My Pet World: Animal behavior experts share their study results
Resulting behavioral issues (such as inappropriate elimination) or even injuries prompt some people to relinquish their cats to shelters or toss them out to fend for themselves.
While behavior modification can ease tension among cats, veterinary behaviorist Dr. Theresa DePorter, of Bloomfield Hills, MI, sought to find out if a (yet to be released to the pubic) calming pheromone product might adjust the mood among feuding cats. A diffuser emits a copy of a natural occurring feline pheromone which cats sense.
The scope of her study was impressive: 42 households and 138 cats. Some owners plugged in a placebo diffuser, while others had the real deal.
"It turned out that the pheromone definitely decreased aggression and increased harmony among cats who weren't previously getting along," DePorter says. "The results were significant."
This new product will likely be released to the public in 2015.
-- Dog trainer and behavior consultant Lisa Gunter, of Phoenix, AZ, tallied dogs labeled as pit bulls at the Arizona Animal Welfare League and SPCA. Dogs labeled pit bulls had an average stay of 42.7 days. Dogs who may have looked like pit bulls but were labeled Labrador-mixes or something else were adopted far sooner, spending an average of only 12.8 days before finding homes.
The implication is that being called a pit bill makes a negative impression on a significant number of adopters.
-- Dr. Amy Marder, of Boston, MA, noted that a recent survey suggested food aggressive dogs are often considered unadoptable, but wondered aloud if that's always a correct assumption.
Research confirmed her suspicions. To begin with, it turns out that dogs who guard their food in a shelter environment may not be food aggressive in "real life" at their adoptive homes. Among food aggressive dogs that are adopted and continue to be hot-tempered around the food dish, most owners say they learn to deal with the issue and it doesn't really affect how they feel about their pets.
Learn more about the 2014 Veterinary Behavior Symposium at www.avsabonline.org.
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