Help, my dog needs a therapist
CHENNAI: When freelance writer Lakshmi P's cat Ammu developed patches of wounds, she took her to four vets. All of them prescribed antibiotics and anti-allergens. But the wounds kept coming back. It was the fifth vet who asked the right questions and found the cat was self-harming – from separation anxiety.
Lakshmi had left her with a friend with a dog when she moved abroad, which was causing the stress. Lakshmi later decided to take Ammu abroad with her. 'Most vets in India treat the physical symptoms. I have started consuming content by internationally known animal behaviourists now and understand the issues of my family dog better. Also, cats do get attached to humans, unlike the popular myth,' she says, adding that Ammu is the 'happiest girl now.'
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In the UK, when pets appear to suffer from a non-physical ailment, the veterinarian refers them to a qualified animal behaviourist. And if something happens to the animal at the hands of the behaviouralist, the licence is cancelled. But no such system exists in India.
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While mental health is a specialisation in human medicine, the govt veterinary science syllabus is mostly focused on livestock, and at most, there are a few sessions on how to handle animals ethically. Vets at Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas), Chennai, agree that there isn't much in the syllabus about
animal behaviour
but there is a ''lot of scope'' for it. 'Mostly, we get cases of dog-to-human or dog-to-dog aggression. If the aggression is directed against every stranger, it's difficult to treat. We try anti-anxiety drugs, tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors which take eight weeks to start showing results, but more important is early socialisation,' says Dr K J.
'Whatever we learn on small animals such as dogs and cats and their behaviour, is from books and training programmes,' says Dr V Arun, a veterinarian from Chennai. It was during such a programme conducted by the veterinary association that vets like him learned to handle dogs and cats, he says.
The trainers in these programmes are invariably from the west, and their insights have been eye-opening, says Dr Arun.
'Cats, for example, get stressed in vet clinics by the presence of dogs. It was this learning that made me decide to open a facility exclusive for cats in Chennai.'
Psychological issues in pets are more pronounced now than a few decades ago as people are constantly moving cities, especially post-Covid, says Dr Yamini P Suresh, a Bengaluru-based vet. While animal psychology should ideally be a subject, 'animals can't communicate, and hence pet psychology isn't easy'. 'We do our best to learn their behaviour case by case once we start practising. Each animal is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all treatment.'
What helps her detect signs of depression or anxiety in pets, she says, is that she had dogs and cats growing up. Yamini also refers her patients to qualified behaviourists when she senses there are no major medical issues. Ethology or the science of animal behaviour is still an emerging field in India, and while some vets such as Yamini are open to referring their clients to them, others aren't. 'I'm not against them, it's just that very few are qualified,' says Dr Arun.
'Vets are invariably pressed for time, dealing with 50-60 animals a day, and it is difficult for them to form a personal bond with each dog or cat, and remember their past behaviour, hence many refer them to me,' says Nivedita Prabhukumar, a Bengaluru-based canine behaviourist. But things have progressed a lot, she says. When she started out in 2013, 'animal training' was only about teaching dogs obedience, which often involved punishment, and the use of tools such as shock collars, she says.
'There are still trainers who still do that but in the past decade, the focus has started shifting to the animal's happiness.' For example, an extra five minutes at the vet clinic for the animals to settle down makes all the difference, as it's a highly stressful environment for them, she says. 'I also suggest wellness visits to the vet for puppies for no reason to reduce anxiety.'
Dr Sonika Sathish, a former govt vet from Kerala says, in India, 70% of pets need muzzling at vet clinics. When she moved to Canada recently, she found only 5% of the pets there wore muzzles. 'Even cats are calm in clinics here. The vets draw blood from the jugular vein, unthinkable in India because the animal will be thrashing around in fear,' she says.
'Pet parents in the west train the animals from birth or send them to puppy school. They walk them, socialise them and familiarise them with humans, all of which are crucial for their adult behaviour.'
In Nivedita's view, the information explosion has gone to the other extreme. 'Earlier I had to request people to take their pets with them outdoors, but now there are many who take them along on every weekend, for every trip. I have to beg them to give the animal some stability.'
Dogs and cats manage to survive in most circumstances, but for them to thrive, and live their best life, you need a combination of the pet parent, the doctor, the behaviouralist, even the groomer working together, says Dr Yamini.
'Like for a child, you need a village to raise a pet too. If one misses a sign, the other can spot it and address it.'
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