Preface

The mental state of animals is controlled by the cerebral cortex, and healthy dogs appear to be mentally normal. They often respond quickly to external stimuli through eye, ear, tail, and limb movements, and their behavior is relatively agile. Their posture is also quite natural, and their movements are coordinated. When a dog's central nervous system is disrupted, they may experience mental excitement or depression.

The mental state of animals is controlled by the cerebral cortex, and healthy dogs appear to be mentally normal. They often respond quickly to external stimuli through eye, ear, tail, and limb movements, and their behavior is relatively agile. Their posture is also quite natural, and their movements are coordinated. When a dog's central nervous system is disrupted, they may experience mental excitement or depression.

1. Mental excitement: Mental excitement is the result of overactive skills in the central nervous system. Mild cases may manifest as agitation, panic, and fear, while severe cases may produce strong reactions to minor stimuli, such as rushing forward or backward despite obstacles, or even jumping into ditches and running wildly.

Excessive mental excitement can be seen in brain diseases such as meningeal congestion, elevated intracranial pressure, metabolic disorders, poisoning such as chemical or plant poisoning, and infectious diseases such as rabies.

2. Mental suppression: Mental suppression is a manifestation of dominant inhibitory processes in the cerebral cortex, which is another form of central nervous system dysfunction characterized by low or insufficient response to stimuli. According to different degrees, it can be divided into the following categories:

① Mental depression: This is the mildest inhibition of cortical activity in the brain. The affected dog has a slow response to surrounding things, stands still, has a low head and drooping ears, half closed eyes, and does not listen to the owner's calls. But it still responds to mild stimuli.

② Sleepiness: This is a phenomenon of moderate inhibition of the central nervous system. The affected dog is in an unnatural state of deep sleep, with abnormally slow response to external stimuli. Strong stimulation is required to produce a brief response, but it will soon fall back into a state of deep sleep. Commonly seen in conditions such as encephalitis or elevated intracranial pressure.

③ Coma: This is a phenomenon of highly suppressed cortical skills in the brain, where the affected dog loses consciousness completely, has no response to external stimuli, and does not want to get up when lying on the ground. The muscles in the whole body relax, reflexes disappear, and even pupils dilate and dilate, leading to incontinence. Only preserving irregular breathing and heart pulse. Not responding to strong stimuli, commonly seen in poor prognosis, in intracranial lesions such as encephalitis, brain tumors, and metabolic brain diseases such as hypoxia, ischemia, hypoglycemia, dehydration, etc.