Pet corner: Help for Hyperactivity

Enlarge Image Image Gallery It’s important to accept a certain amount of hyperactivity in pets, but natural remedies can help. Photo courtesy of L. Fleck

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Whenever I think about the term “hyperactive,” I’m immediately reminded of two powerful statements that have been the cornerstone of everything I do in my holistic practice:

“In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell man that he showed himself through the beasts, and that from them, and from the stars and the sun and the moon should man learn . . . all things tell of Tirawa.”
—Eagle Chief Letakots-Lesa,
Pawnee Tribe, late 1800s

“We believe that the animals were sent here to accept our diseases and show us how to heal them.”
—Tis Mal Crow, Native American “root doctor” and author of Native Plants, Native Healing (The Book Publishing, 2001)

Given the onslaught of potentially damaging medicines being used today to treat hyperactivity in children (and recently in dogs), I think it’s important to return to these maxims and apply them, using the teachings of our four-legged companions to help us with our understanding and treatments for hyperactivity in our kids and our animals.

What is hyperactivity?

In human medicine, children who have difficulty concentrating, are not good at following directions, fidget constantly, find it hard to sit still, and are easily bored are often termed hyperactive, or diagnosed as having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). When the hyperactivity component is lacking, as is often the case in girls, the term for a purer attention-deficit disorder (ADD) is applied.

Now, the big question is: Do pets have a disorder similar to ADHD? As in human medicine, it depends entirely on who you talk to. Some say yes; others insist no. One prominent veterinary behavior expert says she has yet to diagnose a case of hyperactivity in dogs; another says he feels hyperactivity is the driving force behind many of the behavior problems we see in domestic dogs.

Rather than worrying about the specific criteria that define hyperactivity in animals, I think we need to think about the “nature” of the beast who has been labeled hyperactive, because within nature is where all healing ultimately begins and ends.

Because most cats sleep nearly all day, this article will focus on hyperactivity in dogs. For that rare hyperactive cat, the same ideas and treatment methods apply.

The nature of hyperactive animals

If we are to diagnose hyperactivity, it’s critical to realize that animals, all animals, can act and react in ways that are not “socially correct” at any one particular time. We also need to realize that our concept of socially correct may or may not fit the nature of the animal we’re working with. For example, almost all puppies and kittens are hyperactive—that’s their nature. Or, while we might think it’s inappropriate for our dog to go absolutely gaga whenever he’s in the midst of a bunch of other dogs (when he goes to obedience class, for example), it’s a perfectly natural response for dogs to want to enthusiastically greet and play with other dogs.

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