Behavior & training

While sometimes confused with normal behaviors in high-energy, excitable dogs, restlessness or agitation is an abnormal symptom that can be associated with serious medical conditions and is often secondary to pain or discomfort.

Estrus, or “heat,” is the period of a female dog’s reproductive cycle when she is most fertile and receptive to breeding.

Deafness in dogs describes hearing loss, which may be present from birth or develop afterwards (acquired).

Bruxism in cats describes grinding teeth, and may also include chattering of teeth in some cases.

Head shaking is a common symptom in dogs with multiple underlying causes.

Head shaking in cats refers to turning the head rapidly from side to side, often in response to irritation or pain in the ears.

Restlessness and agitation in cats are common, but hard to define symptoms. Restlessness and agitation are often a normal part of feline behavior.

Panting is rapid, open-mouthed breathing that is characteristic of dogs. Dogs pant to regulate their body temperature through evaporative cooling of the respiratory tract.

False pregnancy is a common and normal part of the reproductive cycle of intact female cats. False pregnancy is characterized by hormonal and physiologic changes consistent with pregnancy, even though the cat is not pregnant.

Atrial fibrillation in horses is a cardiac arrhythmia where the atria (top of the heart) beat rapidly and out of synchronization with the rest of the heart. Causes of atrial fibrillation include heart disease, electrolyte imbalances, and colic.

Atheromas of the false nostril in horses are non-painful masses that develop into soft to firm mass on the side of the face. It is a congenital condition that becomes more apparent in adulthood as the mass grows.

Fatty liver disease in dogs, also known as hepatic lipidosis, is an uncommon condition typically caused by lack of calorie intake. Fat stores in the body are released to make up for lack of calories taken in, which leads to an accumulation of fat in the liver.

Fatty liver disease (FLD) describes accumulation of fat in the liver. In cases of FLD, fat is released from stores in the body in response to a prolonged period of fasting.

Bruxism is the medical term for teeth grinding. It is both audible (as a grinding, rumbling noise) and visible (as a strange motion in the jaw). In horses, bruxism is typically related to pain.

Narcolepsy in cats is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by excessive sleepiness and cataplexy. Cataplexy is sudden collapse with complete loss of muscle tone which may be spontaneous or triggered by emotional stimuli, such as food. 

A horse which groans excessively or ‘roars’ during exercise may have laryngeal paralysis. This condition is caused by damage to a nerve inside the neck which controls the opening of the throat.

Coprophagia describes the behavior of eating feces. While distasteful to humans, this is a relatively normal behavior for dogs. There are a few medical causes which include malnutrition, Cushing’s disease, cognitive dysfunction, and anxiety

Gastric ulcers are sores inside the lining of the stomach. In horses, two types of gastric ulcers have been identified: upper and lower. Ulcers found in the upper area of the stomach are often caused by intense performance demands or stress.

Regurgitation is the passive expulsion of matter from the mouth, upper throat (pharynx), or esophagus. In dogs, the expelled matter often takes the appearance of chewed food combined with a little saliva or mucus. It can also be tube-like in shape. 

Regurgitation is the act of involuntarily expelling swallowed food from the esophagus out of the mouth. It can be identified by the tubular shape of the ejected matter as well as the passivity of the process. 

Pica is a behavioral symptom where cats compulsively eat non-food items. It is an uncommon symptom in cats. This abnormal behavior can indicate an underlying medical issue such as infection or nutritional deficiency, or may be due to stress.

Cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) is a chronic, progressive disease in senior cats characterized by a loss of cognitive performance, also called senility or dementia. Symptoms include disorientation, anxiety, changes to social interaction, changes to the sleep-wake cycle, and urinating or defecating outside of the litter box.

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder affecting the brain characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and spontaneous or emotion-triggered collapse (cataplexy). This is an uncommon condition in dogs, and can be caused by a genetic predisposition or in rare cases, a brain disorder or nerve disease.

Canine bowel incontinence is the inability to control defecation. Incontinence is distinct from inappropriate elimination or house-soiling, in that the bowel movements occur without the dog’s awareness.

Persistent heat is a rare symptom in cats where the hormonal regulation of the reproductive cycle is disrupted, causing the cat to be in estrus (heat) for an abnormally prolonged period. 

Cat tongues have backward-facing barbs to assist with pushing food towards their throats. As they groom, they constantly ingest small amounts of loose hair. When ingested hair develops into a mass within the GI tract it is referred to as a hairball or trichobezoar.

Scooting is a behavior where the pet sits, lifts its rear legs into the air and uses its front legs to drag the anal area across the floor. This is a normal behavior in response to itchiness, but becomes a medical concern if it is excessive or accompanied by other symptoms, especially around the perineal area.

Bowel incontinence in cats is involuntary passage of feces, and appears to happen without awareness. This symptom is not to be confused with straining to defecate or inappropriate defecating/house soiling.

Anal scooting describes the behavior of a dog when it drags its rear end across the floor; usually characterized as sitting, lifting hind legs, and using anterior legs to drag the body forward while the anus area drags on the floor

Noise aversion is a phobia triggered by loud sounds, and is a common condition in dogs. In cats, it is poorly understood and its incidence is unknown.