• DVM360_Conference_Charlotte,NC_banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Upcoming dvm360 Conferences
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
Veterinary Heroes
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

The Itchy Dog: A Multimodal Approach: Dermatologic & Behavioral Considerations - Episode 5

Considerations for Treating Anxiety for an Itchy Dog

June 18, 2021

EP. 1: Signs and Symptoms of an Itchy Dog
EP. 2: Role of Patient History for the Workup of an Itchy Dog
EP. 3: Minimum Dermatologic Database of an Itchy Dog
EP. 4: Multimodal Approach to an Itchy Dog
Now Viewing
EP. 5: Considerations for Treating Anxiety for an Itchy Dog
EP. 6: Transitioning Allergic Dogs to Post-Pandemic Life
EP. 7: Calming Methods for Restless Itchy Dogs
EP. 8: Treatment of Itchy Dogs: General Practitioners
EP. 9: Behavioral Side Effects When Treating Itchy Dogs
EP. 10: Future of Dogs Adopted During COVID-19
Advertisement

Ashley Bourgeois, DVM, DACVD: I know we’ve been in my realm quite a bit. Moving into your realm. We do know that there are some dogs that truly lick and chew from anxiety. You’ve touched a little on this, but I want to dive a bit deeper. When will you consider treating anxiety as a cause of licking or chewing or some form of pruritus?

Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC: That’s a great question. Truthfully, if the animal is experiencing any degree of stress, fear, anxiety, or even the windup of arousal, that can start to create some very similar physiological changes within the body. If we have the sense that this is manifesting as licking or contributing to that. Even if we’re seeing a dual problem where the animal has an underlying skin disorder and when they’re experiencing a level of stress, they start licking now, which creates a layer of moist skin, which creates more maceration. Now we’re cruising downhill very quickly. For me, anytime I identify any level of stress, I’m asking the question, what are our options here?

I’m not saying that every level of anxiety or stress is pathological. We know that fear or anxiety—at least a minor degree—is a completely normal behavior when we have little episodic moments. That may be OK, but if we’re starting to see a recurrent chronic or severe manifestation of that, especially if we’re able to tie in with our history that when anxiety is higher perhaps, we see more gastrointestinal sensitivity. When stress levels are up, we see more licking or more likely to break with an otitis episode or something along those lines. Those are all indications for me that we’re probably looking multimodal, not just from the multiple ways of addressing the skin issue, but truly saying we probably need to address the skin and the behavioral issue.

Then we can start diving into the 3-pronged approach that we’re often referring to within behavior: How do we manage that scenario to avoid those triggers as best we can; how do we change the emotional response that the animal has to those triggers, or if we’re talking truly about anxiety and this sense of worry and apprehensive anticipation of threat; how can we provide, through training or behavior modification, a level of structure or predictability or a sense of control that we can give that animal within their surroundings that directly starts to target that anxiety? Is there a consideration for supplements for pheromones, for any of the pharmaceutical options that may be relevant for us, as a way of directly hitting that particular element, that may be feeding back in a negative way back on the original dermatologic condition that we’re trying to treat in the first place.

Ashley Bourgeois, DVM, DACVD: That’s awesome.

Transcript edited for clarity.

Related Content:

The Itchy Dog: A Multimodal Approach: Dermatologic & Behavioral Considerations
Future of Dogs Adopted During COVID-19
Future of Dogs Adopted During COVID-19
Behavioral Side Effects When Treating Itchy Dogs
Behavioral Side Effects When Treating Itchy Dogs
Treatment of Itchy Dogs: General Practitioners
Treatment of Itchy Dogs: General Practitioners
Advertisement

Latest News

Comparing treatments for restoring the skin barrier in atopic dogs

Increasing efficiency and productivity in uncertain times

AAVMC awards almost $100,000 in diversity scholarships

News wrap-up: This week’s headlines, plus Maryland Zoo welcomes baby addra gazelle

View More Latest News
Advertisement