I was downstairs a moment ago, heating some KFC biskets in the microwave, when my cat, trouble, followed me and pestered me into giving him some pieces of turkey in the frig. now several months into retirement, my cats (and dad) seem to think that i am both the cat's bitch.
so as im stumbling past trouble's demanding posture, a odd thought occured to me: What would my cat act like if he had mild or severe retardation? how does any animal act with such a condition? obvious, i dont think they do, presuming that they cant learn how to suvive in such situations... but does mental retardation even occur in the animal kingdom or is it exclusively a primate occurance?
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
I'm sure that once in a while a dog or other animal will be born with some kind of physiological or genetic conditions that cause something akin to mental retardation or at least a lower level of intelligence when compared to another of the breed (different breeds apparently have differing levels of intelligence). How or if that would manifest as an aberration of the animal's behavior I do not know.
I could see mental retardation in the form of brain damage caused by some physical trauma. Again though I do not know how or if any signs will be apparent.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
My cat got senile, it would hang it's ass over the edge of the box and crap on the floor, then spend 15 minutes or so trying to dig up the floor to cover it up.
The litter lasted a long time that way...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I dont knnow about retardationexactly, but certainly some are wildly stupid while others are quite smart. Inbreeding in so-called "purebreds" accounts for much of that, I guess- there are a ton of genetic dog diseases, but i've never seen aything like Downs Syndrome in animals.
I think that, in the wild, natural selection would weed anything lke that out.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I've seen a pretty stupid mongrel before now, which I thought was atypical as they're usually much brighter than the average pedigree. This one as I recall was a cross between a working Shepard dog (collie) and what I think was probably a cocker spaniel cross. The result was a dog that was highly excitable, utterly bonkers and as thick as two short planks.
Most dogs will fall for that trick where you mime throwing a ball for about five seconds. This thing would spend and HOUR searching up and down the garden intent on finding the invisible rubber ball she was convinced I threw. Not just the once mind you, she fell for it every time.
As for cats, I've had three now get to an age where they start going senile, though it usually just means they would walk into a room and forget why they came in.
I've also known a parrot that while not retarded was quite possibly psychotic. No joke the thing was lethal and you could just tell it knew exactly what it was doing.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Ha! Psycho parrot sounds kinda fun.
A good friend had a Beagle eith epilepsy: the poor thing would just seize up and needed a ton of monthly meds. sadly, during hurricane Wilma's aftermath, some asshat stole her dog right put of her yard. She loved that damn dog and it beaks her heart to think that it's almost certainly dead.
Purebred genetic disease, in this case.
Hmmm...how would you even test for something like retardation in a dog? I've seen real variance in dogs and cats as to their ability to learn- my roommate's cat is my cat's mother, but my cat is much smarter than his. Of course, his cat had a rough time living outdoors for a while, while my cat's been indoor and spoiled all her life. I wonder how much early nutrition plays a role in an animal's intel? It really does in humans after all...but most dogs I've gotten from an animal shelter were really bright (and tasty on the grill!).
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: ...but most dogs I've gotten from an animal shelter were really bright (and tasty on the grill!).
WTF, Jason! O.O
well, Trouble proved his mousing skills once again... nailed one and spend an hour looking at the cobbords, sencing or hoping... still the biggest chicken shit (Lady loves going out, unaffraid of anything it seems yet Trouble is the super shittless spooked when he goes out)
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
When I was a kid, we used to take in abused & abandoned collies. Shelters & breeders would call us saying this one was psychologically abused, this one drops dead litters, this one has collie eye & so forth. Often we took them. Sometimes we "fixed them up" & then placed them with carefully chosen loving homes. One of the gdogs we got wfrom a shelter; we named him Alex. What happened was, we weren’t looking for another dog, but got the call & my mother & I decided to take a look anyway. When we got there we saw this gigantic—I mean MASSIVE—blue merle collie clomping around outside playing with other dogs. The shelter head told us that their vet said he had about 1% vision, that he saw light in one eye & dark in the other (later confirmed by our own).
We were smitten by this big loveable lumbering oaf of a dog & took him home, where he was named by my stepfather & filled out our “trio.” Alex became his dog, Sean was mine, & Molly—the leader of the dogs, but still junior to Zach, one of the cats—was my mother’s. It soon became apparent to us that Alex had more than just a vision problem. He was in fact mentally retarded. That retardation gave him his goofy personality (along with the nickname of Doofus) & saved us a bit. Had he had the brainpower to figure it out, he could have easily jumped over our fence. That slobbering drool machine was like a child, clomping his jaw after butterflies & scaring small children as he stood up leaning his head over the fence with a “duh” look on his face.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Was Alex born that way though- dogs can have serious mental issues after being hit by cars or being abused for example.
Collies are a perfect example of selective inbreeding causing all sorts of genetic health problems- Greyhounds are even worse.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
I dunno if my dog is retarded or perverted or possessed by Jesus, but every Christmas day since we got her she's grabbed one of her fuzzy stuffed toys and dragged it out into the middle of the living room in front of everyone and starts humping at it like the male dog. No jokes.
The odd part is, she only does it on Christmas, I've never seen her do it on any other day. And I get the feeling that it's deliberate because she'll go get one of her toys from another part of the house and bring it out in front of everyone.
It's bizarre, and weird and a little (alot) creepy.