How to tell if your pet is anxious depressed or

CHIRPY, waggly-tailed and bright- eyed — that’s how we picture dogs. So it’s hard to imagine them ever feeling down in the dumps. However, they are capable of suffering depression in the same way we are.

Cats, too, can suffer stress. People often find the concept laughable because we associate that word with an overly large workload, relationship troubles or money worries.

But feelings of tension are not confined to humans. A study by one leading vet has suggested a staggering 80 per cent of Britain’s ten million dogs suffer from anxiety, sleeplessness, depression, obsessive- compulsive behaviour or other disorders.

And a Swiss report claimed our frenetic lifestyles are to blame for pets suffering psychological burnout. The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) has blamed dogs being left alone for hours at a time.

Findings from the latest PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report reveal that many owners are failing to meet their pets’ welfare needs. The study found 1.9 million dogs (19 per cent) are left alone for longer than the maximum recommended four hours on a typical weekday, while 1.3 million dogs (13 pc) don’t get walked on a daily basis.

Cats are also affected: 4.7 million (43 pc) live in a house with more than one cat, and two million of these (18 pc) are living with other cats they don’t get along with. cats are naturally solitary creatures and their territory is very important to them. living closely with a cat or cats they don’t get along with can cause a lot of stress, which can affect their health.

SO IT’S not just our busy lifestyles that have repercussions for pets. Sadly, millions are suffering because we don’t understand them as well as they understand us.

Take cats. you know how they always sit on people who hate cats? Well, there is a good reason and it’s not down to the belief that ‘cats are contrary’.

cats are sensitive, and sensible. cat lovers, on spying a cat, start cooing, reaching out to it; they stare at it, follow it and try to pick it up. cats are complex creatures and they hate being pursued or unsolicited cuddles. So imagine how relatively attractive the cat-hater seems, who is steadfastly ignoring the cat at all costs!

This is one of my favourite veterinary facts because I am fascinated by pet behaviour and psychology. Humans, being social creatures ourselves, find it difficult to understand species that don’t need their own kind. While dogs, rabbits and many other species are social animals — like us, they enjoy company; that’s how they feel safest and happiest — cats are not.

cats guard their food, territory, water ( and their humans!) fiercely. Other cats in the house or even in the neighbourhood can be a massive cause of stress. This can lead to over-grooming, gut and toileting problems.

In practice, when I’ve mentioned stress to cat owners, they often say things like: ‘Oh, he’s not stressed — he sleeps all the time.’ In fact, we now know that many cats ‘ sham sleep’. This means they pretend to be asleep to avoid conflict and stressful situations. A close look at their tense facial expression and rotated ears gives them away.

you’ll be amazed by how many cat owners aren’t aware of these fundamental cat facts. It illustrates how rarely we do sufficient research before adopting an animal.

Impulse buying of pets has become a real problem in the days of instant gratification. Too often puppies are bought from dodgy people in laybys and service areas.

But online can be just as hazardous. Often, sellers sound like legitimate breeders, but the pups are just supplied from a terrible environment into a seemingly normal home for an agent to sell.

Just like children, the early stages of an animal’s life are critical to ensure it can cope with the world around us. This means,

for cats and dogs, the very first weeks — roughly aged three to 16 weeks — are significant, depending on the animal and breed.

The words socialisation and habituation mean how your animal can learn to be happy with the people, animals and things around it. If your puppy has spent its formative weeks in a dirty cage with no human contact and has never seen a vacuum cleaner until it gets to your house, it’s no surprise lots of them don’t cope. Don’t buy one anyway because you feel sorry for it: that way, you are only making room for another.

Be very careful where you get your pets. Adoption is always my favourite route and many of the good organisations have excellent behavioural assessment and help.

If you’re going to a breeder, you must see the puppy or kitten where it has been raised. Meet its mother, and ask about what has been done for socialisation and habituation, and what you should do next. If the breeder doesn’t know, walk away.

Just as importantly, seek expert help as soon as possible for behaviour problems. The sooner you tackle these issues, the more likely you are to succeed. Every pet deserves to be happy as well as healthy.