AVA Conference Melbourne 2017

The worlds of avian and unusual and exotic pets has serious problems encouraging owners to meet the needs of their pets. But for some animals showing problem behaviour, attention to environmental enrichment is not enough to stop the behaviour occuring. This is because any animal may show a mental health disorder. Mental health disorders are an imbalance in the functions of the brain preventing the animal from coping with stressors and using out of context behaviours which may be harmful to it, other animals and people. Mental Health disorders need to be diagnosed. Many cases show some improvement with attention to environmental enrichment but further improvement can be achieved with a complete treatment program involving behaviour modification and medication.