Behaviour Modification (Veterinary Referral)

This program is suitable for animals facing mild to severe behaviour issues.

If an animal is behaving inappropriately/abnormally, there are reasons for it. Generally, animals perform these behaviours to communicate fear, anxiety, and/or stress. However, most behaviour issues are species-specific and context-driven. Left untreated, they can escalate disproportionately in terms of intensity and frequency.

Therefore, it is crucial to seek qualified professional help to assess the current conditions of the problem behaviours and develop full-spectrum clinical animal behaviour solutions using positive and science-based methods.

Most importantly, we must fully address the root causes of these issues and not only treat the symptoms on its own to maximise and protect the welfare of the animal and their guardians.

Behaviour Modification (Veterinary Referral)

Process

Veterinary referral required from a licensed veterinary surgeon.

A veterinary referral comprises of minimally a referral memo with clinical history and recent physical examination, at the latest 1 month before the scheduled behaviour consultation. Additional medical staging such as general health profiles, complete blood counts, urinalysis etc. might also be required.

Behaviour Consultation Package: Initial behaviour modification consultation where extensive history taking and evaluation is performed. This is surmised with a client report, behaviour modification plan (bmp) and letter to your veterinary surgeon. We track progress of the bmp with three scheduled follow-ups and email support within a 3 month period.

There are no quick fixes to animal behaviour. Therefore, we do not provide standalone consultations, reports or plans. It is best practice in the industry that Behaviour Modification must be implemented by the client and monitored closely by expert clinicians throughout the treatment period and after to maximise successful treatment rates.

We adopt the psychobiological approach. The psychobiological approach to animal behavior integrates principles from psychology, biology, and ethology to understand the underlying mechanisms of behavior, considering both internal states and environmental factors.

Psychopharmacological drugs should never be used to treat behaviour problems without a concurrent behaviour modification program as many behaviour problems can be managed by behaviour modification alone. Drugs should always be an adjunct to behaviour modification therapy, not a replacement. More information here.

Day:

Saturday, Sunday

Time:

10AM, 2PM

Location:

Client’s location and online

Details

Behaviour Consultation Package:
- Initial Consultation: 1 x 120-180 minutes (in-home)
  - Client Report
    - Behaviour Modification Plan (BMP)
  - Letter to Veterinary Surgeon
- Follow-up Sessions: 3 x 30-60 minutes (online/phone)
  - 2 to 3 weeks interval
  - E-mail support available during normal office hours
  - 3 months period
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
- Where am I located?
  - (west): postal sector 11-13; 58-71
  - (mainland): postal sector 1-10, excl. sentosa; 14-57; 72-80
  - (sentosa): postal sector 09

Professional Fees:
- Location in Singapore:
  - (west): SGD6000
  - (mainland): SGD6500
  - (sentosa): SGD8500
  - Fees charged are on a per-animal basis and are aligned to the clinical, researching, drafting and communication time and transportation expenses incurred to go to the client’s location and back.
- Additional dog/cat:
  - SGD500 / animal
  - Must belong to the same household
  - Behaviour issue must be correlated
Package Availability
- All requests are on a waitlist-basis as our clinicians’ schedule is pre-booked months in advance
- Your request may take between 4 to 24 weeks to be fulfilled
- We thank you for your patience and understanding

More About The Program

Published peer-reviewed research shows that up to 70% of behaviour issues are associated with medical causes (e.g., stress-induced aggression from Cushing’s disease, pain-induced aggression from hyperthyroid, etc.) For this reason, to proactively rule out any medical causes influencing behaviour, a veterinary referral is required at the latest 1 month before the scheduled behaviour consultation.

Consequentially, our behaviour clinic services are provided on a veterinary referral basis only. Please obtain a referral from your veterinarian or contact us for our veterinarian’s contact for a referral if you are interested in our services. Therefore, as it is noncompliant and unethical for any aspiring or current board-certified veterinary or animal behaviourist’s licensing requirements to accept cases without veterinary referral, we will not discuss or see any cases if you do not have one.

If your veterinary referral indicates that the behaviour issue is not likely to be medically related, we will begin with a Behaviour Consultation to evaluate your animal’s behaviour problems and help you develop comprehensive behaviour solutions addressing you and your animal’s concerns.

Thereafter, a client report is provided, detailing the behaviour problems and the solutions that we think are appropriate to manage or fix them. This comes together with a treatment plan and a letter to your veterinary surgeon.

During the treatment plan, results are constantly monitored to ensure that there is positive clinical progress towards the animal and human client’s goals. As the variables influencing animal behaviour are constantly changing, the course of actions will be adjusted accordingly.

This program is suitable to tackle moderate to severe behaviour issues such as (non-exhaustive):

Aggression or Reactivity towards People or Other Animals
Shyness or Fearfulness
Lunging, Growling, or Barking towards People or Other Animals
Isolation Distress
Separation Anxiety
Hyperactivity
Resource Guarding
Reactivity to Handling in Veterinary and Grooming Settings

Follow-Up:

3 online or phone follow-ups are included in the cost of the package. E-mail support is available during standard office hours. These must be redeemed during the 3 months package period.

Additional packages can be purchased if necessary after the package is completed.

Registration + Veterinary Referral Instructions

For this service, we need completed profile and history forms from the owner and referral form with relevant clinical history from the referring veterinarian.

If you are a pet owner, please fill in the profile and history forms and print out the referral form for your veterinarian to fill up. You must also get your veterinarian to perform a physical exam and forward us all history pertaining to your pet.
If you are a veterinarian, please perform a physical exam, fill up the referral form, forward us all history and get your owner to fill up the profile and history forms.

All forms can be downloaded below. Complete and e-mail them to us at wecare@pawrus.com.sg.

Receipt of the above information does not guarantee that we will take your case. All cases are evaluated on an individual basis. Incomplete referrals and WhatsApp submissions will not be accepted.

Please title your e-mail as “[Request for Appointment with Vet Referral] Pawrus® Animal Behaviour Clinic: Behaviour Modification – Species, Client & Animal Name(s)”.

Example: [Request for Appointment with Vet Referral] Pawrus® Animal Behaviour Clinic: Behaviour Modification – Cat, Jane & Holly.

DOWNLOADABLE FORMS FOR PET OWNERS & VETERINARIANS (IN PDF)

Client Intake:

Pawrus Animal Behaviour Clinic® Profile Form

Dogs:

Cats:

How Does It Work?

Step 1: Questionnaire + Profile + Veterinary Referral.

Begin by telling us what behaviour issues your pet is facing now by completing our intake, behaviour questionnaire and profile forms. Then, call your veterinarian and get them to complete our referral form with the relevant clinical history. Please e-mail these completed forms to wecare@pawrus.com.sg. If the preliminary diagnosis is that these behaviours are likely to be medically-indicated, please work with your veterinarian closely for a solution. Conversely, if the behaviours are unlikely to be medically-indicated, proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Detailed History Review.

We start by critically reviewing your intake, behaviour questionnaire and profile forms. At this stage, we may reach out to you via e-mail or phone to obtain some specifics of the issues that you are dealing with. Immediate first-aid management advice will be dispensed before the in-person consultation.

Step 3: In-Person Behaviour Modification Consultation.

We meet in-person at the location that the pet is exhibiting the problem behaviour(s). History is taken again with relevant stakeholders. Battery tests may be conducted to obtain accurate background information regarding the behaviour problems. The behaviour(s) under examination are observed, measured, and catalogued with qualitative and quantitative behaviour measuring tools in their presenting environment(s).

Step 4: Goal Setting, Alignment & Baseline Determination.

During the In-Person Behaviour Modification Consultation, we set and align common goals for target behaviours to smoothen the Behaviour Modification Process.

Step 5: Behaviour Modification Plan - Implementation, Monitoring & Adjustments.

The proposed interventions are implemented by the client gradually in micro-phases or expeditiously in huge increments with monitoring by a skilled trainer, behaviourist or behaviour specialist. This professional should have the expertise to observe and determine if the target behaviours have changed with regards to the original intentions of the treatment plan. If all developments are as expected, treatment should continue as planned. On the contrary, if unexpected deviations occur during treatment, all relevant stakeholders will be notified at once; and depending on the magnitude of deviation, the potential for reversals or re-assessments must be considered and can be enacted at any time.

Step 6: Behaviour Modification Plan - Concluding Behaviour Evaluation.

Generally, for treatment to be determined as a success, the goals of the relevant stakeholders and the conditions of target behaviours should be at equilibrium (‘homeostasis’) or as close to alignment as realistically possible. In best case scenarios, target behaviours would be set at a level where manageability and / or long-term remission have occurred. This assertion is usually cross verified through the observations and assessments conducted by multiple behaviourists or behaviour specialists on the case.

Animal Behaviour Clinic