Pets with compulsive disorders? You betcha

Ruling out a medical cause is the first step in a diagnosis. Once it’s clear that a behavior is truly compulsive, behavior modification and sometimes anti-anxiety medication can help. A professional evaluation with a veterinary behaviorist involves

• assessing the pet’s living arrangements to see how the animal is interacting with other pets and family members in the household;
• determining whether the pet has an anxiety disorder;
• determining whether the pet is getting adequate exercise, nutrition, social interaction and training;
• and developing a program to help the pet deal with the circumstances that trigger the compulsive behavior and learn alternate ways to cope with those situations.

Sueda, who says that 5 percent to 10 percent of the cases she sees involve some kind of repetitive behavior, recalls a cat that had licked all the hair off his belly, the inside of his thighs and the inside of his front legs. He was having issues with the other cats in the household as well as the presence of a new baby.

“We ended up reintroducing him to the cats in the household, making a lot more positive associations between the other cats in the household and the baby, as well as prescribing the cat some anti-anxiety medication,” Sueda says. “Within a month, he grew all of his hair back.”

Anti-anxiety medications that can be effective include clomipramine and Prozac. Marder, the veterinary behaviorist from Boston, used a different medication to help a cat that was chasing its tail.

“The owners had tried many things and nothing worked,” she says. “I put him on gabapentin, which is an anticonvulsant in people and also affects pain sensitivity. It worked very effectively.”

Drugs aren’t a quick fix; it can take up to four months to see results. And simply giving a pill to a pet won’t solve the problem. Behavior modification and, if necessary, environmental changes also must be part of the treatment.

What an animal behaviorist does If your regular veterinarian has found no medical reason for your pet’s strange and compulsive behavior, a veterinary behaviorist could help you — assess your pet’s living arrangements to see how the animal is interacting with other pets and family members in your household; — determine whether your pet has an anxiety disorder; — determine whether your pet is getting adequate exercise, nutrition, social interaction and training; — develop a program to help your  pet deal with the circumstances that trigger the compulsive behavior; — and prescribe an anti-anxiety medication if necessary.

While medication won’t necessarily eliminate the behavior, it can reduce its intensity to the point where behavior modification has a better chance of succeeding. Treatment with medication may last only a few months or it may be required throughout the animal’s life, depending on the severity of the problem.

Drug costs can vary, depending on the size of the pet and the type of drug used. To save money, pet owners can purchase medications at mass merchandisers such as Target or Costco or participate in discount programs available from certain credit cards or chain pharmacies such as Walgreen’s.

Punishment isn’t the answer
Wylie has been taking a low dose of phenobarbital for the physical signs of his disease, and Grant says it has helped take the edge off his behavior. She also helps him relax with light massages, short walks, interactive calm play and low-level obedience exercises at home.

“He gets lots of affection when he gets stressed, and we redirect him when he starts pawing, telling him, ‘No paw’ and moving him, or putting a different dog bed or rug in front of him, which seems to interrupt the behavior momentarily,” she says.

Low-tech solutions also can help in less severe cases. Coronetz bought a custom-made quilted cotton “lampshade” collar for Mozart to prevent him from nibbling on his legs.

Punishment never works and can even make the situation worse, but owners who are willing and able to make the necessary changes can successfully manage their animals’ behaviors, Haug says.

“It also depends on to some degree on the strength of the genetic predisposition. Some animals, mostly in bull terrier lines, truly seem to have almost a treatment-resistant tail-spinning behavior, and some of those animals end up being euthanized because the treatments just aren’t successful,” Haug says.

“But in my experience the majority of animals with compulsive behavior problems respond, and they respond to a level where the owners are pretty happy and the animal can live a good quality life.”

Kim Campbell Thornton is an award-winning author who has written many articles and more than a dozen books about dogs and cats. She belongs to the Dog Writers Association of America and is past president of the Cat Writers Association. She shares her home in California with three Cavalier King Charles spaniels and one African ringneck parakeet.

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