Animal Boarding: Health Flashcards
Canine vaccination - what do dogs need and kennel cough
- Proof of vaccination
~ Boosters for distemper, parvovirus and canine hepatitis are needed every 3 years
~ Boosters for leptospirosis are needed every year - Varied requirement for Kennel cough
~ not given routinely at the vets and needs to be requested.
~ Some boarding kennels state that dogs must be vaccinated
~ Others not required
~ high morbidity but low mortality
~ persistent (lasting up to six weeks)
~ Can be fatal in some individuals: old, young, immuno-compromised
~ widespread in dogs across UK
~ All dogs at risk.
~ BSAVA advise all dogs in kennels should be vaccinated
Feline vaccinations
- core vaccinations
- All catteries require the core vaccines:
~ Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) (AKA Feline Distemper and feline infectious enteritis)
~ Feline herpes virus (FHV)
(feline viral rhintracheitis)
~ Feline calicivirus (FCV)
~ Feline leukaemia virus - Required yearly
Feline vaccination
- what some catteries require
- Bordetella bronchiseptica
- Chlamydophila felis
- feline leukaemia virus.
~ argument that hygiene precautions should prevent exposure to these agents.
~ cats should not come into contact with each other
Rabbit vaccinations
- Myomatosis and Viral Haemorrhagic Disease 1 (VHD1)
~ Nobivac combined vaccine.
~ Given from 7 weeks of age
~ Boosters given every 6-12 months
rabbit vaccination
- Nobivac Myxo-RHD PLUS
~ active immunisation of rabbits from 5 weeks of age onwards
~ reduce mortality and clinical signs of myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) caused by classical RHD virus (RHDV1) and RHD type 2 virus (RHDV2).
~ Onset of immunity: 3 weeks.
~ Duration of immunity: 1 year
- better option for boarding = all 3 diseases covered
- very new vac
rabbit vaccination
- Filavac K C+D – VHD1 and VHD2
- Given from 10 weeks of age
- Onset of immunity 9 days
~ Can be given sooner if high risk, but booster must be given again at 10 weeks - Boosters currently recommended every 6 months due to epidemic
rabbit vaccination
- eravac
- VHD2
- Given from 30 days of age
- Onset of immunity 9 days
- Duration of immunity 9 months
rabbit vaccination
- what boarding facilities require
- Most, but not all, rabbit boarding facilities require vaccination against
= VHD1 and Myxomatosis - few rabbits boarding facilities require VHD2
- There has been an epidemic in the UK for + 4 years
- Most require proof of vaccination every 12 months
- Advice from vets about VHD2 is varied
- Some boarding establishments state that they require VHD2, vets then give conflicting advice
- No symptoms and can drop dead w/in 24 hours contracting disease??
- VHD2 is airborne and can live in enviro for long time
- only way to protect from VHD2 is vac
Do boarding faccilities require ecto/endo parasite proof of treatment?
- no
- Most kennels/catteries state that if the animal is found to be harbouring endo or ecto parasites = will be treated
- customer will be charged for treatment, disinfection and vet fees
- no reference made to parasites for small mammal boarding establishments
Ectoparasite risk - stress
- Stress can affect the immune system of animals.
- trigger an outbreak of the ectoparasites species which are part of the animals normal fauna
~ E.g. Cheyletiella parasitovorax in rabbits (walking dandruff), Demodex mites in dogs - As many boarding establishments would treat ecoparasite infections if spotted this may reduce the risk of infection of ectoparasite infections.
- What would be the risk to the animal?
~ High risk
~ Acceptable risk?
~ Are they already at risk?
Endoparasite risk
- Dogs, cats and rabbits are always at risk of picking up endoparasites.
- Responsible owners should routinely treat.
- There may be an increased risk due to increased environmental exposure
- high risk to animal
Boarding animals with health problems
- It is not uncommon for owners to increase usage of boarding kennels when their animal becomes incontinent or old.
- Some owners who find it difficult to make the decision to PTS may take the animal to the kennels to make the decision for them.
- If owners have a holiday booked they may still take the animal into board, even if they are aware of a health problem.
Nutrition in boarding
- Most kennels accommodate nutritional requirements
- It has been known for kennels/catteries to underfeed to reduce costs
- Common with overweight animals
~ Health and welfare issue? - Eating faeces can be an issue
~ Stress, Nutrition deficiency, Boredom - Increased level of nutrition may be required (Stress, Cold)
- Food and water provision?
~ Fussy cat/dog/rabbit - It is common for animals to lose weight in kennels due to stress = Kennel syndrome
= dog fed same amount of food as normal but losing weight/condition
What overall health checks should be made before animals board?
- health check
- vaccinations
- ecto/endoparasite treatment
~ If they are not treated risk to health is perceived same or similar as normal environmental risks.
~ Some owners may still board animals even if they know about health problem.
~ Nutrition may need to be altered to account for cold and stress
common behavioural problems
- most behavioural problems percieved by ownera as abnormal behaviours
- vast majority are normal behaviours
- however the behaviours inapporpriately carried out and cause difficulty to owner
Preventing behavioural problems
- breeding
- breeding = evidence pups inherit less desirable genetic behavioural traits
- Noise sensitivity - linked to information processing by researchers in the USA. (collie, poodle)
- Nervousness. (collies)
- A higher propensity for anxiety and stress when presented with novel environmental stimuli. (staffies)
- Idiopathic aggression (i.e. aggression there is no clear cause for) toward other dogs and/or people (Chihuahua)
preventing behavioral problems
- socialisation
- Appropriate socialisation of a puppy can help to prevent many behavioural problems.
- Socialisation = the process whereby an animal learns how to recognise and interact with its own species and the species with which it cohabits.
- The most sensitive period of behavioural development in terms of socialisation and habituation is from 4 to 14 weeks in the puppy (with particular emphasis on 4 – 8 weeks).
- sensitive (rather than critical) period ~ form preferences and alter
- puppies need to be introduced to wide variety of settings and experiences of people and animals
- aim = dogs to be better equipped to cope with life in a human context.
- dog = quite straightforward since it is a pack animal with an inbuilt desire for social interaction and a hierarchical structure similar to our own
- reactions to stressful situations (boarding) are going to be affected by socialization period
~ individual, breed, age (as get older more anxious)
How to socialise an animal to board - applying leaning theory
- animals can learn new behaviour via operant or classical conditioning
LOOK INTO
Operant conditioning
= The strengthening of an active response by presenting a reinforcing stimulus if, and only if, the response occurs
- dogs learn most things desirable/undesirable that are important to their owners this way
- dogs learn even when no intention to teach them
- problems created or exacerbated by owner teaching behaviour without intention
- e.g. owner anxious, crying hugging before put into boarding = tell dog that there is something to be anxious about
Classical conditioning
= The formation or strengthening of an association between a conditioned stimulus and a response, through the repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus that originally elicits the response
4 Main disorders seen in kennels
- Fear, anxiety and phobia related disorders.
- Compulsive disorders.
- Elimination disorders.
- Aggression
Fear, anxiety an phobia related disorders
- fear
= the apprehension of a stimulus, object or event.
- Fear is a highly adaptive response which is essential for survival.
- When experiencing fear the animal’s aim is to reduce the sensation of fear either by repelling (fight), escaping from or evading the source (flight)
- not possible = animal will freeze and wait for an opportunity to engage another response or engage in displacement activity (fiddle!).
- Fight, flight, freeze or fiddle!
Fear, anxiety an phobia related disorders
- anxiety
= the apprehensive anticipation of threat.
- function = to broaden the animal’s attention so that it is prepared to react to any threat.
- key differences between anxiety and fear is the word “anticipation”, i.e for the anxious animal no threat is present but is anticipated.
- signs such as
~ arousal,
~ hypervigilance,
~ loss of attention,
~ restlessness
~ physiological responses such as increased heart rate and respiratory rate.
How do cats and rabbits show fear and anxiety
- either completely submit, purr, roll over or attack
- more hypervigilant, stomp feet, ears errect, darty
Fear, anxiety an phobia related disorders
- phobia (phobic fear)
- not like human phobia as irrational fear, need to consider functional and observable features of phobic threat
- Phobic fear = Intense and out of context so that it limits normal behaviour.
- “All or nothing”, i.e. once a threshold is reached the fear becomes intense and unrelated to the intensity of the stimulus.
- Unlike normal fear in that it persists after the threat has gone.
Types of phobia seen in dogs
- Sonophobia – Fear of sounds, this is the most common phobia seen in dogs, e.g. fireworks.
- Visually-related phobias – can develop with or without a connection to a sonophobia, e.g. hot air balloons
Compulsive disorders
- sterotypical behaviour
- compulsive behaviour
= repetitive out of context locomotor behaviour, e.g. pacing, circling, running etc.
= incorporates non-locomotor continuous behaviours,
e.g. licking, self-mutilation, staring, increased inactivity, tail chasing, pacing
What are the ideas of the key theorys to explain compulsive disorders
= ideas about how individuals cope with arousal and anticipation
- are ppsychological states that are vital to normal behaviour and are linked to anxiety and normal expectations of a reward.
- Most dogs have a normal ability to cope with arousal, anticipation and frustration.
- Compulsive disorders appears to develop when the dog discovers that multiple repetition of a ritualised behaviour produces a reduction in arousal and frustration (connection with OCD in humans?).
Elimination problems
- what do they all result in
- forms
= inappropriate elimination of either urine, faeces or both
~ Incomplete house-training.
~ Anxiety urination – loss of control due to intense emotionality.
~ Excitement urination - increased arousal.
~ Submissive urination – need to demonstrate appeasement.
~ Marking behaviour – leaving a signal to others.
~ Incontinence – potentially life-threatening disorder.
Aggression
- about
- types
- most commonly reported category of behaviour problems in domestic dogs.
- The behaviour of the victim is an important factor in dog bite attacks.
- Many bites can be avoided if dog owners were better educated about the behaviour of their own pets.
Fear based Territorial Protective Maternal Pain related Possessive Redirected Inter-dog Food related Play Predatory Idiopathic
Behavior modifying drugs
- not a panacea
- they may mask and suppress clinical disease and they must always be used alongside behavioural therapy as a tool.
Refferal for a behaviour problem
- no regulation of the clinical behaviourist profession and so quality of practitioners varies.
- In order to refer, the most appropriate method is via a veterinary surgeon.
- ensures referral to a competent practitioner and also the opportunity to rule out any underlying medical issues
- preventing behaviour better than cure
- as more research carried out related to clinical behavior, treatment protocols are becoming more successful at improving the quality of life for pets and owners.
- research also improve welfare and reduce no. animals euthanised or relinquished to rescues
How stress compromises health and welfare
- signs of stress in animals indicates compromised welfare
- stress may reduce immune system.
- stress may cause animal to stop eating.
- stress may cause the animal to loose weight, even eating the same amount of food
- Studies on a variety of species have repeatedly associated poor welfare with spatial restriction and barren environments
