A stormy start to 2024

Welcome to the first print issue of Companion Animal of 2024. I hope your year is treating you well so far – with the number of storms and unpleasant weather that the UK has had, I'm just glad my cats are all indoors and not running four sets of muddy, wet paws through my flat!

We open this edition with the third part of Claire Hargrave's series on separation-related behaviours in dogs (page 6). In this part, she discusses the emotional component of these problem behaviours, which may be occurring for a number of reasons including anxiety and fear. Separation-related behaviours are a common behavioural issue in dogs (Lenkei et al, 2021), and this article provides suggestions of how these dogs can be trained to be more able to cope with separation, improving both canine and owner wellbeing.

Many companion animals develop appendicular osteoarthritis as they age. A study in cats found that up to 90% of cats had osteoarthritis on radiographic imaging (Kerwin, 2010), and Anderson et al (2018) found that of 50% of dogs diagnosed with osteoarthritis were between 8 and 13 years old. Martha Cannon highlights how this chronic condition affects cats – it has only recently been recognised as a cause of pain in a significant number of pet cats. This article provides information on how to successfully identify whether a cat has osteoarthritis, as well as methods of treatment and environmental modifications which owners can provide to make their cat more comfortable and able to maintain a pain-free life (page 22).