Feline Behavioral Health and Welfare

Ilona Rodan, Sarah Heath

• Publisher: Saunders
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781455774029
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Veterinary Medicine

Learn to manage the physical and psychological well-being of your feline patients with Feline Behavioral Medicine: Prevention and Treatment. From house soiling problems to aggression, this all-new reference offers detailed guidance on assessing, treating, and preventing the full spectrum of feline behavioral problems. Material is organized by both topic and life stage for quick access to the information you need. Plus its incorporation of patient education materials, instructive images, and the latest AAFP guidelines, makes it an invaluable addition to any vet clinician?s library.

"This book... will undoubtedly become THE reference in that very specific field." Reviewed by: Fabienne Dethioux on behalf of Royal Canin: Vets Today, January 2016

• UNIQUE! Focus on the prevention of behavior problems is found throughout the majority of the book to show clinicians how to incorporate behavioral considerations into general practice.
• Comprehensive, holistic care fusing the physical and psychological well-being of feline patients serves as a foundation for all content.
• International team of expert contributors provides in-depth, authoritative guidance using the most up-to-date information available.
• Updated information on preventive advice and treatment recommendations follows the guidelines set forth by the AAFP.
• Client handouts and behavior questionnaires in the book help vets clearly communicate with clients about their cat's behavior.

Part 1

Introduction

Chapter 1

Importance of Feline Behavior in Veterinary Practice

Ilona Rodan

Introduction

The growing popularity of the cat as a pet has led to many benefits, including increased feline safety and length of life. Cats are beloved companions, with the majority of cat owners considering them to be family members.^1,2 Many cat owners adopt a cat that needs a home and provide them with love, food, and comfort. The majority of today’s cats live longer lives due to safer environments and advances in feline medical care.³ This all sounds great, but do most cats truly have a great life? Are cat owners and veterinary professionals really doing the best for the cat?

The sad reality is that millions of pet cats receive little or no veterinary care and suffer significant levels of unrecognized pain and illness.^4,5 Other cats endure boredom and stress due to inadequate feline environments and stressful social situations.^6,7 Feline stressors negatively impact physical health, resulting in a range of recurrent physical conditions.^8,9 Add to that the relinquishment and euthanasia each and every year of millions of cats that were once beloved companions because of undesirable or abnormal behaviors^10,11 and it would appear that the cat is not getting the best possible care despite its popularity.

The good news is that most of the problematic issues facing the domestic cat can be prevented or addressed if we understand cats as pets as well as patients. The vast majority of problems that owners and veterinarians encounter with cats do not occur out of feline malice, but rather due to a lack of understanding of the cat, its normal behaviors, and its needs. The cat is a paradox—although fairly adaptable and social animals, cats have retained many of the behaviors of their wild ancestors.^12,13

Veterinarians have a unique opportunity to vastly improve the cat’s physical and emotional health and to enhance the relationship between them and their people. In turn this will improve feline welfare and benefit the veterinary profession as they gain more satisfaction from their feline work. Behavior and physical health are closely intertwined, making the need to address behavior essential in all aspects of feline healthcare. Incorporating behavior into each and every appointment is the key to optimizing feline veterinary care and to keeping cats healthy, content, and remaining in their homes.

Challenges in feline practice

There are four major challenges for the veterinary profession in the context of striving to provide an optimal level of feline healthcare. The first challenge is the lack of regular veterinary care and the resulting late presentation of cats with physical disease or behavioral health issues. A large number of cats do not receive routine preventative healthcare and never see a veterinarian unless they are sick. As a result of the cat’s ability to mask signs of illness and pain, these animals are often presented with advanced disease that is often unable to be treated. Some cats do come to the practice for preventive treatment through vaccination, worming, and flea treatment as kittens, but their owners never bring them back for booster vaccinations or repeated preventive treatments. For many, this lack of ongoing veterinary care is a result of poor client education and awareness, but for others there may be specific reasons for client reluctance to return, such as the stress of bringing a cat to the veterinary practice. Infrequent feline visits can be frustrating for veterinary personnel, who are seeking to provide a high standard of care, and can lead to decreasing levels of job satisfaction. In addition, there are financial implications for the veterinary practice as a result of poor levels of feline attendance. This can indirectly affect the quality of feline care that can be provided due to lack of ability to invest in practice development and staff selection.

The second challenge in feline practice is the prevalence of stress-associated illness. In many cases the physical signs are identified and treated without any understanding of the influence of stress and behavioral factors on the condition. As a result, resolution is temporary and recurrence is a familiar outcome. True resolution is not possible without addressing the environmental and social needs of the cat in a consistent and predictable fashion, and therefore, behavioral knowledge is essential for the feline practitioner.

The third challenge is the incidence of behavioral issues in the feline population and the risk of cats being relinquished or euthanized because of behavior problems, normal but undesirable feline behaviors, or incompatibility with other cats in the household. It is also important to remember those cats that remain in the same household but suffer from unrecognized stress, pain, and even illness and fail to receive appropriate veterinary intervention.

The fourth challenge is that, although veterinary professionals strive to provide the best healthcare for their feline patients, many are poorly equipped to deal with the behavioral factors that are such an important component of the preceding three challenges. Behavioral medicine is a relatively young veterinary discipline and many veterinary schools still fail to provide specific education in this field. The fact that there are considerable differences between feline and human social behavior and communication makes intuitive interaction more of a challenge. As a result, there can be significant problems in terms of appropriate handling in the veterinary context. Failing to see things from a feline perspective can result in restraint methods that induce fear and lead to escalating levels of feline aggression which is not only detrimental to the cat but also to practice personnel. Improving veterinary education in the field of behavioral medicine is perhaps one of the major challenges facing the profession.

The aim of this book is to address the behavioral issues that are so fundamentally important in relation to feline veterinary practice and explain how a better understanding of feline behavior can help to improve the physical and emotional health of feline patients (Box 1-1) as well as increase owner and veterinary team satisfaction when living and working with cats.

Box 1-1

Problems Associated with Poor Understanding of Feline Behavior

Medical Problems

• Lack of preventive care due to:

• Poor recognition of value

• Stress surrounding the veterinary experience

• Increase in preventable diseases, such as:

• Diabetes mellitus

• Intestinal parasites

• External parasites

• Dental disease

• Lack of recognition and prevention of painful conditions, such as:

• Appendicular degenerative joint disease

• Axial degenerative joint disease

• Oral disease—resorptive lesions, periodontal disease

• Stress-associated sickness behavior—feline idiopathic cystitis

• Obesity epidemic

• Lack of recognition of behavioral signs of pain and illness, such as:

• Subtle changes in behavior

• Loss of normal behaviors

• Abnormal behaviors

• Stress surrounding the veterinary visit

• Difficulty differentiating illness or pain from fear on exam findings

• Tachycardia

• Increased respiratory rate

• Increased temperature

• Tension or aggression making it difficult to perform a comprehensive examination

• Pupillary dilation

• Difficulty differentiating illness or pain from fear on laboratory findings

• White coat hypertension

• Stress hyperglycemia +/− glucosuria

• Mature neutrophilia and lymphopenia

• Lymphocytosis

• Alkaline urine +/− struvite crystals

• Advanced disease or pain due to the client’s inability to recognize the subtle signs of illness and pain

• Decreased felin...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Contributors
• Client Handouts
• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Normal Feline Behavior
• Part 3: Prevention of Behavior Problems: The Cat at Home
• Part 4: Prevention of Behavior Problems: The Cat at the Practice
• Part 5: Interplay Between Behavior and Disease
• Part 6: Management and Treatment of Undesirable Behaviors
• Part 7: Approaching Problem Behavior Within the Veterinary Practice
• Part 8: Approaching Problem Behavior at Home
• Index
• Appendix: Client Handouts