Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi everyone,

Thanks to those of you who were able to join our recent webcast.  We've truly appreciated spending time with you during the Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection webcast  - July's presentation was our last of this series!

Unfortunately, we don't have a recording of Dr. Haug's presentation on gastrointestinal disease and behavior.  We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.   It was a wonderful presentation, and we liked it so much that we're going to have Dr. Haug do it again during our Community Conversations webcast series.   Stay tuned and sign up for Community Conversations!

Thank you for clarifying that the recording is unavailable. I was disappointed that I missed the live webcast, but I reviewed Dr. Lore Haug's presentation handout and the supporting article on bidirectional communication through the gut–brain axis. This topic connected with me both personally and through my experience caring for my dog, Jinx.

I underwent a total gastrectomy and continue to live with significant gastrointestinal effects. That experience has shown me how strongly nausea, dehydration, difficulty eating, inflammation, pain, and other internal discomfort can affect energy, concentration, emotional tolerance, and how someone responds to their environment. Physical distress does not stay neatly separated from behavior.

I have also seen this connection with Jinx. She came to us from a neglectful breeder situation and became seriously ill shortly afterward, with vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, infection, abdominal discomfort, and other gastrointestinal concerns that required veterinary treatment. Even after recovering from that initial illness, she has continued to have a sensitive GI system.

When Jinx later developed bloody diarrhea, we took her to the veterinarian. We were told that too many treats were triggering her symptoms and were advised to reduce the treats and add Purina Pro Plan FortiFlora PRO Synbiotic Action to her food. Since following that veterinary plan, she has had very few bloody-diarrhea episodes. That experience has made us much more attentive to the relationship between treats, diet, stool quality, physical comfort, and changes in behavior.

One of the most important points in the presentation was that gastrointestinal problems may sometimes occur before behavioral changes, rather than every GI symptom simply being caused by anxiety or stress. I was also struck by the range of behaviors that may be associated with GI disease, including hyperarousal, frustration intolerance, pacing, panting, trembling, repetitive licking, gulping, food aversion, appetite changes, and behavior that may appear unpredictable or aggressive.

The statement that a behavioral complaint may sometimes be the primary-or even the only-presenting sign of GI disease was especially meaningful. In shelter, rescue, foster, and training environments, it can be easy to assume that every behavioral change is caused by fear, trauma, lack of training, or the environment. Those factors matter, but pain, nausea, inflammation, food intolerance, or another medical condition may also be contributing.

As the founder of The Voiceless Bond JCMH Foundation, this information makes me think more carefully about teaching volunteers and foster caregivers to observe the whole animal. The recommendation to track stool quality, appetite, diet, treats, and behavior together seems like a practical way to identify patterns and provide veterinarians with more useful information.

I would be very interested in hearing Dr. Haug's recommendations for a simple shelter or foster screening protocol. Which combinations of appetite changes, stool changes, repetitive behaviors, anxiety, or sudden behavioral escalation should prompt veterinary evaluation before an animal is placed into a behavior-only intervention?

Thank you for helping shift the conversation away from labeling animals as difficult, defiant, or inherently aggressive and toward asking whether physical discomfort may be influencing what we are seeing. I will definitely watch for the repeat presentation through the Community Conversations series.

Hi everyone,

Thanks to those of you who were able to join our recent webcast.  We've truly appreciated spending time with you during the Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection webcast  - July's presentation was our last of this series!

Unfortunately, we don't have a recording of Dr. Haug's presentation on gastrointestinal disease and behavior.  We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.   It was a wonderful presentation, and we liked it so much that we're going to have Dr. Haug do it again during our Community Conversations webcast series.   Stay tuned and sign up for Community Conversations!

Jessica, you will likely find more information once you are able to watch the recording.  However, we have suspicion of GI disease if we observe 2 or more suggestive signs.  this could be almost any combination,  such has changes in appetite along with bouts of excessive gut noise (borborygmus).  Persistent or frequent soft stool alone is a sign of GI issue and does not need concurrent other signs to warrant investigation.

Thank you for clarifying that the recording is unavailable. I was disappointed that I missed the live webcast, but I reviewed Dr. Lore Haug's presentation handout and the supporting article on bidirectional communication through the gut–brain axis. This topic connected with me both personally and through my experience caring for my dog, Jinx.

I underwent a total gastrectomy and continue to live with significant gastrointestinal effects. That experience has shown me how strongly nausea, dehydration, difficulty eating, inflammation, pain, and other internal discomfort can affect energy, concentration, emotional tolerance, and how someone responds to their environment. Physical distress does not stay neatly separated from behavior.

I have also seen this connection with Jinx. She came to us from a neglectful breeder situation and became seriously ill shortly afterward, with vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, infection, abdominal discomfort, and other gastrointestinal concerns that required veterinary treatment. Even after recovering from that initial illness, she has continued to have a sensitive GI system.

When Jinx later developed bloody diarrhea, we took her to the veterinarian. We were told that too many treats were triggering her symptoms and were advised to reduce the treats and add Purina Pro Plan FortiFlora PRO Synbiotic Action to her food. Since following that veterinary plan, she has had very few bloody-diarrhea episodes. That experience has made us much more attentive to the relationship between treats, diet, stool quality, physical comfort, and changes in behavior.

One of the most important points in the presentation was that gastrointestinal problems may sometimes occur before behavioral changes, rather than every GI symptom simply being caused by anxiety or stress. I was also struck by the range of behaviors that may be associated with GI disease, including hyperarousal, frustration intolerance, pacing, panting, trembling, repetitive licking, gulping, food aversion, appetite changes, and behavior that may appear unpredictable or aggressive.

The statement that a behavioral complaint may sometimes be the primary-or even the only-presenting sign of GI disease was especially meaningful. In shelter, rescue, foster, and training environments, it can be easy to assume that every behavioral change is caused by fear, trauma, lack of training, or the environment. Those factors matter, but pain, nausea, inflammation, food intolerance, or another medical condition may also be contributing.

As the founder of The Voiceless Bond JCMH Foundation, this information makes me think more carefully about teaching volunteers and foster caregivers to observe the whole animal. The recommendation to track stool quality, appetite, diet, treats, and behavior together seems like a practical way to identify patterns and provide veterinarians with more useful information.

I would be very interested in hearing Dr. Haug's recommendations for a simple shelter or foster screening protocol. Which combinations of appetite changes, stool changes, repetitive behaviors, anxiety, or sudden behavioral escalation should prompt veterinary evaluation before an animal is placed into a behavior-only intervention?

Thank you for helping shift the conversation away from labeling animals as difficult, defiant, or inherently aggressive and toward asking whether physical discomfort may be influencing what we are seeing. I will definitely watch for the repeat presentation through the Community Conversations series.

Hi everyone,

Thanks to those of you who were able to join our recent webcast.  We've truly appreciated spending time with you during the Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection webcast  - July's presentation was our last of this series!

Unfortunately, we don't have a recording of Dr. Haug's presentation on gastrointestinal disease and behavior.  We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.   It was a wonderful presentation, and we liked it so much that we're going to have Dr. Haug do it again during our Community Conversations webcast series.   Stay tuned and sign up for Community Conversations!