MERCK VET MANUAL - BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE INTRO

Overview || Behavioral Services Integration || Behavioral Terms Glossary || Behavioral Problems Diagnosis, Prognosis, & Treatment

Ethology

scientific field of study concerned with the behavior of animals in nature

What is an animal’s behavior a product of?

1. genetic composition

2. the environment

3. animals experience (before & after the socialization period)

The Five Freedoms

1. Hunger & Thirst

2. Discomfort

3. Pain, injury, disease

4. Fear & Distress

5. Express normal species behaviors

Veterinary Behavioral Technicians

They oversee preventive counseling & training services offered by a veterinary hospital

Abnormal Behavior

behavior that is atypical for a species

Abnormal Repetitive Behavior

descriptive term for maladaptive, repetitive or fixed, and pathologically abnormal behavior, irrespective of any underlying medical conditions that might cause or contribute to the behavior.

Aggression

a narrow sense (eg, a single attack) or in a broader sense (eg, as agonistic behavior)

Anxiety

apprehensive anticipation of future danger or misfortune, which can be accompanied by both behavioral and somatic signs (vigilance and scanning, autonomic hyperactivity, increased motor activity and tension)

Arousal

a state of increased physiological activation

Compulsive disorders/behaviors

abnormal and repetitive, variable in form, and often fixated on a goal

Conflict

arises when a pet has competing motivations or is motivated to perform more than one opposing behavior

Displacement Behavior

generally a normal behavior that is performed out of context, or is “displaced,” because the animal is unable—physically or behaviorally—to execute another activity or otherwise occupy itself.

Dominance

competitive control over a limited resource and to the ability of a higher-ranking animal to displace a lower-ranking animal of the same species from that resource.

Rank

an ability to control the resource or by access and presumed ability to restrict matings.

Fear

a feeling of apprehension associated with the presence or proximity of an object, individual, or social situation

Frustration

arises when an animal is motivated to engage in a sequence of behaviors that it is unable to complete because of physical or psychological obstacles in the environment

Phobia

involve sudden, all-or-nothing, profound, abnormal responses that result in extremely fearful behaviors

Redirected Behavior

directed away from the principal/appropriate target and toward another, secondary/less appropriate target

Stereotypic Behavior

usually derive from contextually normal maintenance behaviors (eg, grooming, eating, walking).

Vacuum Activity

may be exhibited when an animal is highly motivated to perform an instinctive behavior but there is no available outlet (eg, flank sucking, licking).

Feline Hyperthyroidism Behavioral Signs

Irritability, aggression, urine marking, increased activity, night waking

Canine Hypothyroidism Behavioral Signs

Lethargy, decreased response to stimuli, irritability, aggression

Hyperadrenocorticism Behavioral Signs

Panting, night waking, house soiling, irritability, polyphagia, anxiety

Diabetes/hyperglycemia Behavioral Signs

House soiling, night waking

Anemia Behavioral Sign

Pica

GI Behavioral Signs

Licking, polyphagia, pica, coprophagia, house soiling (fecal), wind sucking, tongue rolling, unsettled sleep, restlessness

Urogenital Behavioral Signs

House soiling (urine), polydipsia, waking at night

Dermatological Behavioral Signs

Psychogenic alopecia (cats), acral lick dermatitis (dogs), nail biting, hyperesthesia, other self-trauma

Antecedent

what precedes the undesirable behavior

Behavior

the description of the problem that occurs after the antecedent

Consequence

what happens immediately after the behavior

What history will be needed for a diagnosis?

1. animal’s sex, breed, & age

2. describing the behavior

3. onset age

4. duration

5. frequency

6. intensity of bouts

7. duration of bouts

8. any changes in patterns

9. treatment measures tried & how pet responded

10. any activities that stop behavior

11. 24-hour schedule of owner & patient

12. environment/housing

13. patient’s familial history

14. genetic behavioral influences

15. anything else O knows

What prognostic/risk considerations need to be reviewed w/ the owner?

1. problem severity

2. problem predictability

3. ability of the owners to implement initial preventive strategies

4. achieving expectations

5. patient’s temperament

6. how the patient’s behavior needs to be changed over time

7. practicality of implementing the program considering the environment, family, and pet

3 Categorical Treatment Plan Recommendations

1. Management - meeting the pet's behavioral needs, preventing and avoiding problems, and improving safety.

2. Modification - development of effective strategies to modify the pet's motivation and behavior

3. Medication - can decrease the intensity of the emotional state motivating the unwanted behavior, such that the pet is better able to respond and learn

Unconditioned Stimulus

a stimulus that naturally (ie, with no prior learning) elicits a response

Neutral Stimulus

a stimulus that elicits no response

Conditioned Stimulus

an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response through association with an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Response

the response elicited by the conditioned stimulus

Counterconditioning

involves the consistent and repeated pairing of a stimulus that evokes an unpleasant response with something that is emotionally positive (eg, a reward) until a positive emotional association is made.

Desensitization

the stimulus is minimized or decreased (eg, by decreasing volume, increasing distance, changing the environment, or modifying the stimulus to something less threatening) to a level that does not evoke the fear response

Extinction

The ending of a behavior once all reinforcement is removed

Extinction Burst

the intensity of the behavior to initially increase before it is extinguished

Flooding

used to treat fears of harmless stimuli by forcing the animal to stay in the stimuli's presence until the fear is extinguished

Habituation

the gradual lessening of a response to a stimulus

Sensitization

If the fear response is too intense, the animal may become increasingly more fearful of the stimulus instead of habituating

Spontaneous Recovery

If an extended interval has occurred since the time an animal last experienced a stimulus to which it had habituated, the animal may again react when reexposed to the stimulus

Operant Conditioning

a method based on making an association between a behavior and the consequences of that behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

occurs when, as a consequence of the behavior, something is applied (generally something pleasant or appealing), so the behavior is increased in the future

Negative Reinforcement

occurs when, as a consequence of the behavior, something is removed (generally something unpleasant) and the behavior is increased in the future

Positive Punishment

occurs when, as a consequence of the behavior, something is applied (generally something unpleasant) and the behavior is decreased in the future

Negative Punishment

occurs when, as a consequence of the undesirable behavior, something is removed (generally something pleasant or appealing) and the behavior is decreased in the future

Overlearning

the repeated evocation and expression of an already learned response

Pre-mack Principle

when a more desirable behavior—from the animal's perspective—is made contingent on a less desirable behavior, the less desirable behavior is more likely to be repeated

First-Order Reinforcers

an event that is naturally reinforcing

Second-Order Reinforcers

an event that is reinforcing because of its association with a first-order reinforcer

Response Substitution

involves the replacement of an undesirable response with a desirable one

Shaping

works through gradual approximations of a desirable behavior and allows the animal to be rewarded initially for any behavior that resembles the desired behavior

What are the considerations for medication choice?

1. targeted situation predictability

2. onset to drug effect

3. duration of drug effect

4. neurochemicals augmented

Baseline medications

are used regularly (daily to multiple times daily), may take weeks to fully work

ex: SSRIS, tricyclic antidepressants

Situational medications

have a short onset to effect and a short duration of effect, regularly or PRN

ex: trazadone & gabapentin

Adjunctive Therapy

involves regular (daily to multiple times daily) use.

What should the veterinarian do first before evaluating the patient’s behavioral issues?

Check to see if there are any underlying medical issues