Behavior Consulting

At Packerland Veterinary Center, we want to help you with all aspects of the care of your beloved pets. Some of our pets' normal or abnormal behaviors interfere with the bond we share with them and can affect the happiness of us and our pets' lives. The goal of behavioral medicine is to modify the behaviors of animals in order to benefit the owner and the animal's quality of life. Dr. Lewis has extensive experience and a strong interest in behavior medicine.

The first thing that the doctor will do to help your animal is to determine whether there is an underlying medical reason for the behavior. The doctor will do a physical exam along with any laboratory tests that would help diagnose such a condition. There are many diseases that can change an animal's behavior such as endocrine disorders, infections, or painful conditions.

The next step that needs to be taken is to determine whether the behavior is a normal, but undesirable behavior or an abnormal behavior. A cat spraying urine can be normal but is certainly undesirable! Abnormal behavior for a particular species can be difficult to correct and may need medication along with behavioral modification to fix the problem.

Once the causing diagnosis is determined, the doctor will come up with a treatment plan that includes modifying the behavior and may or may not require medications. No behavior problem is an easy fix, but many undesirable behaviors can be changed with time.