Companion Animal Psychology

People need to understand guinea pigs better, says the RSPCA, which has seen a 40% increase in the number of guinea pigs going into care at their national centres.  Two guinea pigs at the RSPCA's West Hatch Animal Centre near Taunton, England. Photo: RSPCA. By Zazie Todd, PhD Guinea pigs make amazing pets because they are fun, social creatures. But some guinea pigs in the UK are having a hard time, with the RSPCA seeing a 40% increase in the numbers of guinea pigs going into care in their national centres. The figures have been released for the UK’s Guinea Pig Awareness Week which runs from 20-24 October. The week is a national campaign aimed at increasing awareness of these lovely pets. RSPCA figures show that up until the end of September this year, 373 guinea pigs were reported abandoned, an increase of 34% on last year. And a total of 287 were taken in to RSPCA national centres in England and Wales, 81 more than in the same period last year. There are several reasons for this ...

Understanding our pets’ individual needs can help to make them happier. Photo: New Africa/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. On Monday, my cat Melina had an important specialist vet appointment. Some of you will know that she has been having chemotherapy for the past year. It’s meant daily meds at home and regular bloodwork and vet appointments. And the good news is that she is doing great thanks to our wonderful veterinary team. But what I want to tell you is that after she was home, Melina was very, very chatty. “Meow, meow,” she kept saying. It felt like she had come home from a hard day (which she had) and badly needed to tell me all about it. As if she had a lot to get off her chest. “Meow, meow!” “I know… I’m sorry…” She is the only cat I’ve had who I feel is telling me about her day like this. Obviously, previous cats have meowed at me, often (and sometimes loudly and i...

Kennel clubs have lost control, dogs are suffering, and here’s what needs to happen according to the authors of the research. Photo: 0tsphoto/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at not cost to you. When most people get a puppy, they spend a long time thinking about breed. Hopefully they ask the breeder about health checks and insist on seeing the puppy with the mom, two steps that help to ensure the puppy will have better outcomes as an adult dog. But the whole dog breeding situation is a big hot mess, according to scientists, and something needs to be done. The study, titled A New Future for Dog Breeding , is published in Animal Welfare and is by an international team of scientists from Denmark, Canada, the UK, and the US (Proschowsky et al 2025). It argues that we need to reduce inbreeding in pedigree and designer dogs in order to improve their welfare. Dogs have lived alongside us since evo...

There are new guidelines for advertisers and any organization that uses images of dogs in public communications. Here’s the infographic that explains them. The Welsh Corgi is one of the breeds that often has an extreme conformation, meaning care should be taken if choosing this breed to use in advertising, according to the new guidelines. Photo: Jus_Ol/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD The International Collaborative on Extreme Conformation in Dogs ( ICECDogs ) has put forward new guidelines which suggest never using any images of dogs with an extreme conformation (i.e., body shape) in advertising or other public communications. The concern is that the widespread use of such images only normalizes the extreme body shape, when that body shape actually causes suffering for dogs. I wrote a post about these new guidelines at my Psych Today blog Fellow Creatures . You can read it here: Only use images of healthy dogs in adverts, say experts .   ICECDogs have also put together an inf...

A comparison with village dogs highlights some of the ways that pet dogs’ lives could be improved. Photo: Lim Tiaw Leong/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Do pet dogs have it all? They get to lounge about for most of the day, their meals are provided for them, and they can have endless pets from their humans. But are there ways that we could improve the welfare of pet dogs ?    A team of scientists has investigated this question by comparing pet dogs to village dogs in a paper in press in Applied Animal Behaviour Science. After all, dogs existed as village dogs for centuries before any pet dogs came along, so the researchers say “the comparison may serve as a good basis for assessing the effects of the ‘petification’ of dogs.”  Dr. Iben Meyer and Prof. Peter Sandøe (Dept of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen), two of the authors of the pape...

If you want a happy pet, you should pay attention to how you interact with them. Photo: Veera/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. I think every dog and cat guardian wants to have a happy dog or cat . But have you ever stopped to think about how the things you do affect your pet’s happiness? Since we spend so much time with our pets and are responsible for providing everything they need, it makes sense that our interactions with them can have a big impact. The important role of human-animal interactions is considered in a research paper that was published last year. The paper updates the Five Domains model of animal welfare . This framework tells us that as well as minimizing negative and harmful experiences, we need to make sure animals have positive experiences too.   The scientists single out some examples of human-animal interactions that are likely to cause positiv...

People with flat-faced (brachycephalic) cats don’t realize the health issues associated with the breed, study shows. A traditional doll face Persian cat. See a modern Persian cat in the photo below. Photo: chrisdorney/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Whereas many dog breeds have their roots in working dogs, pedigree cats are bred purely for their looks. There are now more than 70 cat breeds, yet moggies (as non-pedigree cats are affectionately known) remain very popular. What makes someone decide to get a pedigree cat rather than a moggy? We can find some answers in a study by Dr. Liran Plitman and Dr. Petra Černá (The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies) and colleagues that was published last year in Animals . The results of the online survey show that there are two main types of cat owner, and there are indeed differences between those who pick a moggy rather than ...

Every pet owner needs to think about these three things in advance. Photo: Mylene2401/Pixabay By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you   We love our pets, but sometimes it’s hard to think about the potential risks they might face. Here are three things it’s a good idea to think about and plan for, just in case. 1. Financial planning for vet treatment Everyone knows that vet costs come with owning a pet. There are vaccinations, flea treatments, de-wormers, the costs of spay/neuter, and any necessary dental treatment. But we also have to be prepared for the costs of treatment should our pet become unwell. Unfortunately, this is sometimes very expensive. One recent study asked people how much they would be willing to pay for a vaccine that would stop their dog from dying from canine influenza (Carlson et al 2019). The conclusion was that the statistical value of a dog’s life is aro...

The best ways to provide cats with safe spaces in the home, from cat caves to cat trees and DIY options. Photo: Kimberley Boyles/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Everyone wants a happy cat, but cats like their environment to be set up right for them. One of the biggest welfare issues affecting pet cats is social behaviour issues due to a poor home environment. The five pillars of a healthy feline environment provide guidelines on what cats need, and one of those pillars is a safe space. When cats are faced with something stressful, they like to hide in order to avoid confrontation. Providing safe spaces gives them somewhere to go and relax when everything is fine, and somewhere to hide if they are feeling stressed. From a cat’s perspective, the best hiding places are the right size for them and enclosed. Cats also like to be high up and have nice places to perc...

A poor home environment can cause behaviour issues in cats--and it's the biggest welfare concern for pet cats, experts say. Photo: Anna Luopa/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Cats are incredibly popular pets. There are an estimated 95.6 million pet cats in the US, 10.9 million pet cats in the UK, and 9.3 million in Canada. They have a reputation as being easy pets, but is it possible that means we aren’t doing enough to keep our cats happy? New research published in Veterinary Record suggests that is the case. Cat experts were surveyed for their opinions on the most important welfare issues for pet cats, and asked to rank them according to severity, duration, and prevalence. Cat owners can avoid these issues by making sure they know about cats. Prof. Cathy Dwyer (Scotland's Rural College), co-author of the research, told me in an email, “I would most...