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The symptoms of emotional depression in animals can be vague and challenging to diagnose. Here’s a behavioral perspective on this condition and how it may be treated, without drugs.
by Suzanne Hetts, PhD, CAAB,
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nnie didn’t seem herself. She was grumpy and didn’t have much appetite. She seemed lethargic and uninterested in activities she had always enjoyed. Once outgoing, confident and happy, she was now reluctant to do much of anything, preferring to just watch life go by. Who is Annie? From those vague behaviorial signs, she could be a horse, dog, cat or even a person. It’s not often you’ll be presented with a patient whose owner’s primary complaint is that his animal isn’t happy and may be suffering from mental depression. Nevertheless, decreased appetite and activity along with increased irritability are behavior changes most clients will be concerned about, and which can be associated with a myriad of diseases or illnesses. Some veterinarians use the “ADR” or “ain’t doing right” shorthand for these and other non-specific signs. As a veterinarian, you’re accustomed to conducting a range of diagnostic procedures when animals present to you with general behavior changes. Before considering a patient’s symptoms the result of mental depression, you know that any medical conditions that could precipitate them must first be eliminated.
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integrative veterinary care
and Daniel Estep, PhD, CAAB
combat zones are showing depressionlike behavior changes, including a reluctance to engage in tasks for which they were trained. These problems can easily result from classically conditioned fears. The average pet, however, is more likely to experience a number of insidious conditions that can contribute not only to a depressed mental state but to other behavior problems that compromise his welfare. Decreased activity, lack of interest, and general passivity are a cluster of behaviors linked to depression. Two risk factors for this behavioral cluster are a lack of control over the environment, and traumatic experiences that also result in a loss of control. It is sad but true that several common animal rearing and training procedures have the potential to create these conditions.
Defining animal depression Depression can be defined as a decrease of functional activity, a decreased interest in one’s surroundings and/or a decreased response to external stimuli. In people, depression is typically categorized as situational or chronic (sometimes called endogenous). Situational depression results from a specific event such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, a traumatic experience, or other stressful life events. Chronic depression is not tied to specific events but is more the result of individual, internal risk factors. Whether animals can have “depressive personalities” is not known. However, research suggests that animals, like people, do have differences in their mental outlooks – similar to the “glass half full or half empty” perspective. In one study, dogs were trained to expect food under a cup in one location but not in another. When the cup was placed midway between the two locations, dogs with separation anxiety were less likely to search the cup for food than dogs without the condition. In another study, rodents were trained to expect different tones that predicted either an unpleasant noise or a food reward. When a tone intermediate between the two was played, rats raised in a stable environment were more likely to behave as though they expected a reward than those raised in unpredictable conditions. These differences in expectations likely result from interplays between early experiences and rearing conditions, environmental experiences and learning, and inherent genetic tendencies. Thus, if you suspect an otherwise healthy animal is suffering from a depressed emotional state, the first step is to obtain a behavior history to attempt to identify any contributing events or risk factors.
If you determine the animal is medically healthy, yet the behavior changes persist, then other possibilities, including depression, should be explored. However, according to Dr. Margie Knoll, a veterinarian and certified veterinary acupuncturist at Airpark Animal Hospital in Westminster, Maryland, there isn’t much information available to general practice veterinarians about the diagnosis and treatment of mental depression in animals.
…there isn’t much information available to general practice veterinarians about the diagnosis and treatment of mental depression in animals. Causes can be complex Clear but probably uncommon events that could contribute to a depressed mental state in an animal include traumatic experiences such as surviving a fire, a car or trailer accident, or being caught in a tornado or hurricane. A more common trigger is the loss of another animal or person, through death or separation, to whom the patient was attached. Abuse and neglect may be other factors. It has also been proposed that military dogs serving in integrative veterinary care
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