ANIMAL WELFARE (Fear Free Principles)

Question 1

Why is behaviour important?

Answer 1

-why the client brings the animal to you
-many behavioural problems can be indications of underlying physical disease
-more pets die form behavioural problems than infectious diseases
-22-82% of behavioural problems have a pain component

Question 1

1 cause of death in dogs less than 2 years old:

Answer 1

-undesired behaviour
>dogs surrendered within 1 year of acquisition

Question 2

Chronic pain is often unrecognized:

Answer 2

-sometimes can only see it in a slow-motion video
-hard to see in a clinic
>stress reduced analgesia: masks the pain

Question 3

Distress in vet clinics:

Answer 3

-failure to adjust to environmental conditions represents a welfare concern

Question 4

What’s the big deal with fear, anxiety and stress?

Answer 4

-bad association with going to the clinic (LEARNING)
-change in vitals
-stress can worsen disease states
-risk of injury to animals and humans
-effects other animals
-increase adrenaline
-need more time and staff

Question 5

Vets and injuries;

Answer 5

-9.2x more likely to experience severe injury compared to medical profession
-WCVM has highest injury rate at U of S

Question 6

Impact owner’s willingness to seek vet consultation:

Answer 6

-22% dog owners
-28% cat owners
-delays vet care for sick and injured pets

Question 7

Clinically healthy dogs and stress:

Answer 7

-78.5% are fearful on exam table
>less than half entered practice calmly
>13.3% were dragged

Question 8

Cat owners and their cats: stress at clinic

Answer 8

-reported that their cats acted remote and unfriendly for days after a vet visit

Question 9

What is fear?

Answer 9

-increases survival
-response to what is happening
-pain and anxiety/fear share behavioural responses

Question 10

Responses to fear:

Answer 10

1. Freeze: learned helplessness component
   Increasing distancing behaviour:
2. Flight
3. Fight
   >Not necessarily wanted to fight, but want to be threatening enough

Question 11

When in a clinical room: response to fear

Answer 11

-they only have the option to either freeze or fight

Question 12

Learned helplessness:

Answer 12

-inescapable stressor exposure
-reduced capacity to escape the same stressor in circumstances where escape is possible
-associated with increase in cortisol and a negative HPA axis feedback
>stress persists for a longer period of time

Question 13

Flooding definition

Answer 13

-exposure to maximum-intensity anxiety-producing situation or stimulus, without any attempt made to lessen or avoid anxiety or fear during exposure

Question 14

Flooding can produce:

Answer 14

-sensitization: need less of a stimulus to feel the emotions
-learned helplessness: I can’t do anything, so I’m going to shut down
-pessimism: I go to the clinic and something bad WILL happen
>hard to get to the positive emotions

Question 15

Anxiety:

Answer 15

-important for survival
-lack of control/ambiguous stimuli
-unable to predict
-hypervigilance
-follow their owner
*outcome=pessimism

Question 16

Greatest source of ambiguous stimuli:

Answer 16

-humans

Question 17

Licking (“kissing”) has several meanings:

Answer 17

-attention seeking (you taste good)
-I’m worried: I need more info
-conflict: I like you, but… (‘stop signal’)
-reconciliation that occurs after biting (only occurs when they have a good relationship with the humans, they are not sorry: just letting the human know they care about the relationship)

Question 18

Stress:

Answer 18

-physiological response to a situation
*MUST have an increase in cortisol
-get increase in HR, RR, and BP

Question 19

Cortisol:

Answer 19

-is very important for maintaining glucose

Question 20

Stressor steps:

Answer 20

1. Stressor (good or bad)
2. Anxiety and fear
3. Increase in adrenalin and cortisol
4. Cope or fail to cope
   >If cope=build resilience
   >If don’t=might lead to pessimism

Question 21

Many vets:

Answer 21

-believe it is ‘normal’ for pets to be afraid in the hospital environment
-have learned or been taught forceful techniques

Question 22

Fear, anxiety and stress in Vet clinics

Answer 22

-almost 80% of pets display fear and stress-related behaviour
>when fear, anxiety and stress are not recognized it leads to undesirable/dangerous behaviour

Question 23

Veterinary clinics:

Answer 23

1. Physiological changes
   >Increased HR, RR, BP, Temp
   >Cortisol: adds to fear and anxiety
2. Can inhibit accurate diagnosis
   >Affects results (ex. bloodwork)
3. Increase anesthetic/sedation risk
4. Decreased eating/drinking
   >Delayed recovery

Question 24

What is it about vet visits?

Answer 24

-unfamiliar people and smells
-previous bad associations
-already feel bad
-what we are actually doing to them
-how we handle them
-in their personal space
-slippery floors

Question 25

1st puppy/kitten examination:

Answer 25

-routine vet cat contributes to patient anxiety
-8-12 weeks
-cortices still developing
-fearfulness early in life will carry over to adults
-neurochemical changes detrimental to learning
*causes sensitization

Question 26

Socialization:

Answer 26

-exposing them to things that we want them to have a positive relationship with in the future
-do small amounts
Ex. going to be travelling: need the puppy to go up and down the elevator
*want to make a positive experience (CLASSICAL CONDITIONING)
*try and do it before the cortices have fully developed

Question 27

Extreme fear produced by frightening vet visits:

Answer 27

-can produced phobic responses in future visits
-one event learning: single exposure can be enough to produce future fearful responses

Question 28

Phobic responses:

Answer 28

-fear that is out of proportion
Ex. thunder is a natural fear, but actually hasn’t be hurt by it (maybe have been hurt by lightning)

Question 29

Number one behavioural problem:

Answer 29

-FEAR

Question 30

What about the senior patient?

Answer 30

-physical limitations (sensory deficits,, re reduced muscle mass)
-pain
-impaired immune system
-previous experiences
-incontinence
-cognitive decline (‘everything’ is new: use dogs and cats for models)

Question 31

What would you recommend to the puppy that growls during visits:

Answer 31

-fear of heights
-handling them more at home
-add communication (tell them what is going to happen, do it and give a treat)
-crate and travel training
-preventative if possible
-desensitize at a low level (classical conditioning, bring the puppy into the clinic more and increase staff interactions)