Behavioural medicine - assessing emotional health

When do emotional disorders arise?

• when emotional response is not proportional or appropriate to the situation

• where behavioural responses is not justified or acceptable in reaction to the emotional response

• where the behavioural response is abnormal in intensity or duration

when is behavioural medicine approach needed in general practice?

• preventative situations - puppies and kittens

• reports of behaviour of concern by:

  • caregivers

  • legal authorities

  • practice personnel

• physical health issues which raise concerns over emotional involvement

  • repetitive clinical signs

  • severity of clinical signs

  • issues of response to treatment

How should we assess emotional health?

• identify the emotional motivation for the behaviour / physical response

• identify the level of emotional arousal

• identify the level of emotional resilience

What can influence the animals emotional motivation?

• the animal’s genetics and early life history

• the animal’s experiences and physical or social environments

• the present physical or social environment

• the animal’s physical health

What do we need to investigate through behavioural history taking, if there is a behavioural change that is a concern?

• triggers for the behaviour identified by the caregiver

• other emotional triggers not recognised as problematic by the caregiver

• other behavioural signs not identified by the caregiver

What information should we gather for behavioural history taking?

• signalment information

  • species and breed

  • age and sex

• source - where the dog came from

• information about individuals emotional valence bias and arousal

• information about individuals emotional resilience

If there is a protective initial emotional reaction, what should we also ask about?

• the animals rate of emotional recovery

• the strategies that the pet uses to regain its stable emotional state

What are useful tools for behavioural histories?

• questionnaire

  • early history - source, parental information, early rearing information

  • present environment - social and physical

  • physical health history and examination

  • past and present behavioural responses - trigger and context

• time line

• house plan

• affiliative behaviour maps

How should a timeline be used to collect information on behavioural history?

• start line at date of birth (or date of acquisition / date admitted to rehoming facility if DOB unknown)

• end the line at date of consultation

• mark significant events onto the timeline

  • physical health

  • behavioural responses

  • environmental events - social and physical

• look for clusters of information

What is the purpose of obtaining a house plan?

help determine the potential for the physical environment to play a role in triggering negative emotions and creating physiological stress

What species is the physical environment particularly important in?

cats

What is important to know about the environment for cats when obtaining a house plan?

• available entry and exit points

• passage tracks

• resource location

What would we need to mark on the house plan?

• all doors - internal and external

• all windows and patio doors

• cat flaps or open window

• resting places

• food

• water

• latrines e.g. litter tray

• if multi-pet household - indicate which pet uses which resources

What might be important to know about the time spent by the patient in specific locations in the house?

• long periods looking out from windows or patio doors

• very little time in certain rooms in the house

• excessive time spent in certain rooms in the house

What potential social stressors would we want to investigate?

• intraspecies relationships within the household

• interactions with unfamiliar conspecifics

• social interactions with humans

What must we do when assessing the emotional health of a dog in a household with multiple dogs?

• assess the emotional health of all dogs in the household

• dogs very socially obligate animals - emotional health of one dog can impact the other dogs

How can we understand social groups in mutli cat households?

• cats can exist in the same house without belonging to the same social group

• absence of physical conflict does not mean the cats are in the same social group

• cats within the same social group engage in affiliative behaviour patterns

  • allorubbing

  • allogrooming

What may passive conflict / protective emotion lead to?

• inhibition and avoidance - staring, posturing, keeping distance from one another

• appeasement - actively exchanging information such as leaning or licking at faces

Why is feeding time a good time to assess signs of tension between cats in multi-cat households?

• cats are solitary feeders

• being forced to eat together will increase protective emotion

  • will intensify the passive signs that may usually go unnoticed

What behavioural signs would show protective emotions in cats?

• ear position

• eye trajectories

What interactions with humans are important for us to take note of?

• if there are children in the household - well intentioned affection from children may be challenging for the animal

• adults may also interact with pets in ways that have emotional impact for the the pet

• important to understand the animals reaction to unfamiliar people

Once we have identified emotional motivations what should we determine?

• if the emotion is justified by the context

• if the behavioural response is justified by the emotion

• if the behavioural response is proportional in intensity and duration

if the emotion and behaviour are justified, what should we consider next?

• is the physical environment meeting the environmental needs of the animal

• is the social environment meeting the species specific needs of the animal

• is there evidence of frustration

• is there evidence of emotional conflict

• is there evidence of inappropriate learning

if the emotion and behaviour are not justified, what should we do next?

• identify which emotional motivation is involved

• identify what factors are triggering the emotion

• initially prevent exposure ti the trigger, or ensure the animal can appropriately express and respond to the emotion

• set up a treatment plan to alter the emotional response