Pet Behaviour Problems
How can Fur Life Vet’s own Dr. Ash help your pet with any mental, physical or training related behaviour problems?
Veterinarians, like Fur Life Vet’s own Dr. Ash, who have further behaviour training can diagnose mental health problems and determine physical, physchological and learning factors that may be contributing.
What should you expect from a behaviour consultation with our Fur Life Behaviour Vet Dr Ash?
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An initial behaviour consultation for your pet is a longer consultation and you should allow up to 2 hours for this. This allows time to collect a thorough history of your pet and the behaviours that have been showing. Much of the history taking process will be based on working through the questionnaire which you will be asked to complete and send back prior to the time of your consultation.
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The consultation also allows time to watch your pet in the consultation room, or at home if the consultation is over telemedicine. It can be helpful to have some videos of your pet’s general behaviour which you can send prior to your consultation, especially if we are seeing you over telemedicine. Please note, Ash does not need to see aggressive behaviour so please do not encourage any situations that may be dangerous for the purpose of taking a video.
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After a thorough history has been collected, an assessment and diagnosis can be made and will be explained and discussed with you.
You will then work with Ash to together develop an individualised treatment and management plan for your pet.
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Treating behavioural problems and mental health disorders takes time. A revisit is is generally recommended 6-8 weeks after your initial consultation to review progress and make adjustments to the treatment plan.
After this time, further revisit consultations, are generally booked on an as needs basis for your pet.
Ash will have viewed your pet’s health history from your vet prior to your consultation and will work with your vet to ensure they have all the clinical notes from the consultation, including your pet’s diagnosis and treatment plans.
You will receive a comprehensive report after the consultation. If you have any concerns or questions after your initial consultation prior to the revisit you will be able to contact Ash via email.
The revisit consultation is much shorter than the long initial-consultation, however you should still allow one hour for this. Revisit consultations can be in-person or via telemedicine, and in some cases, telemedicine may be the preferred option.
What is the value of a telemedicine consultation for behaviour?
In behaviour consultations there is not a requirement to touch the patient, and many of our patients prefer it that way! Assessment of patients in veterinary behaviour is based on collecting a thorough history of the animal and observing them.
We often rely on videos and descriptions of behaviour as pet’s behaviour in the consultation room does not always reflect their behaviour in their daily life. Telemedicine also provides benefits in that it allows us to see the layout of the patient’s environment which can assist the development of a management plan.
Cats especially benefit from telemedicine consultations. The veterinary clinic is a stressful environment for many cats to be in for a two-hour consultation. Telemedicine also allows a cat’s home environment to be observed, and this is beneficial for creating a management plan.
What is Veterinary Behaviour?
Veterinary behaviour is the field of veterinary medicine that looks at an animal’s emotional and mental health. To label it in human health terms, it can be thought of as Veterinary Psychiatry.
Veterinarians with further behaviour training have a special skill set to help collect relevant history of a patient, evaluate body language, and assess a patient’s emotional and mental state.
The study of veterinary behaviour requires a thorough understanding of normal species behaviour, developmental periods, normal and abnormal psychology, neurochemistry and the links between physical health and behavioural or mental health problems.
They can diagnose mental health problems and determine whether a problem behaviour is physical health related, mental health related or a training problem that requires clear communication between human and animal.
Who is Dr Ash?
Dr Ashleigh Hargreaves is a vet who has completed postgraduate study and has further qualifications in veterinary behaviour. She is a member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Veterinary Behaviour.
Ash is currently undertaking further training in a residency program through the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine and the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists, to work towards becoming a specialist in veterinary behavioural medicine.
Ash conducts in-person consultations through select Fur Life Vet clinics and provides consultations via telemedicine.
There are currently four Registered Specialists in Veterinary Behaviour in Australia that are based in Sydney and Melbourne, please talk to your vet if you would like a referral to one of these specialists.
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