No one wants to see their beloved pet suffer from fear or anxiety, but if your dog or cat will not calm down, or their fearful and anxious responses are becoming more frequent or intense, despite your consolations, they may require veterinary care.
Understanding your pet’s emotional struggle and learning how to support them can be a long and challenging journey, but the Veterinary Behavior Solutions team is here to help. We address the most common pet owner questions about fears and phobias in dogs and cats.
Question: Why is my pet fearful, scared, or anxious about ordinary things?
Answer: Pets can respond with fear or a negative emotional response for various reasons, such as:
- Negative experience — Pets may remember a bad event that coincided with a specific location, event, or sound (i.e., trigger).
- Emotional association — Pets may associate the trigger with an emotional memory that may or may not be affiliated with the trigger (e.g., if you stepped on your pet’s paw as you opened the back door, your pet may associate the door opening with potential pain and refuse to go outside).
- Inadequate socialization — A pet who has not been positively introduced to a variety of environments, situations, and objects may feel nervous or unsure about new things.
- Genetic predisposition — Some breeds have a heightened sensitivity to specific stimuli (e.g., herding breeds are more likely to suffer from noise aversion or phobia).
Unfortunately, because pets can’t tell us what’s wrong, we cannot fully understand their fearful or phobic responses to certain triggers. Fortunately, we can still help them adapt and overcome their fear or phobia by managing their environment and addressing their emotional state.
Q: What is fearful behavior in pets?
A: Fearful behavior occurs when pets perceive certain stimuli as a threat and become apprehensive. While fear can be a healthy protective response for survival, excessive or inappropriate fear can negatively affect your pet’s quality of life.
Fear responses are generally defensive, but can become offensive (i.e., aggressive) if the pet feels trapped or is under extreme stress. Fearful responses can take many different forms, but most are universally recognizable and may include:
- Low body posture
- Increased heart and respiratory rate (i.e., panting)
- Dilated pupils
- Freezing
- Drooling
- Shaking or trembling
- Fleeing or hiding
- Urination or defecation
- Clingy or attention-seeking behavior
- Aggression
Q: What are common fear triggers for pets?
A: Although pets can respond fearfully to virtually any rational or irrational trigger, the stimuli most commonly associated with fear and anxiety in pets include:
- Unfamiliar people, children, or other pets
- Sudden or loud noises (e.g., thunderstorms, fireworks, fire alarms, appliances)
- Unfamiliar environments
- Veterinary clinics and grooming facilities
- Novel objects
Each individual pet will have different emotional responses to various situations, settings, and stimuli. You can minimize your pet’s fears by paying close attention to the circumstances that precede their nervous behavior and working with your veterinary behaviorist to develop a long-term treatment plan.
Q: Will training help my pet overcome fearful behavior?
A: Puppies and kittens can potentially overcome fearful behaviors through careful and strategic socialization (i.e., controlled exposures). Owners must be mindful not to overwhelm their puppy or kitten—especially during their sensitive periods, which occur between 8 to 16 weeks in puppies and 2 to 7 weeks in kittens. The Veterinary Behavior Solutions team recommends working with a positive reinforcement-based trainer to ensure your young pet is socialized positively.
Because training alone can often intensify stress and uncertainty in fearful adolescent and adult pets, veterinary intervention is the most effective and considerate solution. Veterinary behaviorists use a multi-part approach that includes anxiety-reducing medication or supplements, behavior modification training (e.g., desensitization, counterconditioning), and environmental management to teach your pet new, healthy, and positive responses to previous fears.
Q: What is a phobia in pets?
A: Phobias are defined as intense, sudden, and profound fearful responses and often are compared with human panic attacks. Unlike fears, which develop slowly over time, phobias can happen after a single event or encounter. Phobias are more difficult to overcome and must be carefully managed with veterinary therapies. Also, exposure should be avoided whenever possible.
Q: What can I do to help my scared or panicked pet?
A: Your pet and their emotional responses are unique and they deserve individualized attention and care. Working with a veterinary behaviorist is best, to ensure your pet has a long-range treatment plan and that you have the tools, knowledge, and confidence to support your pet’s emotional needs.
In the meantime, try these management techniques to protect your fearful or distressed pet:
- Securing your pet — Scared pets often run away in a panic. Use a leash, collar, crate, gate, or other tool to keep your pet close.
- Increasing the distance — Calmly move your pet away from visual triggers or situations. For example, if your pet is reacting to a loud noise, try going indoors, covering your pet’s ears, or putting other barriers between your pet and the sound.
- Reassuring your pet with touch, voice, and movement — Contrary to popular belief, reassuring your frightened pet may not not reinforce their fear.
- Providing positive distractions — Once your pet is far enough away from the trigger, try distracting them with treats or a favorite toy, or a long-lasting treat, such as a lickable mat containing wet food or a food-stuffed Kong, if you’re at home.
Do you have additional questions about your pet’s fearful behavior? Reach out to our compassionate Veterinary Behavior Solutions team to discuss your pet’s needs or schedule an appointment.
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