Special ed animals?

Question

is there such a thing as special ed animals like down syndrome tigers?

Answer 1

Well, down syndrome is actually a trisomy, where there are 3 copies of a particular chromosome- in the case of Downs it is actually the 21st- therefore downs syndrome is actually known as trisomy 21.

All sorts of chromosomal abnormalities are possible, many of them being trisomies. It would stand to reason that this is fully possible in the animal kingdom as well, after all humans are just another mammal. Most of these animals would not survive to maturity though, not being able to attain the necessary skills for survival. Since they would also not live to breeding age it could be that chromosomal abnormalities are rather more rare in the wild, since defective genes would not be passed on to the next generation.

They definately do exist though, trisomied mice are specifically bred for research and there are other cases in scientific literature of trisomied animals.

For some reason it won't let me paste, but if you google trisomy and animal you will get tons of hits.

Answer 2

yes, I had a cat who seemd to be cognitively challenged-she coudln't meow for years and even tehn it was more liek a squeak

Answer 3

Yes, there are special ed animals. My cat is autistic. I think she was given too much anesthetic when she was spayed because forever after she cannot tolerate noise or touch and will bite if forced to be petted.

There tend to be less genetic anomalies in wild animals, because they are usually killed and eaten and don't pass on their genes. Over bred domestic animals tend to have more genetic issues because of the desire to breed for a specific trait, while ignoring other traits that tend to become intensified also. An example of this is albinism in Australian Shepard's. If they are albino, they are usually deaf. There are also breeds of dogs who cannot whelp their own puppies because of too much breeding for a certain trait, which allowed an anomaly to appear.

Mutts and alley cats probably have fewer inborn traits unless they are allowed to breed with brothers or sisters, which is the closest form of inbreeding.

Answer 4

yes, but it shows in different ways.

Answer 5

I think downs syndrome is specifically human.

Animals vary in intelligence.  It is particularly noticeable in pets like dogs.  If dogs went to school and were expected to all meet the same standards, then there may well have to be special education programs for the ones that were experiencing difficulty in the regular program!