Your Pet’s Nervous System

Did you know that both yours and your pet’s nervous systems each have 2 different modes? 👇

1️⃣ The sympathetics AKA the gas pedal! ⛽️ This is the fight or flight side of the nervous system. You know when you’re driving down the road and deer runs in front of your car? This side of the nervous system tells us that there is danger and produces a response- an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, eyes dilate, and the muscles get tense. This is a survival response and since animals don’t have as big of pre-frontal cortexes as us humans do, they lack the logic to understand that they might not actually be in a survival situation, even though their nervous system thinks it is. The sympathetics live through the middle of the spine.

2️⃣ The parasympathetics AKA the brake pedal! 🧘‍♀️ This is known as the calming, rest and digest side of the nervous system. Healing and development are accelerated when this side of the nervous system is activated. The parasympathetics are housed all the way at the top and all the way at the bottom of the spine.

A pet’s nervous system may be in sympathetic overdrive for many different reasons. The two biggest ones are chronic pain and early experiences/previous history. Chronic pain increases nociceptive input to the brain, which can make the brain shift into thinking it’s in a survival situation. 🧠 This is why pain can make a dog lash out and display behavioral issues. The second reason a pet may be in sympathetic dominance is because of past experiences. Just like in humans, each experience a dog has molds and wires the brain and nervous system. This is why rescue pets who have had tough lives before rescue naturally may display sympathetic tendencies like being easily frightened or flinching when you go to pet them.

Chiropractic works to CALM the nervous system and stimulate the parasympathetics… reducing pain, improving function, and promoting healing and development. 💥