I think pets get TMS

I know animals don't have the complex concious/subconcious we humans have but I have to ask...
Can't a pet get TMS?
Cats are notorious for being very neurotic little creatures. I foster homeless cats who come to me from tough situations and most of them have chronic skin itching or vomiting or strange conditions with no clear diagnosis. No worms, no fleas, all medical tests and labs are fine. Some of them bite and scratch themselves raw. Vets say "it's got be a food allergy" and try as you might to get to the bottom of it being an allergy it never goes away no matter what food ingredient you withhold from the diet (grains, chicken) or food sources and many supplements you add in. They also tend to have a plethora of other neurotic little issues where nothing ever helps. My sister has a cat who was homeless and he has an ear that has been itching him for 5 years since being rescued and he has no ear mites or anything in there and they are finding nothing wrong with him. He has scratched his ear into a hematoma. You often never get any solutions and end up with a cat who is quite full of mysterious issues.
Then I have a friend whose dog has "herniated discs in his back", anxiety, neuropathy, depression. They have been taking the dog to an acupuncturist and a physical therapist for pool therapy for his hips. The dog is living in a household where there is an alzheimer's relative and there is constant chaos and tension in the house between husband and wife. Nobody in the house gets any sleep because of the elderly relative tantruming. I told him the dog likely has TMS. I am not kidding. Why wouldn't an animal have all kinds of neurotic issues when they're living under these conditions? They have a nervous system, a brain and fear and I believe, "feelings".
Just my 10 cents...
Mary in Boston

 

My cat eats only fish leftovers and things like that. And anything she hunts by herself. No one remember how old she is and she is in pretty good shape. I love her attitude in that she eats, cleans herself, relaxes and doesn't worry too much about anything else.

Stressed animals quickly get sick.

 

I wonder if it's only animals that spend time with humans that get TMS.

 

I think mammals, parrots and other animals have enough evolved brains to unfortunately be able to make error alarms. And of course stress is bad for everyone. I think there was a study with coackroahes getting ulcers from stress .

i find terribly sad that probably my own problems made a neck injury of my last dog worse .

 

Wow, I can't believe I ever missed this thread. What Ellen said is exactly what I believe.
Eckhart Tolle said the ONLY animals that develop these problems are ones that live in close proximity to people.

I have a dog and look after her brother as well (I just changed my profile pic to include them today...imagine that?)

They are from the same litter. We had the boy since he was a puppy, but then my son moved him from me (stability) to living with his band mates at around 10 months(inconsistency, noise, too many people in and out)...and he went from well adjusted champion/friendly dog to limping, angry biting people dog. I am trying to re-hab him right now. I notice his limp has a lot to do with when My son is gone... It flares up when he hasn't come home for awhile. That is also when he takes a bite at someone.

I got his sister at around a year old. The people who had taken her "couldn't deal with her anymore". She was locked in her kennel all day, every day. Apparently some man had done something to her because she was terrified of all men (great, I find out after I took her). I was patient and consistent with her....even defensive...wouldn't leave her alone for too long ever. I left baseball games early . I often take breaks from work to go let her run.... she went from a snot-eyed, allergic red-eyed sickly looking dog to being the sweetest loves everybody (even men) dog in about a year...and all of her red-eyed allergies have gone away.

It isn't rocket science. Any sentient being that is exposed to bad vibes and noise, inconsistent stimuli,etc is gonna be sickly and the opposite is gonna make them tend to lose those problems. Unlike us 'evolved' humans, they don't have any complicated 'self image' to maintain and really only want to be loved, to play and to eat... the same as the rest of us, though we might THINK otherwise.

 

It’s hard to know of animals who do not live around people get these things because no one is around to observe...
My guess is that animals around people get way more occasions of neglect, abuse or just stress. But I suppose a mom bear whose baby bear dies might get some sadness, stress and perhaps becomes more vulnerable to disease or other with a less strong immune system.
It’s sad to realize humans are so unhealthy for nature and animals.

thank you everyone who cares about animals, they give us so much.