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In this episode, host Alyssa Watson, DVM, welcomes back Ellen M. Lindell, VMD, DACVB, to discuss her recent Clinician’s Brief article, “Beyond Fluoxetine: A Multimodal Approach to Anxiety, Aggression, & Fear in Cats.” Dr. Lindell uses real-life cases to explore why things like house soiling and anxious behaviors occur in our cats. She shares advice on how to ask the right questions to plan environmental and behavioral modifications and when medication should get involved.
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Key Takeaways
Feline house soiling can reflect a toileting problem or marking behavior and requires consideration of the cat’s household environment and general health as well as the litter box situation.
A litter box preference test is a way for cats to tell us what they prefer regarding litter box type, substrate type, depth, etc.
For fear, anxiety, and stress in the household, ensure cats have freedom to exit or avoid interactions and that safe spaces are actually accessible, e.g. vertical spaces can help avoid young kids but might not work for arthritic older cats.
A cat who repeatedly chases another is demonstrating a reward-based response; the cat doing the chasing will likely respond well to training.
Medications are most effective in aiding responses to environmental/behavioral modifications with SSRIs being the mainstay.
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The Team:
Alyssa Watson, DVM - Host
Alexis Ussery - Producer & Multimedia Specialist