If you’re an animal lover, then you might have noticed an article making the rounds everywhere about an act called “head pressing” that just might be done by your pet.
If you haven’t noticed this article, you may want to read this…
First of all, what is “Head Pressing”?
The term “head pressing” is quite self- explanatory. The animal stands close to a wall or any other thing that has a hard surface (including but not limited to a car, a piece of furniture, a corner, and much more) and starts to literally press the top of its head against it.
You may not know this, but this is a very dangerous sign.
What causes this behavior, you might ask?
There are quite a few diseases that can have head pressing as a sign of their occurrence. A few of them include:
Hydrocephalus (this is essentially the presence of water in the brain) and Hepatic encephalopathy (this is a disease usually seen in animals that have liver problems).
Head pressing can also help to diagnose when there are tumors in the brain of the affected animal.
Essentially, an animal can start to develop the head pressing syndrome if it has any kind of trauma in its head.
There are also other symptoms that a pet owner should be on the lookout for:
For instance, depending on the underlying cause of the head pressing, there are other symptoms that could be potentially apparent. Hepatic encephalopathy is actually the most common presentation of head pressing and in this particular case, pet owners will most probably see some signs of liver disease, including the following:
The eventual outcome will depend largely on the specific cause of the head pressing, meaning if you see your pet starting to press his head against the wall, go to the vet immediately.
The sooner you get the animal treated, the more likely it is to recover fully.
Please note that it is important to know that there is a major difference between a pet that rubs its head on something just to get your attention and head pressing. Head pressing is the pushing o the head on to a surface that is hard and stationary.
