An article authored by Caroline Clark RVN, ABTC registered CAB counsellor and full member of the APBC.
Since 2006 Caroline has been seeing cases on veterinary referral from her base in Yorkshire. She is also a RVN and holds a professional teaching qualification. In 2014, Caroline launched Pet Education and Training Courses (PET Courses). This online platform offers an extensive range of CPD accredited programmes of study, including her popular behaviour counselling mentorship programme, suitable for veterinary team members who wish to develop their role and offer in-house behaviour clinics. She is the author of two books: Fear and Anxiety in Dogs publishedby Crowood Press and A Professional’s Guide to Feline Behaviour published by CRC Press.
Undesirable behaviours exhibited by cats and dogs are commonly reported by their caregivers (1), some of which can compromise welfare and jeopardise the human-animal bond. To gain help and support, the caregiver’s first port of call is often the veterinary clinic.
This article focusses on how vet teams can provide guidance for their clients through offering sound, practical behaviour ‘first aid’ advice. It also highlights some of the issues that underlie behaviour problems and offers examples of the kinds of recommendations that can be given.
What is meant by Behaviour ‘First Aid’ Advice?
This term relates to the immediate advice that can be given to a client whilst they are waiting to receive professional guidance from an accredited clinical animal behaviour counsellor. It is a short-term measure and does not replace in-depth behaviour analysis or a detailed plan of action.
After ruling out, or treating, medical conditions, ‘first aid’ advice should focus on:
- Health and safety: providing advice about safeguarding
- Managing triggers: identifying and controlling the situations that initiate the behavioural response.
- Prevention: stopping the situation from worsening
- Improving animal welfare
Ruling out and treating medical conditions
Initially, a thorough clinical examination should be performed in order to rule out any underlying pain/clinical disorders. This is of particular importance because problematic behaviours may be caused or exacerbated by them. Indeed, in a published review of behaviour caseloads, it was conservatively estimated that around a third of referred cases involved some form of painful condition. Moreover, it was reported that, in some instances, it may be nearer 80% of cases (2). Prompt, targeted medical treatment is therefore crucial.
Providing behaviour first aid advice
Research has shown that many veterinary professionals do not feel adequately equipped or confident enough to give accurate behaviour advice (3). However, once physical health issues have been eliminated, vet teams are actually very well-placed to provide general advice, including stopping any form of punishment and advising against the use of aversive equipment. Sign-posting clients to suitable resources and referring them on to a behaviour counsellor can also be easily undertaken. Unfortunately, this is an unregulated profession, so knowing where to go to get help is essential. (Ref. Box 1).
| Box 1. Practitioner organisations that hold lists of suitably qualified, accredited behaviourists who only work on veterinary referral: |
| Association of Pet Behaviour counsellors (APBC): https://www.apbc.org.uk/ Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC): https://abtc.org.uk/ Fellowship of Animal Behaviour (FAB) Clinicians: https://fabclinicians.org/ |
Health and safety advice
If the behaviour is potentially dangerous, accurate advice and safeguards will need to be put in place.
Canine aggression problems pose a risk to public safety and therefore protecting people is a priority. If a dog has bitten someone, then there could be legal implications so an urgent referral appointment is required. Research has shown that the majority of dog bites are directed towards children (4) and it has been widely reported that a proportion of these bites are inflicted by the family pet dog, provoked by hugging/kissing or disturbing them when they are eating. Education and preventative measures should therefore be put in place.
Cats can also inflict serious injuries and vulnerable people, such as the elderly and children can be at a higher risk. Attacks may be motivated by misdirected or predatory play, so discourage caregivers from allowing their cat to play with their hands or feet. Toys/feathers on wands appeal to most cats and are much safer.
Trying to break up fights when there is conflict between cohabiting cats is another cause of human injury. Separation and segregation, with each cat having access to its own set of resources, is advisable and a timesharing system with the caregiver can be suggested until a professional is brought in.
Fear and anxiety are often motivating factors for aggression and discussing this with a client can encourage them to have greater empathy for their companion animal and be more willing to take behavioural advice. Yet. whatever the underlying cause, the advice must centre on health and safety (see Box 2).
| Box 2. Examples of behavioural first aid advice for aggression |
| Do not punish or use threatening behaviour towards the animal as this will exacerbate the problem. Stop using aversive equipment/restraining aids (choke chains, shock or prong collars) as pain lowers the threshold for aggression. Identify and manage the trigger(s) for the behaviour Safeguarding advice: Prevent the animal from coming in to contact with the target of their aggression. Ensure dogs can’t escape from gardens by securing boundaries.For dogs, provide advice about suitable muzzles and muzzle training (if safe to do so) Ref. ‘Useful Resources’ Educate children and ensure they are never left unsupervised with the animal.Use baby-gates to safely contain and separate (tall gates are available for larger breeds of dog). Discourage anyone trying to coax, interact or pick up the animal. Cats in particular can inflict serious injuries if they are handled when frightened.Ensure dogs are under complete control when taken out for walks (i.e., use well-fitted, comfortable and appropriate aids). If control and restraint cannot be guaranteed in public places then advise hiring a private exercise field or set up a programme of mental enrichment in the home and garden. Ref ‘Useful Resources.’ For dogs, an attached house line (similar to a puppy line) can be used as an additional means of control in the home (Fig.1). Ref. ‘Useful Resources.’ for a link to a training guide.A fearful cat’s response is to withdraw and hide. Provide escape routes, elevated sites and hiding places, advising the caregivers not to remove or force them out. |
Advice for fear and anxiety
An escalation of fear and anxiety, can lead to a whole host of behaviour problems including fear-aggression, so some of the advice covered in Box 2 will apply. However, other Immediate advice should focus on limiting exposure to the things that elicit distress.
Recognising body language, to identify the subtle signs of stress, so that action can be taken before the situation worsens, can also help. Advising the caregiver to immediately withdraw, back-off or safely remove the animal from the situation when the signals are displayed, is good advice. Visual resources depicting body postures and gestures can be extremely helpful for the whole family and there are a number of extremely useful and easily accessed guides and infographics that can be printed out to give to the client. (Ref. links in ‘Useful Resources’).
Consider nutraceuticals and pheromone therapies. However, in the author’s experience, many clients have high expectations of what these products can achieve and sometimes believe that they will ‘cure’ the problem. Being realistic about their limitations and emphasising that they won’t replace behaviour modification is an important message to get across.
Arranging the physical environment can be helpful. Advice might include:
- Creating a safe, comfortable and quiet place to rest and retreat, can induce calmness and relieve stress.
- Drawing curtains or blinds can reduce visual triggers that may elicit fear.
- If postal and delivery people lead to fear or heightened reactivity, post boxes can be attached to walls or placed well away from windows and doors, reducing the feelings of threat.
Managing triggers
Triggers are all the things that cause or maintain the problematic behaviour.
Asking a client to keep a trigger diary/log can prove helpful in pinpointing stimuli, situations and contexts that initiate the behaviour. Once identified, triggers may be managed and sometimes removed altogether. The author has designed a log (Fig. 2) which may prove useful for starting a conversation and encouraging the client to begin the process. Ref. ‘Useful Resources’.
Enrichment
Mental and physical enrichment can be hugely beneficial for addressing a number of problematic behaviours, particularly those that are linked with stress.
Enriched feeding (e.g., seek and find games and puzzle feeders) can relieve boredom and redirects nervous energy into an inherently rewarding activity (Fig. 3 and 4). Moreover, it gives an animal some freedom to make choices and exercise control over their environment. It may also activate the release of neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine), improving mood and well-being.
Summary
Being behaviourally aware is an important aspect of veterinary care. Having knowledge of the basic behavioural ‘first aid’ recommendations to pass on to clients should empower the whole veterinary team to address behaviour issues, leading to enhanced animal welfare and improved outcomes.
Useful Resources
Muzzle training:
Blue Cross video demonstration
Training guide for using a houseline:
Setting up programmes of mental enrichment in the home and garden:
Animal Centred Education video demonstration:
Trigger Diaries:
Dog Behaviour: Diary of Triggers Free Download
Cat Behaviour: Diary of Triggers Free Download
General training and behaviour guides:
Cat Advice: In-depth cat advice articles
We’re here for every Dog and Cat
References
- PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report 2024) https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/pdsa-animal-wellbeing-report/paw-report-2024 accessed 10/04/25
- Mills et al. (2020) Pain and Problem Behavior in Cats and Dogs .Animals 2020, 10 (2), 318; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10020318
- Shalvey E, McCorry M and Hanley A ( 2019) Exploring the understanding of best practice approaches to common dog behaviour problems by veterinary professionals in Ireland in Irish Veterinary Journal volume 72 (1) https://doi.org/10.1186/s13620-019-0139-3
- Tulloch JSP, Owczarczak-Garstecka SC, Fleming KM, et al. English hospital episode data analysis (1998–2018) reveal that the rise in dog bite hospital admissions is driven by adult cases. Sci Rep 2021; 11.