Pet Behaviour Vet

15/02/2025

Important information for pet owners regarding microchips in Australia.

Important Update on HomeSafeID: Action Required for Veterinarians and Pet Owners

15/01/2025

We were one of many victims of the massive storm last night!
Some of our systems are down so please be patient with us while we work with our busy IT department to have them restored.
Thank you for your patience and understanding 🙏🏼

30/12/2024

🎉🎆🎉Fireworks and Pets 🎉🎆🎉

Be prepared for doggy and kitty Armageddon tonight with our 6 Top Tips for Keeping your Pet Happy During Fireworks.

Don't forget to reach out to us for next time if you're still struggling.

Www.petbehaviourvet.com.au

Good luck! 🤞🏼🙏🏼

21/12/2024

🎄🎁 Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄

Here we are celebrating the end of another busy year of working hard to help our wonderful clients and patients live happier lives.

We wish everyone a safe and relaxing break. See you in the New Year!

❤️ From team Pet Behaviour Vet:

(L-R) Dr Melissa, Dr Jo, Mary, Bobbi, Dr Sabine, Dr Diana and Karen (here in spirit!).

17/12/2024

😂😂😂 What have you accidentally trained your cat (or dog!) to do?

09/12/2024

FIREWORKS AND PETS

If you live in inner Sydney you (and your pets) would be no stranger to our weekly 🎉fireworks 🎉displays!

Check out these 6 top tips for keeping your pets happy during these scary events.

And don't forget, if you are still struggling, we are here to help ❤️

05/12/2024

Hi vets! Need some help with a behaviour case?

- Do you have a case that you would really like to refer to a behaviour vet, but your client prefers to continue working with you?
- Is your client located a fair distance from Sydney where a house visit from Pet Behaviour Vet would be impractical?
- Or are you stuck on a behaviour case that you have been treating, and would prefer to continue managing it in-house rather than referring?

WE HAVE A SOLUTION!

Our three MANZCVS qualified behaviour veterinarians Dr Joanna McLachlan, Dr Sabine Wilkins and Dr Diana So are available for consultation over the phone to discuss your behaviour case. You will remain the treating veterinarian at all times and you will continue to be responsible for the management of your own case, no matter where you are in Australia!

If you would like us to send your practice some information on this or any of our other services please give us a call on (02) 8599 0859, send us a private message or email us at [email protected]

03/12/2024

Does your pet tremble like Scooby Doo here whenever there is a crack of lightning? It doesn't have to be this way!

Here are our 6 Top Tips for keeping your pets happy during
Thunderstorms

1. Dampen the noise
This is one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to help. Close all doors and windows, put the TV on, or better yet, play some calming (classical) music. Encourage your pet to sit in a well-insulated room (like a walk-in robe) or under a blanket. Consider trying pet ear muffs or blocking their ears with cotton wool (but don't pack it in too far!).

2. It's okay to relieve anxiety with medication
Pets with severe noise anxiety can experience extreme psychological distress, injure themselves and cause property damage. This is a medical problem that requires medical treatment. See your vet well in advance to discuss treatment options, as test doses are often necessary. Make sure you give medication with enough time to absorb, well before the storm is forecast to arrive, and 'top up' as necessary.

3. Create a sense of calm and safety
Many pets cope better indoors with human company when they are scared. If you have plans to go out, try to arrange for a pet sitter. Play calming music, keep your voices down, plug in a pet-safe diffuser, and dim the lights. Above all, allow them access to their favourite hiding or sleeping place (if not normally allowed on the couch, consider making an exception just this once!).

4. It is impossible to reward anxiety
Reassurance does NOT reward anxiety. Do whatever you need to do to help your pet calm itself. Pat with long, firm, slow strokes. Play a favorite game. Offer lots of tiny, stinky treats. Offer a bone or chew. Let them hide under the bed or in the cupboard. Give them a cuddle. Talk in a soothing voice. Or just leave them alone if that's what they prefer. Do whatever works.

5. Cats (and other species) are affected too!
Cats, rabbits and other companion animals can be just as terrified as dogs during thunderstorm events. We often forget them because they rarely cause the destruction and noise that dogs make when they are scared. All of the above applies to these critters too!

6. Seek professional help
Just because noise anxiety is common, doesn't mean it is normal. Seek solutions for your pet... but don't do it alone. Severe storm anxiety requires teamwork between you, a behaviour-savvy vet and an experienced, force-free trainer. You wouldn't try to treat any other severe medical issue on your own, would you?

Visit www.petbehaviourvet.com.au or call 8599 0859 to book a consult with one of our behaviour veterinarians or animal behaviourist to discuss a personalised treatment plan

26/11/2024

With temps expected to exceed 39 degrees in parts of Sydney today 🫠, we are reminding our followers that it is completely okay NOT to walk your dogs today! Please stay home and stay cool! 😎

Share with us below what you are doing to stay cool!

26/11/2024

Holistic animal behaviour support (no, we don't just throw drugs at the problem!)

Did you know that we have a PhD qualified Animal Behaviourist on staff who works alongside our Behaviour Vets? Dr Melissa is an integral part of the holistic way we address behaviour problems within our practice. Check out this amazing review that one of our lovely clients left us recently regarding our Integrated Care Plan:
"A couple of months in working with this beautiful team and our little Bella is already a new girl and enjoying life so much more . The introduction of a human baby to our home has been so much easier than we anticipated with guidance from both Dr Joanna and Dr Melissa Their approach has been wonderful and kind to both us humans and Bella with great results"

If your pet is already seeing one of our vets and you don't have a trainer or behaviourist helping you, make sure you ask our staff about this option.

ABN 97 616 048 563

27/10/2024

What if you were allowed to scroll on social media, just briefly... just enough for something to catch your eye, but once you showed some interest you were told to move on before reading the post properly?
What if you were physically yanked away from your phone (by your collar) when you made a move to like/react/comment on something interesting?
Don't do this to your dog.
Please, LET THEM SNIFF! 🤩

22/10/2024

Poor Kevin... if only his owners knew that pica can be treated! 😌

Pica is a syndrome where animals eat non-food items such as rocks, dirt and cloth. Most of the time it is a symptom of either gastrointestinal discomfort, or anxiety.

So if your pet is constantly getting sick from eating these things, or worse, requiring surgery to have them removed, please give us a call!

15/10/2024

Did your dog or cat panic in the storms this week?

Have you been frantically googling the nearest obedience trainer for help?

Wait! In many cases, this may not be the solution to treating your pet's panic attack.

(Read the blog post in the link for more!)

Panic is irrational. It’s illogical. It’s reflexive and automatic. Panic cannot be controlled by the conscious mind- the thinking brain. Not while it is highly aroused, anyway. During a panic episode, the mind physically cannot learn anything beneficial. Expecting an animal to learn anything using traditional training methods at this time is wasted effort. Even detrimental.

No amount of obedience training is going to cure your pet of its phobia.

How then, do you treat a phobia?

The key to treatment in the long-term is changing the underlying emotion from being negative, to being positive or neutral. That is, from fear or panic, to joy or indifference. It is simply not possible to do this with obedience training alone. And even then, some animals cannot learn until we reduce their overall anxiety with the use of medication and other methods.

This is where a MANZCVS qualified veterinary behaviourist can help! One of our vets can come to your home, assess your pet and the home environment and give you a 3 pronged approach to treatment, that includes behaviour modification, management and medical treatment. Even unrelated things like arthritis and gut problems can make noise phobias worse, so it's important to have a behaviour-savvy vet involved in its treatment.

Why obedience training won't fix your panicking pet

05/10/2024

Don't forget to change your clocks tonight! (But even if you do, I'm sure your pets will remind you of the real time) 😜

13/09/2024

🤭🤭🤭😹

10/09/2024

Who can guess where Dr Jo was lucky enough to spend the day seeing patients today?
Hint: it really blows!
Yes, we visit Kiama!
❤️

02/09/2024

Safety Zones help keep dogs and their people (especially children) safe so they can grow up together being good friends.

Check out this great setup that Nutz About Mutz have created!

Percy struggles with the energy of his human toddler brother, so he has been set up with a Safety Zone to help him create space when he needs it. He chooses to go in on his own. And sometimes his people ask him to go in and close the gate for a little extra management when necessary. His parents added the foot stickers to help teach the tiny human how close he's allowed to go to Percy's safe space.

Here is a link to the foot stickers:

https://tinyurl.com/229dy326

+training #

29/08/2024

Is your dog or cat afraid of noises? Thunder, vacuum cleaner, fireworks and other common sounds can sometimes be terrifying! But treatment IS available.

Fear Free Pets have put together a fantastic short video outlining the types of strategies that behaviour professionals like Pet Behaviour Vet often recommend.

Here are the main points outlined in the video:

- Never punish these behaviours
- Ensure you are calm yourself
- Use food or attention to help them feel better
- Notice and reward calm behaviour
- Desensitisation- get them used to the sound through gradual and controlled exposure (Tip: but not while they are scared!)
- Counter-conditioning- use treats and other good things to change their emotional response to the noise
- Operant conditioning- try doing some easy tricks to take their mind off the noise
- Some pets respond well to a pressure wrap
- Give them access to a ‘safe place’ which they can access by choice
- Pheromones can sometimes help
- Play music- classical, soft rock or reggae to create calm and block out the noise
- If these are not working well, then you may need medication from your vet- either daily or for occasional use, depending on the situation.

Is your dog frightened of everyday sounds like traffic or the vacuum? How about intermittent noises caused by thunderstorms, holiday fireworks, and more? The...