagreeing with this position. Across the country, we’ve seen privatization of the Animal Care and Control function handled well and we’ve seen it handled poorly. Really, no matter who takes over this responsibility, isn’t about having a plan in place before any decision is made? Isn’t it about transparency in the system? After all, we’re making decisions about a population that doesn’t have a voice, the animals.

If you think that this problem is only about treating stray animals humanely, that’s only part of the story. This is a public safety issue. If you want to see what happens when a county agency is stretched too thin and given too many mandates, read the Seattle Times article Dog attack victims wait days or weeks for response. Too often, when a county or city’s Animal Care and Control responsibilities are handled poorly, we see elected officials respond with harmful, unfair, and expensive Breed Specific Legislation which we believe is the absolutely worst response to the problem.

If you’ve read this far, you may be wondering what you can do about this situation. I’d like to make a few suggestions:

Our King County Executive is only serving in an interim capacity. Get involved and make the candidates for this open seat state their position on Animal Care and Control. Do either of these candidates have a plan? Contact Susan Hutchison and Dow Constantine and find out before your cast your vote.

You can donate money locally to the organizations who will be handling the problem that King County is throwing over the wall to them. Donating your money to the Seattle Animal Shelter or your local Humane Society means that the money will be used locally.

Lastly, if you can’t donate money, you can volunteer as a foster home. Both the Seattle Animal Shelter foster program and the Seattle Humane Society foster program need your help. Space is critical when it comes to saving the lives of homeless animals until they can be placed in their forever homes.

Please let us know your thoughts about King County Animal Care and Control being eliminated as a county government funded function. If you contact our candidates for County Executive, let us know what their responses were. Do you live in a community where this function was privatized? What was the experience like in your community?

We’ve all felt it: The late-afternoon energy crash between lunch and a second cup of coffee, or the on-edge irritability that preceeds that hours-overdue dinner.  As humans, we know that food is a vital tool in stabilizing our mood and energy levels, and for maintaining overall health.  Providing all the necessary brain and body fuel for ourselves and our families helps ensure more relaxed, cooperative relationships between comfortably satiated individuals. If we don’t function optimally on imbalanced nutrition, could what’s in Fido and Fi-fi’s bowl be contributing to their bothersome behavior? This is a multi-faceted question that is being increasingly investigated by veterinarians, pet trainers and animal behaviorists alike.

The arena of pet nutrition is one of great controversy, ranging from those who swear by the most expensive of packaged commercial brands and veterinary formulas, to proponents of raw, natural, home-cooked or even vegan recipes.  Unbiased and scientifically significant studies are relatively few, and no one diet has been found unequivocally superior.  It is universally important, however that all changes in your pets’ food be made slowly, and with the approval of your veterinarian.  That said, there is an arsenal of information surrounding domestic animal nutrition and feeding habits that can be utilized by pet parents who wish to become informed consumers (or cooks!).

As meat-eaters, one of the dietary cornerstones for dogs and cats is protein.  Incomplete and complete proteins can be obtained through primary meat sources or balanced combinations of meat, vegetables and grains.  Balance is the key term, as evidence increasingly supports the role of protein in the effects of serotonin in both dogs and cats.  Serotonin is a chemical that serves to regulate an animal’s mood, sleep-wake cycles, level of arousal, and sensitivity to pain/stimuli.  Before serotonin can be produced, there must be adequate levels of its precursor, Tryptophan (think turkey-induced post-thanksgiving coma) which comes from meat sources.  Many pet foods include corn and other simple carbohydrates as a primary protein, though these lack tryptophan.  This eventual deficit of serotonin may manifest as hyperactivity, aggression, hypersensitivity or restless sleep.  Unfortunately, feeding primarily large quantities of meat may create a similar fate.  Some studies have found that other amino acids present in animal products may provide competition for tryptophan, which is again unable to reach the brain in the form of feel-good serotonin.

Though the majority of owners and animal professionals would agree that dogs and cats benefit nutritionally and behaviorally from eating meat, those included in commercial foods may be comprised of controversial by-products and/or chemicals.  Preservatives and dyes in human food have been linked to allergies and behavioral difficulties, and there is increasing evidenced to support this relationship in animals.  In order to avoid some commercial pet foods’ more gruesome components, look for the following on the label:
The first 3 ingredients are those present in the highest amounts. Favor unambiguous statements such as “lamb meat” or “chicken” rather than “meat product/byproduct” that could potentially include euthanized, diseased or road-killed animals. Preservatives such as vitamin C and E (tocopherols) may be safer than artificial preservatives in question regarding cases of hyperactivity, cancer and self-injurious behavior.

Another important player in providing a balanced diet are carbohydrates.  Within this category are wheat, various grains and vegetables.  Wheat and other grain allergies are becoming increasingly common in pets and may contribute to gastric sensitivity, scratching, self injurious behavior or irritability of skin or mood.  It is crucial that any allergies be ruled out by your veterinarian if your pet is exhibiting any of these symptoms.  Barring allergies, carbohydrates may still be problematic.  House training/soiling difficulties in dogs have been attributed to an excess of carbohydrates by some veterinarians and trainers.  The looser stool that results from the high carb, larger volume diets are harder for the dog to retain, and harder for the owner to clean up, resulting in an accident-prone dog and a frustrated owner (who may have a harder time responding properly to the accident—see the blog on house-training.)  Additionally, carbohydrates provide an energy surge for a couple of hours following mealtime, creating the potential for hyperactivity/mood irritability cycles of behavior.  We may see this in our pets as destruction, rough play or overzealous biting in puppies.  In commercial pet foods, potentially beneficial “whole grains” in the ingredients do not exclude those that have been stripped or rejected for human consumption.  It might be best to select a pet food that explicitly labels the grain such as “brown rice.”

In some cases, the form of the pet’s food may contribute to behavior, particularly when chewing and house-training are in question.  Canned foods contain high moisture contents that may be excessive for a dog trying that is learning to refrain from urinating in the house.  Similarly, a total lack of crunchy kibble has been blamed for increased chewing habits when a dog has no outlet to appropriately use his jaws.  In catering to cats, their drive to hunt and stalk its dinner in small, frequent meals, might be better fulfilled by splitting fluffy’s daily ration into small portions hidden about the house.  This uses mental and physical resources (that aren’t being spent on the sofa’s arm) while providing the proper ration at satiety-maintaining intervals.

Cats aren’t the only pets that benefit from frequent feedings, and the method of mealtime delivery may be one of the most important considerations regarding nutrition and behavior.  While free feeding (particularly high-carb foods) may lead to hyperactivity and obesity, once-a-day feedings for both dogs and cats can contribute to aggression, stress, anxiousness and irritability in response to a drop in blood glucose.  To avoid this, a properly-sized ration can be divided into smaller portions fed twice or three times daily.  If possible, caching, hiding, or enclosing your pet’s food in a food-dispending treat is a great way to keep them mentally and physically occupied while satisfying some of their animal feeding instincts.

It has been suggested that some adverse aggressive and food-refusal behaviors can be correlated with a pet’s feeding environment and poor digestion.  While the ingredients in a pet’s food are certainly important in digestion, stress and nervousness can also contribute to gastric upset.  In addition to messy stools and under- absorbed nutrients, poor digestion can contribute to irritability, biting, whining, restlessness and other signs of ill-ease.  Though it is important to work with a trainer and behaviorist to avoid aversive food-guarding or aggression problems, a nervous dog or cat might benefit from being allowed to eat in a location they perceive to be safe and quiet.  You or your trainer/behaviorist can observe your pet to determine if there is a proper room or kennel that will allow unrushed, relaxed eating and digestion. To help encourage satiety feelings and quality sleeping patterns, feeding your pet within an hour or two of “bed time” might be helpful.

Finally, to address those upturned whiskers of the picky-eaters, the refusal of a healthy, nutritionally balanced food may be linked to our human desire to love and please our pets.  Just as we can use food as a reward to capture and train positive behaviors, food-refusal responses can be reinforced by the eventual addition of a novel food or tantalizing treat.  Though pet owners mean well, that coercive nugget of liver or spoonful of tuna after the beloved fluff-ball balks at his bowl, conditions a “if I sit and wait rather than digging in, that human will give me something great!” response.  Presto: Human is trained!

The links between pet nutrition and behavior are still in need of further study.  Until then, the few completed experiments and a wealth of anecdotal evidence helps fuel healthy discussions about how to best provide for out pets.  As long as essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are provided to your pet, safe and slow experimentation with different diets may be a beneficial piece of the behavior-modification puzzle.

Cats, like all mammals, are social creatures.  While cats are far less social than dogs, to think of cats as asocial is wrong.  The degree of social behavior and the ability of an individual to adapt to a changing social environment varies with species (certainly cats are less social than dogs), breed (Bengal cats are less social than domestic short-hairs), and individual personality.  Even individual personality is dependent on factors like genetics (or what we often call temperament) and learning or socialization.  So genetics play a big role, at the species, breed, and then individual level.

A recent study looked at how young cats reacted to familiar and unfamiliar people and to a novel object, and showed that the social personality of the father (genetics) as well as the degree of early socialization (learning) influenced the later degree of social stress in human interactions, but only the genetics influenced the (nonsocial) response to a novel object.  This is a nice example of the interaction between genetics and learning.  And of course, this is true of all mammals.

So cats are less social than dogs… and some cats are genetically at the nonsocial end of the cat continuum.  This means that not all cats can be housed socially.  This is true of dogs as well, just much less common.  But there is that one important variable, learning and the environment, that gives us something that we can manipulate, or a tool to maximize the odds that a cat that we own will be sociable.

The next factor to understand is the concept of critical periods, again common in all mammals.  This is another process by which genetics and experience interact: critical periods are genetically-controlled time windows in the brain in which certain experiences are dramatically more likely to be remembered and to influence later behavior.  In kittens, the critical period for positive effects of social experience is approximately three to eight weeks of age (with some variability, 2-12 weeks to be sure).  Evolutionarily, in the wild, this is the period in which kittens learn who their parents and siblings are: these are “friendlies” with whom you can safely socialize.  These are also “not-mates” thus preventing inbreeding issues.

So cats will generally only socialize well with siblings (who they experienced at 3-8 weeks old), and even this is true only in females… males become entirely nonsocial, except for brief periods for mating.  In captivity, it is VERY difficult to have more than one male in a household, even if they are castrated, unless they were socialized with a lot of other cats in the 3-8 week window.  And remember, this behavior and response is all on a continuum: there are plenty of examples of social male cats but of course, there are many examples of big problems as well.

So given that there is a critical period for socialization at 3-8 weeks, what does this mean for our companion cats?  A common issue is a kitten adopted from its litter prior to 12 weeks and who is wonderful with humans (who handled it in the socialization window), but attacks any other cat.  Or a young cat that was part of a feral litter, who is socialized only with its littermates and has a very hard time socializing with humans, whom it only encountered well after the socialization critical window, or other cats, with whom it was not socialized and perhaps has even had some negative, competitive interactions.

We have been talking about positive social experiences: how about negative or traumatic experiences?  The same effect works in this case: traumatic or unstable social experiences in the 3-8 week window have a much stronger, more lasting effect than the same experiences at other times.  A recent study, for instance, showed that poorly socialized cats exhibited higher levels of stress when housed in a social setting, whereas cats with a positive early history of socialization showed no differences in social stress in solitary or social housing situations.

So what does this tell us about introducing a new kitten into a household?  First, take into account the history.  In many cases, for instance in shelter adoptions, there is very little history, but if there is any information about the personalities of the parents, this may be important.  Then, what is known about the kitten’s early socialization?  Finally, how was the cat housed, and at what age, in the shelter, or even elsewhere?  All of this information will tell you something about how the cat will react to a social situation.

Then, when introducing a new kitten into a feline social setting, the two big rules are: Go Slow and Keep It Positive.  Introductions should proceed slowly, only as fast as the participants want.  Keep cats separated by doors, windows, furniture, or baby gates, and introduce them to each other slowly.  Keep it positive, make everybody want to play the “meet the new cat” game.  Provide food rewards or attention to reward good social behavior: make it a party!  But don’t push strange cats together: each bad interaction, hiss, or fight provides a negative connotation to the interaction, and enough of these just teach the cats to avoid each other as much as possible.  Finally, encourage socialization as early as possible: the more a kitten is handled (gently and without trauma, of course) by as many humans as possible, and the more different cats it encounters (again, in a positive way), the greater the chances of later problem-free social behavior.

When I read the September edition of the Animal Behavior Associates newsletter, I found a statistic that was quite alarming. It was estimated that 36% of the 81 million cats in the United States did not see a vet in 2006. Why are so many cats not receiving regular healthcare? Regular checkups are key to preventing future health conditions and potential causes for behavioral problems. It is likely because many people find trips to the vet to be a nightmare. The whole occasion is simply too stressful for their cat and for themselves. Therefore, I thought I would outline some basic tips about making a trip to the vet less traumatic on your feline friend.

For your cat, a trip to the veterinarian involves dealing with one stressful situation after another. They are put in a carrier, loaded into a car, and driven away from their familiar surroundings. They then arrive to an unfamiliar building full of the smells, sounds, and sights of other animals… and all of this just to be handled and examined by strangers. All these unfamiliar factors cause some level of anxiety in your cat, and that anxiety tends to accumulate. They likely only occur in the context of going to the vet, so each event begins to predict that more stressful events are to come. It is then no surprise that after a couple of trips to the vet, you now have an extremely anxious cat as soon as you pull out the carrier. However, there are things that you can do to make this anxiety-ridden trip less stressful for your feline friend. Here are some helpful tips:

Work on getting your cat used to their carrier. Place comfortable bedding inside and leave it out for them to explore. Put favorite toys or special treats inside. As they become used to the carrier, you can also start feeding them inside. DO NOT rush your cat into the carrier, and just close the door. Let your cat dictate the speed of the exercise. Once they are comfortable entering the carrier on their own, start closing the door for progressively longer amounts of time, reinforcing your cat while he is inside.

Get your cat used to riding in the car. Once they are calm going into their carrier, start taking them out for short car rides. Be sure to give them special treats while they are in the car. You do not have to go anywhere in particular, but this will get them used to being driven around, and they will learn that going into the car does not always mean they are going to the vet.

However, do go to the vet occasionally, even if you do not have an appointment. People often recommend that dogs should be taken to the vet just to get weighed and greeted by the staff to make it a positive experience, so why not do this with cats. Take them in; have them sit in the lobby for a bit while you give them treats. Have staff members give them treats, and pet them. Then just go home. We want these casual visits to be very positive for your cat.

Have your cat become more accustomed to be handled by strangers. Recruit neighbors / friends to come over to handle your cat. Similar to the carrier work explained above, do not push your cat. Allow your cat to move at his or her own pace. Steps in handling should be gradual. Reward them for coming to people, and allowing them to pet them. Once they are comfortable around these people, have the person slowly increase the intensity of handling by touching the paws and tail, then holding the paws, and so on. Constantly reward the cat as progress is made. We want body handling to be an extremely positive experience.

Doing these exercises will create positive associations with these different stressful situations. Make sure to use reinforcers that are high value (wet food, tuna fish, anchovy paste, spray cheese) and particularly in the beginning, keep your rate of reinforcement high. Doing the work now will make future routine trips a breeze, and emergency trips less hectic.

Do you have tips for getting your cat to the veterinarian that you’re willing to share? Maybe you have a funny story about taking your cat to the vet. We love to hear from our cat owners, so feel free to share an idea or a story.

Most pet owners are familiar with the situation: your dog or cat is upset about something, perhaps has been challenged or even attacked. But rather than an understandable response in which the animal lashes out at the challenger, or turns and runs, it will turn and attack someone, or something, else. That is, it will exhibit an appropriate behavior but toward an inappropriate target.

In my house call cases, I frequently see this behavior in cats: they are frightened by a strange or new cat, and will turn and attack… the owner! This is frequently also the situation in inappropriate urination situations. The cat dislikes something about her litterbox, and urinates… in a different location.

In dogs, redirected behavior frequently manifests itself in social relationships. Dogs, more so than cats, have a social hierarchy, and if confronted by a more dominant animal, dogs will frequently redirect their aggressive response towards a different target, usually a dog lower on the social ladder. Some wags have suggested that this sort of behavior is frequently exhibited in the corporate world: passing the “aggression” right on down the corporate ladder.

But redirected aggression may exhibit itself in less obvious ways as well. A novel or escalating stress situation can be the trigger for redirected “aggression” towards objects, resulting in the destruction of shoes or furniture, which are unlikely to have elicited an attack themselves. It becomes very much a matter of “I know I am not supposed to growl or bark at that new baby, so I will tear up the sofa instead.”

Redirection of a behavior is one of three forms of conflict behavior seen in animals, and humans. The other two forms of conflict behavior are “approach-withdraw” and “displacement behavior,” which I’ll discuss in future blog entries. But all three of these behaviors are methods for resolving internal conflicts: a hungry dog, faced with a bowl of food and an aggressive canine owner of the food might express any of these three ways of resolving a conflict between approaching for food and fleeing the aggressive owner of the food.

The difficulty for pet owners, and specialists treating their pets, is recognizing redirected behavior. It is a frequent mystery when your dog turns and attacks you, or another member of your “pack” when you or they have done nothing to deserve it. Determining whether this is truly a change in behavior, a change in the relationship, or simply the sign of a redirected behavior is critical to the assessment and treatment of the situation. It frequently takes a skilled behavior observer to establish the difference.

Some situations are quite obvious: if your dog gets into a fight with another dog, and you intercede and get bitten by your own dog, this is an obvious case of redirected behavior: an appropriate behavior for the situation directed at an inappropriate target in the heat of the exchange.

But other situations are much more difficult to establish, like a situation that I saw in a behavior case. A cat named Milo (all names have been changed to protect the furry) was reported to have suddenly and without provocation begun chewing and tearing up curtains. The curtains had not been changed, nothing in the room had been changed, and Milo was in good health. Milo was housebroken, using a litterbox correctly, and had remained social with the owners and other cats in the house. Upon a lengthy investigation, it was discovered that another one of the cats in the house had recently been ill, had spent a night or two in the veterinary hospital, and had come home a day before the first curtain “attack.” The two cats had never interacted much but Milo hated visiting the vet, and when the sick cat came home smelling like the vet office, Milo started attacking the curtains instead of the cat. By using positive (food) counter-conditioning to reduce Milo’s anxiety, and therefore aggression, in the presence of the other cat, we eliminated the behavior within a few days.

So, being attentive to the possibility that a behavior might be a form of redirection is an important part of the behavioral assessment. It’s an obvious idea, the need to channel conflicting behaviors into something that is less dangerous, but in its myriad subtleties, it can be tricky to diagnose and treat.