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Understanding and Addressing Behavioural Issues in Dogs and Cats

As pet owners, we want our furry friends to be happy, healthy, and well-behaved. However, behavioural issues can arise in dogs and cats, making it difficult for us to understand and address their needs. In this blog post, we’ll discuss common behavioural issues in dogs and cats and provide some tips on how to address them.

Common Behavioural Issues in Dogs

1. Separation Anxiety: Dogs are social creatures, and being left alone for long periods can cause them to experience separation anxiety. Some signs of separation anxiety include destructive behaviour, excessive barking or howling, and inappropriate urination or defecation. To address separation anxiety, it’s essential to gradually desensitize your dog to your absence by leaving them alone for short periods, gradually increasing the time you’re away. Providing them with interactive toys or treats can also help keep them occupied while you’re away.
2. Aggression: Dogs can become aggressive due to fear, territorial behaviour, or lack of socialization. Some signs of aggression include growling, biting, snapping, or lunging. Addressing aggression in dogs can be complex, and seeking advice from a veterinarian or a professional dog trainer is recommended.
3. Excessive Barking: Barking is a natural way for dogs to communicate, but excessive barking can be a nuisance. To address excessive barking, it’s important to determine the cause of the behaviour. Some dogs bark when they’re bored, anxious, or want attention. Providing plenty of exercise and mental stimulation can help reduce excessive barking.

Common Behavioral Issues in Cats

1. Urinating outside the Litter Box: One of the most common behavioural issues in cats is urinating outside the litter box. This behavior can be due to a medical issue or a behavioral issue. To address the issue, it’s essential to first rule out any medical issues with a visit to your veterinarian. If the issue is behavioral, try providing multiple litter boxes in different locations, keeping the litter box clean, and using a litter that your cat prefers.
2. Scratching Furniture: Cats have a natural instinct to scratch, but this behaviour can be destructive if they’re scratching your furniture. Providing your cat with scratching posts and rewarding them when they use them can help redirect their behavior. You can also try placing double-sided tape or aluminum foil on the furniture to deter them from scratching.
3. Attention-Seeking Behavior: Some cats demand attention by meowing excessively or engaging in destructive behaviour. Providing them with plenty of toys, playtime, and attention can help alleviate this behavior.

Conclusion

Behavioural issues can be frustrating for pet owners, but it’s important to understand that these behaviors are often due to natural instincts or a lack of training. Addressing behavioural issues in dogs and cats requires patience, consistency, and understanding. If you’re experiencing issues with your pet’s behaviour, don’t hesitate to seek advice from a veterinarian or professional dog trainer. With the right training and care, your furry friend can lead a happy, healthy, and well-behaved life.

Spring is here, and along with the blooming flowers and warmer weather comes a few important considerations for pet owners. One of the most crucial things to keep in mind is ensuring that your pets are up-to-date on their vaccinations. At Steeples Veterinary Clinic, we understand the importance of protecting your furry friends from infectious diseases, so here’s a quick guide on vaccinations for dogs, cats, and horses.

Dogs:

Rabies: a virus that attacks the nervous system and can be transmitted to humans through an infected animal’s saliva.

Core vaccinations are recommended as well for all dogs, as they protect against potentially life-threatening diseases. The DAPP vaccine is a combination vaccine that includes:

• Distemper: a virus that can cause severe respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous system symptoms.
• Adenovirus (hepatitis): a viral infection that affects the liver and can cause fever, lethargy, and abdominal pain.
• Parvovirus: a highly contagious virus that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and potentially fatal damage to the heart.

Other vaccinations, such as those for leptospirosis, bordetella (kennel cough), and Lyme disease, may be recommended based on your dog’s lifestyle and exposure risk. Our veterinarians can help determine which vaccinations are necessary for your pet based on their individual needs.

Cats:

Rabies: (same as the dogs) a virus that attacks the nervous system and can be transmitted to humans through an infected animal’s saliva.

Also similar to dogs, there are core vaccinations recommended for all cats, including the FVRCP vaccine, which includes:

Feline distemper (panleukopenia): a virus that can cause severe gastrointestinal and immune system symptoms.

Feline herpesvirus and calicivirus: viruses that can cause upper respiratory infections.

Additional vaccines, such as those for feline leukemia may be recommended based on your cat’s lifestyle and exposure risk.

 Horses:

Horses are also susceptible to a variety of infectious diseases, many of which can be prevented through vaccination. Core vaccinations for horses include:

Tetanus: a bacterial infection that can cause muscle spasms, stiffness, and potentially fatal respiratory failure.

Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis: viral infections that can cause fever, neurological symptoms, and potentially fatal brain inflammation.

West Nile virus: a virus that can cause neurological symptoms and potentially fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

Additional vaccinations, such as those for influenza and strangles, may be recommended based on your horse’s lifestyle and exposure risk.

At Steeples Veterinary Clinic, we are dedicated to helping keep your pets healthy and happy. If you have any questions about vaccinations or would like to schedule an appointment for your pet, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Let’s all have a safe and healthy spring season!

Dear valued clients,

As many of you are aware, these last years have been extremely challenging for the veterinary community. Globally, the veterinary profession has been faced with a serious crisis. We have experienced a shortage of veterinary professionals firsthand in the Kootenays. On top of this, the local veterinary community has been faced with an overwhelming increase in demand for both emergent and non-emergent veterinary care.

This demand, coupled with the shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians, has resulted in burnout and mental and physical exhaustion amongst many veterinary professionals in the area.

Historically, after-hours emergency service has been offered based on the preferences and capabilities of each individual veterinary clinic.

In the Kootenays, the veterinary community unfortunately does not have the luxury of an emergency referral practice within a reasonable driving distance, which would greatly help mitigate the volume of emergency calls those local veterinarians and veterinary technicians are faced with on a daily basis. While the clinics in our community have managed to provide uninterrupted emergency care in the past, this task has become too overwhelming for the few clinics to maintain.

Our goal is to find a way to provide consistent emergency after-hours care in the East Kootenays, in a way that is sustainable, and that will preserve the health and longevity of our veterinary community.

With careful consideration, we have formed a cooperative group with all clinics in Cranbrook, Kimberley, Fernie, Creston, and Invermere, to share the increased demand for emergency after-hours care in our region. As a group, we strive to achieve a sustainable and reliable after-hours network. This partnership is a fluid arrangement that may evolve as the needs of our community change. The call sharing is based on available team members per clinic, with clinics with more team members offering more coverage and clinics with fewer team members offering less coverage.

What does that mean for Steeples Veterinary Clinic clients?

Beginning now, all of our after-hours calls will be triaged by an experienced registered veterinary technician, who will help you determine whether emergency service is required and if so direct you appropriately. If your pet requires emergency care, you will be directed to the clinic on call for that particular day, and the on-call veterinarian will be given all details of the call and anticipated arrival time, to make the admittance process as smooth as possible.

The majority of the time, the clinic on-call will be located in Cranbrook. However, there will be occasions where travel to Creston, Invermere, or Fernie may be required. While we truly understand how inconvenient this may be, the alternative would be to refer our clients to the nearest veterinary emergency center, which would be a minimum of 3 to 4 hours away, and which we really want to avoid.

We are confident that this partnership, referred to as the East Kootenay Veterinary Group (EKVG), will succeed in maintaining the consistent level of emergency after-hours care that is imperative for the health and well-being of our veterinary community and to those who count on our community’s veterinary clinics for these services.

The EKVG would like to highlight that this new partnership will allow for high-level, consistent, and, most importantly, sustainable emergency after-hours care for our community.

We thank you for your understanding, and we appreciate your kindness and patience as we get the fine details of this new partnership smoothed out.

We are thankful to live in a community where local clinics are able to come together in times like these, and we are confident that this will translate to even better service for our clients.

Sincerely,

Steeples Veterinary Clinic

Your cat or dog has that certain odour when he gives you a kiss or when he just walks in the room.  Is this something to be concerned about? There are three common myths about halitosis.

Three Common Myths about halitosis in your pet:

1. “It’s just doggie breath!”

Many dogs or cats do have a certain breath odour that is normal. But it shouldn’t be very unpleasant and it shouldn’t be the first thing you notice when your pet walks in the room.

2. “My cat always smells like that”. One caution here: you’ve heard of going nose blind? Well that often happens with owners and pets.  Maybe ask a friend or neighbour what they think about your pet’s breath.

Perhaps you’ve become accustomed to that smell, but that doesn’t mean it’s not something to be concerned about.

3. “Your breath would smell too if you ate pooh!”  Yes, what is it with dogs and eating feces?  No respectable cat would ever do such a thing. In any case, I digress from the topic here:  no matter what your dog eats, it shouldn’t be the cause of a lingering bad smell in his mouth. If the smell is there, there’s a cause.

A really bad mouth odour can be a sign of one of several things: dental disease such as gingivitis or the more serious periodontitis, an infection in another part of the mouth, like the tongue or the soft palate, something stuck in his mouth for a long time, or a disease affecting the whole body that is causing odours to come up from the stomach.

You can start by just lifting up the lips and looking. The gums shouldn’t be red: that’s not normal. The teeth should not be covered with tartar, plaque, or worse. You shouldn’t be bowled over by a bad smell.

80-85% of the patients that veterinarians see have some form of dental disease. Gingivitis is very common. That’s when the gums are swollen and red and there’s a coating of slime, called plaque, on the teeth and some tartar or calculus as well.

Gingivitis is dental disease in the early stage and it can be cured with dental cleaning and good home care. When gingivitis is long-standing it becomes periodontitis, and that’s bad news. The periodontal ligament holds the tooth in place in the socket. When it becomes infected, that signifies a deep-seated infection and eventually a loose tooth. An infection is an infection, no matter where it is. It is painful. It is a focus of bacteria that can make things worse and worse around the tooth and may have a bigger effect on the whole body.

Why ignore bad breath?  Have a look in his mouth for yourself first, then take your cat or your dog in to see your veterinarian.

The doctor will go on a search for the cause. He or she will assess the level of gum disease. They will look for other causes of bad breath.  Sometimes there’s a stick or a bone stuck in the mouth that you may not have noticed, sometimes there’s a serious problem, usually it’s dental disease.  Your veterinarian will get to the root of the problem and make recommendations to fix it.

Don’t let bad breath in your pet be acceptable. Get it checked!

February is Dental Month at Steeples Veterinary Clinic.

Well, really, it’s always dental month …all year long! But in February we want to have a special focus on your pet’s smile.

Ask one of our team members about Dental Month!

You know by now the importance of dental health in our pets. Periodontal disease is common and 85% of pets have some form of gum disease at any given time.

The goal of dental cleaning is to remove plaque and calculus or tartar that harbour bacteria. These bacteria are the cause of the infection in the gingiva and the periodontal ligament. The treatment involves using water and sharp instruments beneath below the gum line in the little groove called the sulcus, or in some cases in a periodontal pocket. It is a precise technique. It is exactly the same as what you have done yourself when you go to your dental hygienist.

In veterinary dentistry, we need to use general anaesthetic. We must provide restraint and take precautions that the instruments and the pressurized water is not causing harm. There is no way to do a thorough sub-gingival scaling and polishing and careful exam with dental charting in an awake pet. If anyone tells you otherwise, then be careful.

Many people have concerns about anaesthetic. Today, with proper examination, blood tests, and other screening, we can know what to expect ahead of time and we can be very safe with general anaesthetic. Please talk to your veterinarian about your concerns.

To really treat gum disease and manage plaque and tartar in cats and dogs, there must be thorough cleaning above AND below the gum line. This treatment is specialized and should only be done by your veterinarian. Why? Veterinary dentistry is a branch of veterinary medicine and can only be legally performed by a licensed veterinarian and his or her representatives. These are highly trained professionals.

My main concern for anaesthetic free dental cleanings? I don’t want you to think that you can go and have a quick scraping done while your cat or dog is awake and that you are making a good health decision for your pet. Very little is being done for your pet’s dental health. And most important of all is that some harm may be done.
Come and talk to us about dental care. It’s a big part of what we do.

It’s winter! Whether we have a lot of snow or not, it’s a beautiful time of year that brings with it some potential health concerns for pets.

• Antifreeze toxicity. Antifreeze solution from vehicles is poisonous to your dog or cat. It’s sweet and tasty and VERY dangerous if ingested; life-threatening in fact.
If you have antifreeze spills of your own, be sure to clean them up very well and don’t leave open containers laying around. If you’re on a walk, don’t let your dog off the leash to run around and sniff and eat things. If you think your pet has drank or licked some antifreeze, call your veterinarian immediately. Signs of antifreeze poisoning are initially vomiting, acting drunk, urinating and drinking more, and later on extreme fatigue and a painful abdomen. Please be very careful to keep your pet from this toxin.

• Cold temperatures. It seems we haven’t been getting the brutally cold temperatures anymore, (think minus forty on the prairies), but hypothermia and frostbite can still occur. Warm sweaters or jackets and boots will help dogs with thin/sparse hair coats.
Make sure pets that live outdoors year round have shelter and bedding. Many heavy-coated winter breeds love the cold winters and the snow and would be worse off if they were inside, but they still need shelter.
It’s also important to feed enough to outdoor pets, as keeping warm burns up a lot of calories.

• Snowballs between toes! If your dog or cat has very hairy feet, he or she may have a problem with snow building up between the toes. While not serious, it can be uncomfortable and lead to red, cracked skin or pads. This snow accumulation can be prevented by having your pet wear boots or by helping to melt and remove the snow as soon as the pet comes indoors. Using petrolatum jelly on the skin and hair before an outdoor walk on a snowy day will also help to prevent the problem.

• Toxic indoor plants. Maybe your cat is bored being cooped up indoors and maybe he really wants to eat grass. More cases of plant toxicity happen in the winter. Supply cat grass for indoor cats, and make sure house plants are non-toxic. To name a few (but there are many more): Poinsettias, Dracaena, and many types of lilies are poisonous plants for your pet.

• Getting enough exercise and not overeating. It happens to all of us. It’s not as easy to move around or go out for a walk with the snow, the cold, the ice, the busy times in winter. Eating comfort food makes us warm and comfortable. So we gain weight. Remember to make time to take your dog for a walk or play with your cat. And unless your pet is living outside in the cold or working hard every day, if you cut back on his daily calories by 25%, he will come through the winter in a sleeker condition. Good advice for pets and their people!

• Winter accidents. Be careful when skiing and snowshoeing that you always know where your dog is beside you. Skiis can be very sharp.
Be extra careful when driving at night, as it may be more difficult to see animals on the streets if there are a lot of bright lights, exhaust from vehicles, and snowbanks.

Have winter fun and be safe!