“He’s physically perfect,” Elara told Mr. Hsu, closing the file. “Sometimes birds just decline. It’s likely idiopathic.”

But the real change was in Elara. She started sitting in on Julian’s behavior consultations. She learned that a dog’s “aggression” was often fear. A cat’s “spiteful urination” was often cystitis flaring from stress. She began asking clients not just “What are the symptoms?” but “What changed at home?”