Pit Bull Breed Stereotypes--Getting the Right Diagnosis

Avoid Stereotypes

We’ve been discussing how difficult it is to get the right diagnosis for a pet’s illness and have identified 5 problem areas:
1. Working with incomplete or misleading information
2. Being presented with a pattern of illness that isn’t normal or typical
3. Grabbing onto one major symptom and thinking that’s where the focus should be
4. Considering the problem only in light of what local pets develop
5. Using stereotypes, including breed or age

We’ve covered the first 4 problem areas in previous Caring for Pets blogs, and it's time to discuss the 5th problem that leads to misdiagnosis: Using stereotypes, including breed or age.

Aggressive dog breed assumptions
Many of us suspect one breed or another of being naturally nasty and aggressive. For some, that breed is one of the toy dogs, such as the Chihuahua. For others, including most journalists, the most aggressive breed is one of the “fighting” bully breeds, such as the Pit Bull Dog.

When we suspect dogs are aggressive by nature, we misdiagnose brain tumors and other organic problems because we think the breed always has behavior issues. On the other hand, if we assume breeds, such as the Labrador Retriever, are naturally sweet, we misdiagnose a genetic predisposition to behavioral aggression.

Feline stereotypes
We have stereotypic ideas about cats too. If we assume that Siamese cats are spiteful, we might diagnose a cat that urinates on the pillow as having behavioral issues and not diagnose its feline urinary tract disease (FLUTD). If, on the other hand, we think all Siamese are calm and even tempered, we may misdiagnose urine on the pillow as a bladder disease when it is a behavioral issue, such as separation anxiety. Did you think cats like being alone all day while we’re working? Oh oh. See how easy it is to have stereotypic ideas.

Senior pet stereotypes or ageism
The stereotype of stereotypes is that of the befuddled senior pet. We often assume a befuddled older pet is just blind, deaf, and dumb, but these pets may have nutritional deficiencies of iron and vitamins that lead to anemia and poor oxygenation. Their brains and sense organs cannot work without oxygen and they appear to be senile but that’s not their problem. If we’re stuck with stereotypic ideas regarding age-related behaviors, we’ll misdiagnose both physical and behavioral problems.

Realize when you have stereotypes
The greatest difficulty with letting go of stereotypes is that we often don’t realize we have them. Ignorance of our attitudes interferes with getting the right diagnosis for a pet as ignorance of facts does.

What we’ve covered
Over the last few Caring for Pets blogs, we’ve exam 5 major problems that lead to misdiagnosis, the last of which was holding onto stereotypes. This information shuold make it easier to work with your veterinarian to ensure that your pet gets the correct diagnosis.

If your pet is ill and is not getting better, search for a holistic veterinarian who can help. You’ll find holistic vets listed at these two websites: American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and the Chi Instituteute. Holistic vets are trained to consider the whole animal. Your pet will appreciate their thoroughness.