In human medicine, a doctor asks, "Where does it hurt?" In veterinary medicine, the patient cannot speak. Instead, the animal communicates through behavior. Veterinary science is increasingly treating —a dynamic, observable metric of health.

Parrots pluck feathers not just from boredom, but often from heavy metal toxicity or avian bornavirus. Rabbits who stop eating (GI stasis) are often scared—a behavioral state that shuts down their gut motility. Treating the rabbit requires reducing noise and providing a hide, not just administering gut motility drugs.

For further research, journals such as Applied Animal Behaviour Science and the Journal of Veterinary Behavior publish the latest peer-reviewed findings in the field.