A Guide to Understanding Pet Separation Anxiety | A Veterinarian Explains (Part 1)
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Join Dr. Em to learn about what separation distress commonly looks like, what the most common contributing factors are, and the most common myths/misconceptions in Part One of this series.
Understanding this information will be helpful as the next videos will address treatment and management of separation distress.
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Bravo, Dr. Em! Every pet owner needs to watch this video. So many times I hear "my dog has separation anxiety". In some cases, the dog (or cat) does have separation anxiety. In some cases, it's a medical issue. In a great many cases, though, we find that the dog or cat doesn't have enough mental stimulation or physical exercise and it isn't separation distress at all. And the "guilty look". You're completely correct--this isn't a "guilty" look, it is one of fear. If you come home to destruction or a "mess" and punish your dog, he has no idea what you're punishing him for. He doesn't understand you when you say "you peed on the floor two hours ago, so you need to be punished". All they know is you get home and punish them. That just adds to their fear and anxiety and makes the situation worse.
Your summary is a fantastic one - thank you so very much for these kind words. You have made my day 💜
I do hope that this video is shared to people who are in desperate need of the info!
You are AMAZING! I love your love for animals.
You've just made my day! Thank you so very much 😊💜
This was a great video, thank you! I am lucky that my cat does pretty well when I'm at work during the day, and I know that if it's going to be a long day we play extra in the morning and then it's the first thing we do when I get home. I'm looking forward to the next videos, because he struggles when I'm gone for long periods of time, i.e. a week or more. Even with having a pet sitter come over twice a day to play with him (and feed him, clean the litter boxes, etc.) he gets anxious, and twice now it has led to bouts of cystitis and ER visits, poor buddy. It's gotten to the point that if I'm going to be gone for a long time, I fly with him to my parents' house (in a different state; we're in the US) for "camp with grandma and grandpa" while I travel, but I'm afraid I'm going to ruin his hearing with all that time on planes, and give him some kind of complex. Gabapentin helps, and he's good at taking meds from me, but I don't think he'd do as well with the sitter. IDK. I might just need to find someone to come live in my apartment while I'm gone...but first it needs some serious organizing, ha! 🙈
I'm so glad you found the video helpful! For safety's sake it's best that someone lives with your cat if you are away. This is because, when only checking in, it's incredibly easy to miss changes in drinking/bathroom habits/energy levels/etc These are all things we need to closely monitor as a sick cat can often have 'subtle' symptoms, even when seriously ill.
For my own cat, I will not travel unless there's someone staying at my place, living with him, for this reason.
I hope that the video this afternoon is also helpful for you!
@@VetMedCorner Thank you for the reply! I wish I could have someone come stay with him full time when I'm gone but we're not quite there yet...hopefully someday soon! But his pet sitter does spend at least an hour a day here (in two visits) and keeps track of how much he's eating and what's in the litter box. Thankfully the cystitis issues have only happened after I've returned...so maybe he just doesn't like me coming back. ;) But yeah, for longer trips we are sticking with going to grandma and grandpa's so he can have people around all the time. He just really likes being around people! (Which I think is unusual for a pandemic pet!)
With my charlie i would leave on things like the news, live streams of soothing music, or live cams like the ones on RUclips or earthcam plus he had my senior lab to help as well as food puzzles and walks before leaving. Sometimes i even left on nature sounds. During crate training i would put blanket over the crate with some toys like kong toys or chews and my senior lab would even lay next to the crate. It got to the point where would rather sleep downstairs with her at night sometimes (she has a hard time with stairs) with no issues. The crate was just for housebreaking. Which my lab was a big help with.
I'm so glad that your older dog was helpful! When dogs observe and learn from another dog it's called social learning. Dogs and cats are both pretty good at social learning, which I find absolutely fascinating!
Dr Em, all of the symptoms, and it is beyond destructive. She’s wound up for an hour plus prior to leaving and about an hour after we get back home, she has true through innerspring mattresses, and with the fact she was already injured while at a puppy mill, which is where she was rescued from. I’m very nervous to leave her alone out of her crate. I know she was cooped up in a crate as a puppy constantly and my vet is vaccinating her June 4 a little over a year after I got her because she had to be treated for a urinary tract infection three times she was so malnourished she only looked five weeks old when she was actually eight weeks old. The vet wants to do a cardiac ultrasound to rule out low grade heart murmur prior to her spay procedure and vet clinics are booking out to October for cardiac ultrasounds. I have a huge problem with people that don’t provide for their animals. Don’t provide empathy and understand why the animal is like they are. I understand her she was physically and mentally to work when we got her physically she still needs a bit of work mentally it’s through the roof, but I have been making progress with the training. She knows her name, sit, potty, and come. but it’s a very slow process and understandably so. I have never had an animal that has had such separation anxiety or even distress than this Dutch shepherd mix, which is what my vet stated what her breed was as the two separate dog trainers. One didn’t even want to work with her after seeing her and knowing her breed. I can except that not everyone can handle or is trained for severe, separation anxiety. With time she will be a great dog she’s already tried to herd the neighbors sheep, and I kind of got a kick out of that one as did the owner of the sheep.
I'm so sorry to hear of the immense distress that your dog experiences. Please use the treatment and management info while you wait for an appointment with a veterinary behaviourist. You absolutely must work with one ASAP.
ETA the treatment and management info is covered in part 2 of this series.
Thank you for this video
You're welcome 😊
My little guy is having cataract surgery the end of June. He has a congenital cataract and our vet first noticed it when he was only 10 weeks of age. It didn't change for a couple of years and now it needs to come out. I have begun desensitizing him to an e-collar (cone) which he'll need to wear for 3 weeks. Please do a segment on cataracts, specifically congenital ones--maybe you can help calm my nerves! Our little guy turns 3 years of age next month (so he's still very young). And if you know your dog will be needing surgery, take some time to desensitize your dog to the cone, or if he's worn a cone before and hates it, you'll need to countercondition him to it.
Thank you so much for the recommendation! I'm so sorry to hear about everything you are going through with your dog, and I'm grateful as it sounds like you are in excellent hands with the team who is helping your dog.
You are very right that practicing skills before ever needing them is *crucial*! I'm so glad you are currently working on teaching your dog to wear an ecollar. Keep up that excellent work 🙌