Eating
Fussy eating 🐕🐈
They refuse to eat
It is usually learned behaviour rather than a small appetite. But refusal in cats is a completely different problem from refusal in dogs.
Begging 🐕🐈
They beg constantly
In a home, food takes no effort and no time. The leftover time and energy comes out as begging.
Food guarding 🐕
They growl over the bowl
Becoming aggressive toward an approaching person while eating. It is better understood as possessiveness than as a fight over rank.
Multi-pet feeding 🐕🐈
They fight over food
Dogs and cats compete differently. Dogs go by rank; cats go by who got there first.
Learned food aversion 🐕🐈
They suddenly refuse a food they used to eat
When feeling ill gets linked to the food eaten at the time, that food stays refused for a long time.
Stress-related refusal 🐕🐈
They stop eating when things change
Cats are especially affected. A dog refusing food entirely is, if anything, the rarer case.
Eating the wrong things
Coprophagia 🐕
They eat faeces
Fairly common in dogs. What the cases share is that eating produces some kind of reward.
Wool sucking 🐈
They suck and eat fabric
Reported more often in Siamese and other Oriental breeds. The leading explanation is that the food lacks enough stimulation.
Pica 🐕🐈
They swallow things that aren’t food
Eating things that are not food. Some target one specific material, others eat anything.
Grass eating 🐕🐈
They eat grass
Considered normal in both dogs and cats. The actual reason, though, is still unknown.
Scavenging 🐕
They pick things up on walks
A dog that scavenges has usually learned that spotting it first and eating fast wins. The fix is changing where they look.
Mood & aggression
Aggression 🐕
They are edgy and aggressive
Diet alone will not solve it. But two studies have actually tested the link between dietary protein and aggression.
Destructive behaviour 🐕
They destroy the house
When spare time and energy have nowhere to go, they go into your things. On a diet it can increase.
Hunting play 🐈
They ambush your hands and feet
It is not hunger. An unmet hunting drive goes toward whatever moves.
Daily life
Cognitive dysfunction 🐕🐈
They howl at night and get lost
Progressive brain ageing. There is no cure, but management protects quality of life.
House soiling 🐕🐈
They toilet outside the litter tray
It looks like a training problem, but it is often the result of illness. Getting the order wrong means it never resolves.
Night activity 🐈
They are up all night
The idea that cats are nocturnal is not accurate. Their rhythm simply is not that distinct.
By species
General behaviour and nutrition information. It does not replace diagnosis or prescription. Similar behaviour does not always have the same cause, and the cause is not necessarily diet or environment — have a vet rule out illness first, and consult a behaviour specialist where needed.