Can animals have 'PTSD?'

I was just watching the documentary One Lucky Elephant last night. In the
film, a former circus elephant, now living in an elephant sanctuary, is diagnosed
with PTSD by an animal psychologist. While this diagnosis is debatable--perhaps
the animal was suffering from some kind of adolescent hormonal changes, which caused her to be aggressive--certainly the elephant had experienced trauma in her
life, from being orphaned as a baby, to being separated from a sibling elephant,
to being forced to learn tricks by being struck by an ax handle as a child. So the
diagnosis may be a possibility.

We acquired a dog when she was about 9 months old, from a family who gave her up after becoming bored with her. Although she is usually a calm, well-adjusted dog
who is unaffected by strangers, thunderstorms, etc., she is absolutely terrified
of a particular long, grasping tool in our house--she refuses to enter a room if
this tool is lying around in it, and trembles at the sight of it. We've always
wondered if, in her former home, she was struck or teased with a similar tool.





I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

i totally believe dogs suffer from it.My baby was attacked as a puppy and he's not been the same since. Hope karma gets these pricks hurting an animal is inexcusable im.Glad he has a good home now

Since animals do share with humans the ability to have emotional reactions (both positive and negative) to events, people, objects and their own memories of all of the above, absolutely they can also experience PTSD the same way we do after a traumatizing event.

I would say yes, although technically it may not be exactly PTSD.

I foster puppy mill dogs - dogs that lived their entire lives in a small cage and are overbred. Some of them do learn how to be a pet but almost all remain shy and skittish while others never fully recover. We have had some puppy mill dogs that could not eat a meal without trembling, even after being in the same foster home for months. Those types of dogs remain unadoptable.

I also think of a former pet I fostered. A little 5 lb chihuahua named Princess who fit her name like a glove. Her family moved and on their way out of town, they dumped all their dogs at a pound. This particular pound was over crowded but they made room for these dogs by keeping them in a pen outside. This poor chi rode terribly in car and usually stress-pooped as soon as she got in a car.

It really made me dislike people even more just for the fact people just toss beautiful animals with no hestitation.
Working in animal rescue makes you totally hate most humans as pets are discarded for the stupidest reasons. And those are the good cases. Lots of abuse and neglect.

It's funny, too, because we always think, "if only dogs could talk!".

Have a nice day!
I kick arse for the Lord!

I volunteered at an animal shelter and fostered puppy mill dogs for four years. Good Girl came to live with us for the rest of her life, but she was always a little strange. She hid in the floor of our closet (a nice, tight space like the one she lived in at the puppy mill) and would stare at people when she was out riding in the car. She didn't bark at people. She just stared. Eventually the person would just crack up laughing and Good Girl would wag her tail, which to me means that she knew what human laughter meant.

One delivery guy asked us if we had a pet bear, but that was just Good Girl standing in the window staring at him. Then we tried to teach her the game of fetch. Our aunt used to say it was like playing fetch with Eor. We would slowly roll the ball, so it wouldn't scare her. She would watch it roll. When it stopped rolling, she would walk toward it. Eventually she would pick it up and walk around the house with it. After a while, she would bring it back to us and we would gently roll the ball again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life is too short to learn German - Mark Twain? Eh - Vielleicht.

We have a retired racing greyhound. I've heard many horrible things about the treatment of dogs at the race tracks, and I can tell there are a few sounds that trigger a weird reaction in our dog.

I know they are typically kept in cages at the track, then let out to race or go to the bathroom. Surprisingly, our dog loves to be in her crate. I would think she would prefer to stretch out on her dog bed, but she loves jamming herself into this crate.

Your dog probably has a similar comfort zone with the floor of your closet.

Watch Veronica Mars!

My cat was attacked by something as a 6-week old kitten (before I had her) and lost a leg. She was always skittish and would go hide if people came over. Even with me, I had to be careful how I approached her. Now that she is 18, she was mellowed in the last year or so and nothing seems to bother her!

You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi

The answer is yes any thing that thinks can develop PTSD! But weather or not this in fact is PTSD in this case I really don't think it is. I had a dog that use to do the same thing she was a Schnauzer Poodle mix, she would quickly run out and soon after would cry and scratch on the door shivering.