Behavioral Medicine

Veterinary Behavioral Medicine — Clinical Expertise for Behavioral Disorders on Long Island

Behavioral problems are not character flaws. They are medical issues rooted in neurological function, emotional regulation, learned responses, and sometimes underlying physical conditions that have gone undetected. The difference between behavioral medicine and a standard trainer is the same as the difference between a neurologist and a personal trainer: one investigates and treats the underlying cause while the other works on the symptom.

Dr. Megan Petroff limits her practice entirely to behavioral medicine, which means your pet’s case receives the full focus of a clinician who has dedicated her career to understanding why animals behave as they do, and what it takes to genuinely help them.

Behavioral Medicine Services

Anxiety and Fear-Based Behaviors

Generalized anxiety, sound phobias (thunderstorms, fireworks), fear-based reactivity to people or animals, veterinary-visit anxiety, and avoidance behaviors.

Aggression

Inter-dog aggression, fear-related aggression, resource guarding, redirected aggression, and territorial behavior — including cases where safety is a concern for family members.

Compulsive and Repetitive Behaviors

Excessive licking, tail chasing, fly snapping, pica (eating inappropriate objects), and other compulsive disorders — often with a neurological or anxiety-based component.

Separation Anxiety

Destructive behavior, vocalization, elimination, and self-injury when left alone — a genuine anxiety disorder that rarely improves without structured intervention.

Elimination Disorders

House soiling in cats (including outside the litter box), and stress-related elimination in dogs — often behavioral but requiring medical rule-out first.

Feline Behavioral Concerns

Multi-cat household conflict, inter-cat aggression, redirected aggression, inappropriate elimination, and stress-related over-grooming (psychogenic alopecia).

What to Expect at a Behavioral Medicine Appointment

An initial behavioral medicine consultation is typically 60-90 minutes. Dr. Petroff reviews your pet’s complete medical history, environmental factors, the specific behaviors of concern, and any previous intervention. She conducts a thorough behavioral assessment and, where indicated, recommends bloodwork or other diagnostics to rule out underlying medical contributions to the behavior.

From there, she develops a structured plan that may include environmental modifications, behavior modification techniques, and, where clinically appropriate, medication. Psychopharmacology is a legitimate and evidence-based component of treating anxiety disorders in animals. In some cases, it is the difference between a protocol that works and one that does not.

Is this an emergency?

Gold Coast is a specialty and referral center open Mon-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat 8am-4pm. For emergencies at any hour, West Hills Animal Hospital is on the same campus.