Guidelines rationale: A cat’s level of comfort with its environment is intrinsically linked to its physical health, emotional wellbeing and behavior. Having a basic understanding of the cat’s species-specific environmental needs and how cats interact with their environment will provide a foundation for addressing these fundamental requirements. Environmental needs: Addressing environmental needs is essential (not optional) for optimum wellbeing of the cat. Environmental needs include those relating not only to the cat’s physical surroundings (indoors or outdoors; in the home environment or at the veterinary practice) but also those affecting social interaction, including responses to human contact. Five ‘pillars’ framework: The authorship panel has organized the Guidelines around five primary concepts (‘pillars’) that provide the framework for a healthy feline environment. Understanding these principles and the unique environmental needs of the cat will help veterinarians, cat owners and care-givers to reduce stress, the incidence of stress-related disorders, and unwanted behavior in their feline patients and pets. The recommendations in the Guidelines apply to all pet cats, regardless of lifestyle.

Background The number of pet cats is increasing in most countries, often outnumbering pet dogs, yet cats receive less veterinary care than their canine counterparts.1 Clients state the difficulty of getting the cat into a carrier at home, driving to the clinic, and dealing with the fearful cat at the veterinary clinic as reasons for fewer visits.2 Educating and preparing the client and the veterinary team with regard to respectful feline handling is necessary in order to avoid stress and accomplish the goal of good health care. Without such preparation, feline stress may escalate into fear or fear-associated aggression. The resulting stress may alter results of the physical examination and laboratory tests, leading to incorrect diagnoses (eg, diabetes mellitus) and unnecessary treatments.

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Undesirable behaviours (UBs) are common in dogs and can jeopardise animal and human health, leading to dog abandonment and euthanasia. Dogs exhibiting UBs may have compromised welfare from underlying emotional motivations for the behaviour (e.g. anxiety) or from how owners might seek resolution (e.g. aversive techniques). The objective of this study was to estimate proportional mortality due to UBs and risk factors for death due to UBs, including death from road traffic accidents, in dogs under three years of age attending primary-care veterinary practices in England from 2009-2014. Cases were identified by searching de-identified electronic patient records from primary-care veterinary practices participating in the VetCompass Programme. The findings highlight that dogs under three years of age are at a proportionately high risk of death due to UBs (33.7%) compared with other specific causes of death (e.g. Gastrointestinal issues:14.5%). Male dogs had 1.40 times the odds of death from UB compared with females. The proportional mortality from UB for male dogs where information on the cause of death was available was 0.41. Neutered dogs had 1.94 times the odds of death due to an UB compared with entire dogs. Aggression was the most prevalent UB overall. Veterinarians had recommended referral in 10.3% of cases where dogs died due to exhibiting an UB and had dispensed nutraceutical, pheromone or pharmacological treatment to 3.0% of the UB cases that died. This study shows that undesirable behaviours require better preventive measures and treatment, 3 through further research and education of veterinarians, other professionals within the dog industry and owners.

Rationale: These Guidelines have been developed by the American Association of FelinePractitioners (AAFP) and the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) as a resource for veterinary practitioners who want to better understand and manage the important clinical condition of house-soiling in their feline patients. The Guidelines offer straightforward, practical solutions that, in most cases, will help veterinarians and cat owners prevent, manage or entirely remediate feline house-soiling behavior. Evidence base: The Guidelines include scientifically documented information when it is available. However, because research is often lacking, some recommendations reflect the accumulated clinical experience of the authors. PURPOSE OF THE GUIDELINESWe often hear the statistics: house-soiling is one of the most common feline behavior problems reported by cat owners and a major reason why owners relinquish cats to animal shelters.1 According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, shelters in the US euthanize 72% of relinquished cats, 2 many because of house-soiling behavior. If 4-9 million cats are euthanized every year, this could be more than 10,000 cats each day. Veterinarians can decrease this number by helping to correct this commonplace problem. With this goal in mind, we have developed the AAFP and ISFM Guidelines for Diagnosing and Solving House-Soiling Behavior in Cats (hereafter referred to as the Guidelines).The Guidelines provide clinicians with basic tools for educating cat owners about the prevention of house-soiling behavior. The Guidelines also apply the principles of the previously published AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines, 3 which describe the physical setting where a cat can thrive. Importantly, these current Guidelines elaborate on elimination behavior, describe and illustrate the cat's ideal litter box (also known as a litter tray), and discuss how it should be managed. While prevention of house-soiling is ideal, practitioners see many cats with pre-existing house-soiling behavior. The Guidelines explain that, even though the pathophysiology and behavioral etiology of house-soiling is often multifactorial, a thorough chronological history and a systematic diagnostic approach to this problem can be the key to developing an effective treatment plan. CONTENTSThe Guidelines offer straightforward, practical solutions for practitioners and cat owners to implement, but are not intended to be a comprehensive treatise on feline behavior. The Guidelines' authors recognize that feline house-soiling can be a complex problem. Although many cases are straightforward, individual cases can be challenging, sometimes frustrating, and occasionally beyond the expertise or experience of the general, primary care practitioner. In cases where an acceptable response does not occur within a timeframe mutually agreed upon by the veterinarian and client, consultation with a qualified behaviorist or internist is advisable.In most cases, the Guidelines will help veterinarians and cat...