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| Dr Katrina Ward with her dog Lucy. |
Veterinary behaviour is a relatively new field which addresses behavioural and mental health issues in companion animals. Like all areas of mental health, one of the biggest challenges is creating awareness around the issue. All too often, the concept of "pets on prozac" is laughed off as an indulgent middle-class fad. Behaviour veterinarian Katrina Ward argues that in fact mental health is essential for the well-being of animals. She discusses her career trajectory, and her favourite behaviour resources, below.
What is your day job?
When I am not
taxiing my 14 year old twins to school, music, sport etc. I run my own businessas a behavioural consultant (in 2008 I obtained, by examination, Membership to
the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in the field of
Veterinary Behaviour). This primarily involves assessing animals with
problematic behaviour and mental disorders, making a diagnosis and determining a
management plan with the owner. My work does also take me to some interesting
places- for example, being an expert witness in court, helping police and local
councils etc. I run weekly puppy classes at my husband’s veterinary practice. I
have been a committee member on the Australian Veterinary Behaviour Interest Group
for many years and have been the President since 2014. I have also recently
retired with my dog Lucy from volunteering as a Delta Therapy worker. Understandably,
my “day job” carries on until the late hours of the night as this is when I
often write up my client reports.
What lead you to work in veterinary
behaviour?
Multiple
reasons…I started developing an interest as a general practitioner. No one in
Tasmania was able to help in this field and there was some potentially harmful
advice being provided. I undertook the Centre for Veterinary Educationbehaviour course and then was motivated to do my Memberships. It also suited my
lifestyle as it didn’t involve emergencies and late nights (I had enough of
those as a parent and as a general practitioner for 17 years!)
Have you ever lived with an animal
with behaviour or mental health issues?
Eleven years
ago we adopted a 3 year old Golden Retriever (Lucy) who had been neglected by
her family due to allergies and a new born child. She spent most of her days
tethered on a property with no fences and a public walkway to the beach out the
front of the property. As a result, she was a barker. She barked in frustration,
for attention, at the beach activities…When the owners agreed to let us take
care of her, she continued to bark, a lot. She has been a challenging dog in
that regard, but all our training, patience and enrichment of her environment
has paid off. Her love of people made her a superb therapy dog. She’s showing
her age now with degenerative osteoarthritis but still manages a frolic on the
beach. She is being managed well with NSAIDs, stem-cell therapy to her stifles,
weight control and DHA/ Omega-enriched food. She loves games with
food-releasing toys that don’t require much physical activity- to keep her
mentally busy.
Why do you think animal mental health
is still under-recognised?
There is
definitely an increase in awareness but it’s not at the level it could be. To a
degree I think it is not encouraged to be thought about by the industries that
rely on animal use (it’s hard to eat meat, wear leather, take the kids to the
zoo or justify medical experiments etc. if we think too much about the
sentience, or the uniqueness, or the personality of the individual creature).
It is similar
in the way certain training methods of dogs and horses are justified as
“necessary”. To address the impact these techniques might be having on the
animal’s mental state is inconvenient for those who rely on their use.
With respect
to domestic pets, the interaction between the owner and the pet can have an
influence on the pet’s mental health. To convince an owner to change their behaviour with the pet can
sometimes be difficult to achieve.
There is also
unfortunately a lack of focus on this discipline in veterinary education at the
undergraduate level.
As animal
health seems to follow in the footsteps of human medicine, I certainly hope
that this educational deficit will lessen with time. As veterinarians become
more empowered with the confidence to teach owners about recognising signs of
stress, see the benefit in running a “fear-free” practice and address
behavioural issues with owners, I certainly expect there will
be an increase
in owner awareness and then into the general community.
How does someone recognise distress in
an animal?
Distress can
often be seen by a change in body language, such as (in dogs), pinning the ears
back, tucking the tail down, raising hackles, lifting their lip and showing the
whites of the eyes. Their behaviour will also change, for example by panting, urinating
or defecating, being hypervigilent, crouching down or showing avoidance
behaviour. They will often vocalise too, such as whining or growling. There are
also physiological changes such as an increase in heart rate, cortisol levels
in saliva/hair/urine which can be measured.
It is also
important to point out that animals can also show signs of stress when they are
excited. This is called eustress (a positive form of stress having a beneficial
effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being, literally
meaning “good stress”). An example of that would be a dog that barks and pants
in eager anticipation of a walk when it sees the owner get out the lead. It is
important to look at the whole context of the animal’s behaviour and the
environment in which it occurs.
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| Katrina with Lucy. |
In veterinary settings one cofounding
factor is the so called "white coat effect" or fear of vets. How do
we tell what animals are truly anxious in a general sense and those that just
freak out at the vet?
Thorough
questioning of the client is the only way to diagnose generalised anxiety.
Questionnaires for the owner to complete can be a good way to identify the animal’s
mental well-being. An animal that shows an extreme fear reaction, even if only at
the veterinary clinic, is worth helping. If it needs hospitalising then this
stress will interfere with healing and the ability to handle the animal. It is
also stressful for the staff and of course for the owner who may be less
inclined to seek veterinary help. If we can improve the animal’s experience at
the vet clinic it is win-win-win for everyone.
There are both harmful and helpful
ways of modifying animal behaviour. In a field where the evidence is building
and everyone is an "expert", how can we sort out the helpful from
harmful methods?
One of the
simplest answers is “if you wouldn’t do it to your child, should you do it to
your pet?” or “how would you feel if you couldn’t speak the same language and
someone did that to you?” If the idea makes us uncomfortable, then it is most
likely going to be harmful. An example of this is a behaviour modification
technique called “flooding”. This is often recommended for dogs that are
reactive to other dogs and sounds like “just take him to a dog park and let him
get over it”. Even though he might stop reacting in that overwhelming
situation, in all reality this is likely to sensitise the dog further and in
future interactions with other dogs his behaviour will be worse. With humans,
at least we can explain why we might use that technique, explain to the person
how they will feel and how to calm themselves. We do not have that privilege
with dogs and they can’t tell us how uncomfortable they feel, especially if
they “shut down” (a condition called learned helplessness).
My other
advice is to always seek help from qualified personnel e.g. trainers that have
done study in animal handling, ethology or psychology and belong to a reputable
training association that promotes force-free methods. Veterinarians who have
done further study in behavioural medicine are also professionally obligated to
be up to date with current research.
Quite often pet owners approach
veterinarians about behaviour issues only when they are at their wit's end.
Realistically, how long and how much work can it take to change
"problem" behaviour?
This really depends
on the diagnosis and hence the prognosis. For pets with behaviour
problems the prognosis is multi-factorial. If it’s easy to see that learning (or
lack of guidance) and environmental factors have contributed to the onset of
the behaviour problem, then usually the prognosis is good with behaviour
modification. If changes can’t be explained, then there is probably more going
on physiologically with that animal.
Five factors
contribute to the success of the modification plan:
- Client compliance. This includes whether they have the finances, the time and commitment to follow the advice. The prognosis is certainly worse if they are scared of their own pet.
- The age on onset. If the onset is early, the more likely the problem involves a genetic predisposition, or is a result of influences during sensitive stages of development, including the prenatal, perinatal and socialisation periods
- The duration of the condition will affect the prognosis as the longer it has been continuing, the more entrenched the behaviour may be and more difficult to change.
- The predictability of the behaviour is also a measure. Obviously the less predictable the behaviour, the more difficult it is to identify triggers and control exposure to them. This is particularly difficult in cases that involve aggressive behaviour.
- Finally, the pattern of the behavioural response to recommendations (including environmental, behavioural and pharmacological interventions) will indicate how successful the plan will be in the long run.
So, in
summary, some cases respond quickly and very successfully. Others can require
life-long commitment from the owner to manage their animal’s condition.
What is preventative behavioural
medicine?
Great question
and a topic that will be covered at the AVBIG behaviour stream at the upcoming
AVA conference. Basically, it involves taking appropriate steps to mitigate stress,
fear and negative associations. This should happen before birth and continue
for life. Stressed pregnant animals will have offspring which are more prone to
anxiety and increased stress reactions. Puppies go through developmental stages
which can have profound effects on their behaviour in adult life. The
socialisation stage for example, is one of these sensitive periods and puppies
should be exposed in a safe way to people (of all ages), places and objects
that they are expected to encounter as adults. This should all be done when
they are young and curious (before approximately 14 weeks of age). Well-run
puppy classes can be an ideal way to educate clients and expose their puppy to
other puppies, people and objects (and build a positive association with your
veterinary clinic). “Fear-free” vet visits will also be discussed at the AVA
conference.
Prevention of
stress is also very important for animals of any age. Providing good client
education on how to do this, (for example by setting consistent rules,
providing appropriate environmental enrichment and keeping the animal free of
any painful conditions), is a vital component to providing good veterinary
care.
Do you have any advice for vet nurses,
vet students and vets about how they can better help the mental health of
animals?
There is a
wealth of information available. Excellent books are available (such as the
BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Behavioural Medicine, Clinical Behavioural Medicine for SmallAnimals by Karen Overall, Canine and Feline Behaviour for Vet technicians and Nurses by Shaw and Martin, to name a few).
Good websites
include:
- American College of Veterinary Behaviorists: http://www.dacvb.org/
- American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior: http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/
- Animal Behavior Society: http://animalbehaviorsociety.org/
- The Pet Professional Guild: http://ppgaustralia.net.au/
This is an excellent resource for
veterinary visits: https://www.aaha.org/professional/resources/behavior2015.aspx
The Centre for Veterinary Education
provides both short and long courses on veterinary behaviour, both run by the
two registered Australian specialists in the field.
At every AVA Conference AVBIG
provide a behaviour focus. This year Dr Xavier Manteca, from Barcelona, a Diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine is
our keynote speaker. He will be providing over 8 hours of enlightenment, plus
we have many other expert presenters from around Australia. Joining the AVA is
always a great step to support your professional Association, keep up to date
and make friends all over the country.
Then, of course, you should join
the behaviour special interest group. AVBIG membership gives you free access to
all our webinars, discounted attendance rates to AVBIG conferences, free
subscription to The Journal of Veterinary Behaviour and online access to a
supportive network of colleagues.
Reading and being informed is
very different to actually handling a case. I encourage everyone to practice with your own pets first! Teach them to settle, to high five, to “touch” to
walk loosely on a lead, to accept and enjoy nail trims and mouth exams. If you
can’t do it on your own pet you will not be able to help your clients! Even
better, video yourself and your pet during these interactions and replay them
to yourself.
Another good test to give
yourself is to watch interactions between animals and their handlers (youtube
is always a good place to start). Turn down the volume and read the animal’s
body language. You might be surprised by what you see once the “happy music” or
voice-overs have been removed.
How have non-human animals changed
your life?
It all began
with Mr Percival dying in the book, Storm Boy. Charlotte’s Web and James
Herriot also fuelled the passion for animals. I had a childhood filled with
animal encounters- my escaping guinea pigs, the duck eggs which hatched and the
ducklings which imprinted on me, the bantams that roosted in the walnut tree,
the rescued wombat…
When I was 11
years old I witnessed lambs being mulesed. Despite everyone’s explanations that
in the long run it was better for their health, I recall thinking that there
must be a kinder way.
Once I was in
the profession I was in my element. I recall many of my patients vividly and
emotionally, from Tassie Devils to Kookaburras and all the usual suspects in
between. Most of my pets have been supplied from my work, and I’ve certainly
supplied many friends too.
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| Katrina with her non-human companions. |
I have also
two very special animals in my life right now: a young semi-feral cat who is
providing me with great training opportunities (and entertainment) and Lucy,
the Golden Retriever. The experiences we went through as a therapy team at an
aged-care residential facility were profound and watching her ability to
“unlock” the residents was exhilarating.
To be able to
live and work with animals is a privilege. My children are growing up
surrounded by animals and it has helped them develop empathy, patience and an
understanding of our part in nature’s huge, fascinating and complicated
ecosystems.
