Can animals be mentally retarded?

Question

Animals dont have the sixth sense - the mind. If that is the case, why do animals go crazy/mad? Is it a mental retardation? How can they be mentally retarded if they do not have mind?

Answer 1

Mental retardation is the inability to learn...MR people have minds that need trained and they need intervention of family or support people because they can be trained or educated to a level then there is a brick wall. Crazy/mad is a disease not a congenital defect like MR

Answer 2

They do have minds and they certainly can be retarded. It's a matter of nutrition, genetics and congenital development.

For instance, a puppy can easily be deprived of oxygen at birth and suffer the effects of brain damage just as people can (Cerebral palsy). Therefore a dog who would geneticly have been perfectly normal, would be developmentally off and may show severe delays in learning to walk or obey commands.... some may never do such things and would most likely not survive puppyhood. Others may develop with human help into a not so capable pet, which would require lots of help to lead a normal life.

As you said, some animals appear to "go crazy" and this can happen for many reasons.... a chemical imbalance, improper diet, illness from infectious disease, and brain tumors can all cause an animal to appear retarded when in reality it is just unhealthy.

If illness isn't a factor, it could be in their genes. An animal's genetics determine the workings of their brain and body development, just like people's so it's completely normal for some combinations of bloodlines to turn out a few less than intelligent offspring. While this doesn't always make a huge difference in species like cattle and other herding animals, it would be life or death with any predatory beast.

This is where survival of the fittest comes in.... wild animals naturally select mates who are the strongest available, therefore ensuring that their babies will turn out the same. Domestic animals, where people choose who breeds with whom, are more likely to carry genetic defects if the people are choosing breeding prospects on looks alone. We must breed very carefully and test for genetic defects ahead of time to avoid passing them along to the offspring.

Although even that doesn't promise that there will never be congenital defects like having internal organs on the outside of the body or missing/extra limbs. These are things that happen in utero while the animal is growing and is usually a case of odd fetal position, slow cell division timing or malnutrition in the mother.

Most of the time animals with congenital defects are abandoned by their mothers or killed by predators, sometimes even by siblings.

So I guess, the short answer is YES, they can be retarded because they do have minds and the more in telligent the animal, the more a disability will effect its way of life.

Answer 3

Animals suffer from chromosomal abnormalities just like people do - Ts65Dn mice are used in Down syndrome research, and show symptoms such as impaired learning.
There's the same variation in ability in cats as there is in humans, for instance walking around the open door to come in by the cat-flap.
A deer that died after a black powder hunter shot at it and missed, spooked the deer it ran into the very tree from which the shot came and broke its neck. The buck had severe facial and head asymmetrical deformations (yes, before running into the tree), including antlers that curved downwards on one side of the head.

Answer 4

There are retarded animals.. but they most likely won't live long in the animal kingdom, with all the "survival of the fittest" jazz. Ex.: Chihuahuas. haha

Answer 5

well animals do have mind, just some animals have a little less mind than other. and if an animal goes crazy/mad than it probably means it is scared or the scene fear i mean animals can scene fear and earthquakes.

Answer 6

Dude! That is a thought provoking question. I have no idea!