Understanding Pets’ Mental Health: A Comprehensive Guide for Australian Pet Owners

Most people land here after a small, nagging change: a dog that won’t settle when left alone, a cat that’s started hiding or toileting outside the tray, a bird that’s begun plucking. These shifts can look like “bad behaviour”, but they’re often a pet’s way of showing they’re struggling to cope.

The stakes are simple and real. Ongoing stress can erode quality of life, strain the bond at home, and sometimes spill into health problems or unsafe situations. The aim is to notice patterns early, rule out medical causes, and then make the home and daily routine easier for your animal to live in. ^{1, 2, 3}

Recognising stress and anxiety in pets

Mental wellbeing in animals shows up through behaviour, body language, and everyday habits. Many signs are subtle at first, then become more obvious when the pressure doesn’t lift.

Common signs to watch for

• Changes in eating, grooming, activity, or sleep (either more or less than usual). ¹
• Withdrawal: hiding, avoiding touch, reduced interest in play, reluctance to come into familiar rooms. ¹
• Restlessness and “can’t switch off” behaviour: pacing, repeated checking, clinginess, scanning for sounds. ^{1, 3}
• Escalation in reactivity: growling, snapping, hissing, sudden intolerance of handling. ¹
• Compulsive or repetitive behaviour: over-grooming, licking/chewing, circling, fixating. ^{1, 3}

How signs differ between dogs, cats, and small pets

Dogs often show distress through vocalising, destructive behaviour, house soiling, pacing, or shadowing their person—especially around departures and returns. ³

Cats are frequently quieter about it: more hiding, tension around other pets, changes in toileting habits, or urine marking. Stress can be triggered by changes in home layout, household routines, or social friction. ^{4, 5}

Birds, rabbits, and other small animals may show stress through reduced appetite, repeated escape attempts, freezing, barbering/plucking, or unusually defensive behaviour. When in doubt, treat sudden behavioural change as a health-and-welfare flag, not a training problem. ²

First step: rule out medical causes

Pain, skin disease, gut upset, endocrine disease, neurological issues, and sensory changes can all look like “anxiety” from the outside. A veterinarian’s job is to check for medical contributors first, then decide whether you’re dealing with behaviour change alone, or a mix of both. ²

Seek veterinary advice promptly if the change is sudden, severe, or paired with weight loss, vomiting/diarrhoea, limping, itching, seizures, or any change in thirst/urination. ²

Why pets struggle: common causes of poor mental wellbeing

Environmental and routine changes

Animals map their world through repeated patterns: the usual walking route, the quiet corner behind the sofa, the smell of familiar bedding, the predictability of meal times. Renovations, visitors, a new baby, another pet, noisy storms, or a shift in work hours can all nudge a pet past their coping threshold. ^{1, 4}

Under-stimulation (or the wrong kind of stimulation)

Boredom is rarely calm. For many pets it turns into pestering, scratching, chewing, midnight zooms, or constant vigilance at windows and fences. Good enrichment isn’t just “more activity”; it’s safe, choice-based opportunities to sniff, forage, climb, shred, rest, and retreat. ^{6, 7}

Genetics and individual temperament

Breed and temperament can shape how easily a pet becomes aroused, how quickly they recover after a scare, and how much daily input they need. This doesn’t mean a pet is “doomed” to anxiety—just that the environment and training plan may need to be more thoughtfully paced. ³

Past trauma, neglect, or poor early socialisation

Some animals arrive with a history that isn’t visible on the surface. In practice, the safest assumption is that fearful behaviour is information: something in the environment feels too much, too fast, too close. Progress tends to be built through distance, predictability, and gentle repetition. ^{8, 9}

What you can do at home (before it becomes a crisis)

Start with observation, not correction

Keep a short notes log for one week. Write down what happened just before the behaviour, what the behaviour looked like, how long it lasted, and what helped it settle (if anything). Patterns appear quickly when you look for them—especially triggers tied to noise, visitors, handling, other pets, or being left alone. ²

Build a stable, low-drama routine

• Feed, walk, and play at broadly consistent times.
• Protect sleep: give pets a quiet zone where they aren’t repeatedly approached.
• If change is unavoidable (moving house, renovations), add predictability elsewhere: same feeding spot, same bed, same cues. ^{1, 4}

Make “retreat spaces” easy and respected

Every pet benefits from a place where nothing follows them: a crate with the door open, a covered bed, a high shelf, a spare room with a baby gate. This isn’t an isolation tactic. It’s a pressure-release valve. ^{4, 7}

If you live with cats: resources matter more than people expect

In multi-cat homes, stress often grows from bottlenecks: one cat guarding a hallway, a single litter tray in a noisy laundry, food bowls placed shoulder-to-shoulder. Spread key resources out and add extras. A useful rule of thumb is one per cat, plus one extra for trays and other essentials, in separate locations. ^{4, 5, 10}

Professional help and treatment options

When to get help

Seek support when behaviour is persistent (weeks, not days), escalating, causing injury, or interfering with normal life (sleep, eating, toileting, ability to be left safely). Start with your vet, then ask about referral to a qualified behaviour professional if needed. ²

What treatment commonly looks like

Behaviour modification usually focuses on desensitisation and counter-conditioning—changing what a trigger predicts, in small, controlled steps. For separation-related problems, this often includes carefully planned “alone time” training, management to prevent repeated panic, and calmer departure/return routines. ^{8, 9}

Medication may be recommended alongside training for some anxiety disorders, particularly when distress is intense or learning is blocked by constant arousal. Any medication plan should be guided by a veterinarian, with monitoring for side effects and progress. ³

Prevention: daily habits that protect mental wellbeing

Exercise plus decompression

Exercise helps, but it’s not only about distance or intensity. Many dogs benefit just as much from slow “sniff walks” and permission to explore as they do from a fast lap of the block. For cats, short play bursts that mimic chase-and-pounce, followed by a calm rest spot, often work better than overstimulation. ^{6, 7}

Enrichment that fits the species

• Dogs: food puzzles, scattering kibble in grass, scent games, chew items, short training sessions using rewards. ^{6, 9}
• Cats: climbing and perching, hiding spots, scratching posts, play that allows stalking and chasing, safe window views. ^{4, 7}

Use reward-based training methods

When you’re trying to reduce fear or anxiety, harsh corrections can easily add more threat to an already difficult situation. Reward-based methods are widely recommended for training and behaviour modification because they are effective while better protecting welfare and the human–animal bond. ⁸

Nutrition and mental health: keep it grounded

Diet matters to health, energy, and comfort, and discomfort can change behaviour. If a pet is underfed, overfed, on an unbalanced diet, or living with gut trouble, you may see restlessness, irritability, or reduced resilience. A practical approach is to choose a complete and balanced diet appropriate for life stage, then ask your veterinary team to include a nutritional assessment as part of routine care. ⁶

Be cautious with supplements marketed for “calm” behaviour. Some can interact with medications or mask the need for proper assessment. If you want to trial anything beyond normal food, do it with veterinary guidance and clear measures of whether it helped. ^{6, 3}

Final thoughts

Pets don’t fake distress. They adapt until they can’t, then the strain appears in small disruptions: the skipped meal, the torn cushion, the hidden cat under the bed. Noticing those early signals, ruling out medical causes, and reshaping the environment with calm, steady choices can change the whole trajectory. ^{1, 2}

References

1. RSPCA Pet Insurance Australia: Stress in pets—what to look out for
2. MSD Veterinary Manual (Professional): Diagnosis of behaviour problems in animals
3. Merck Veterinary Manual: Behavioural problems of dogs
4. RSPCA Pet Insurance Australia: Supporting the emotional wellbeing of dogs and cats
5. RSPCA Knowledgebase: What do I need to know about multi-cat households?
6. World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA): Global Nutrition Guidelines
7. RSPCA NSW: Enrichment
8. American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB): Position statements (including Humane Dog Training)
9. Pet Professional Guild Australia: Separation issues/anxiety
10. Merck Veterinary Manual: Behaviour problems of cats