Can Cats and Dogs Have ADHD or Autism? What Research Says

Dogs can show measurable ADHD-like traits, and researchers have proposed a way to screen for patterns that disrupt daily life. Veterinary medicine has yet to establish an ADHD diagnosis for cats or an autism diagnosis for either species.

Maybe your dog stops listening the second a squirrel moves. Or your cat runs laps around the house, then spends the rest of the evening in the same quiet spot. Those behaviors may look familiar, especially if you have ADHD or are autistic yourself. In this article, we look at what researchers actually measured and how to tell an everyday pet habit from a change worth bringing to your vet.

🐶 Can dogs have ADHD?

Dogs differ in how readily they pay attention, act on an impulse and settle after getting excited. Researchers can measure these differences using questionnaires and behavior tests. The harder question is whether they can identify a persistent pattern that makes everyday life difficult for the dog.

In 2021, Sini Sulkama and colleagues analyzed owner surveys for more than 11,000 Finnish pet dogs. Younger dogs, male dogs and dogs that spent more time alone tended to score higher on measures of inattention and hyperactivity or impulsivity. Scores also varied across breeds. The survey leaves open why dogs that spent more time alone scored higher. For example, a dog’s behavior could influence how much time their household leaves them alone (Sulkama et al., 2021).

🔬 What the 2025 canine ADHD screening study found

Barbara Csibra and colleagues used questionnaires completed by the owners of 1,872 dogs to propose a screen with two parts. One rated inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. The other asked how much those traits interfered with the dog’s everyday functioning. Two dogs can be equally active and differ in how readily they rest, engage with people and manage daily routines (Csibra et al., 2025).

Seventy-nine dogs met both screening thresholds, about 4% of this volunteer sample. Estimating how common the pattern is among pet dogs would require a representative sample and follow-up assessment. The authors propose using behavior tests and an expert consultation to assess a dog after a positive screen.

🐾 An energetic dog or a dog that struggles to settle?

In veterinary behavior medicine, you may hear the term hyperkinesis for a pattern of excessive activity and impulsivity that can also affect learning. The criteria for identifying it vary. Age, training, fear, opportunities for activity and the setting all help a vet interpret what an owner sees (Merck Veterinary Manual, Behavior Problems of Dogs).

Think about a dog who responds to a familiar cue at home and loses interest at the park, where there are unfamiliar smells and other dogs. The setting changes what the dog has to pay attention to. A dog who also paces in a quiet, familiar room, rarely settles and struggles to engage across several settings presents a different pattern. How often it happens and how much it interferes with rest or other daily activities are worth discussing with a vet.

🐱 Can cats have ADHD?

Sudden sprints, sometimes called zoomies, and quick shifts in attention can be part of ordinary cat behavior. Short bursts of stalking, chasing and pouncing are especially familiar in play. A young cat who races down the hall and then goes back to resting may simply have found an outlet for play (Ellis et al., 2013).

An older cat who has recently started pacing or calling at night gives you a different picture. If your cat also eats more while losing weight, a vet can check for causes such as hyperthyroidism. New nighttime vocalizing in older cats can also have other explanations, including pain, sensory changes or cognitive decline (Cornell Feline Health Center and Quimby et al., 2021).

🐕 Can dogs have autism?

Much of the discussion about autism-like behavior in dogs comes from research on compulsive tail chasing in Bull Terriers. In 2011, Alice Moon-Fanelli and colleagues compared 145 Bull Terriers who chased their tails with 188 who did not. Owners of tail-chasing dogs were more likely to report episodes the researchers described as trance-like (Moon-Fanelli et al., 2011).

A small later study measured two blood markers, neurotensin and corticotropin-releasing hormone. Both were higher in the tail-chasing Bull Terriers than in other Bull Terriers in the study. The researchers also found higher levels in a group of autistic children than in a comparison group. The findings leave open whether the markers are specific to either pattern and how they relate to the dogs’ development or social behavior (Tsilioni et al., 2014).

You may come across the phrase canine dysfunctional behavior in articles about dogs described as autism-like. If your dog spins, chases lights or licks the same spot repeatedly, a vet will ask what prompts the behavior, how easily it stops and whether it causes distress or injury. The assessment may consider itch, pain, a neurological problem or a compulsive disorder (Merck Veterinary Manual, Behavior Problems of Dogs and Diagnosis of Behavior Problems in Animals).

🐈 Can cats have autism?

Research on cats can tell us about their social preferences and responses to change. The idea of a feline autism syndrome remains speculative. One cat might want to sit on your lap. Another might choose the chair beside you and leave after a few strokes. Both can be ways of spending time with you. Veterinary guidelines advise giving cats choice about when and how to interact (Ellis et al., 2013).

Even a cat’s response to being called can be easy to miss. In experiments by Atsuko Saito and colleagues, cats distinguished their names from certain other spoken words. A response could be as small as turning an ear or moving the head (Saito et al., 2019).

For a cat who has always sought quiet when visitors arrive and comes out once they leave, hiding may be a way of managing a busy room. A cat who usually comes to greet you and now spends much of the day under the bed may be experiencing a change in mobility, comfort or health. Mention it to your vet, especially if your cat also seems stiff, eats differently or stops making familiar jumps (Merck Veterinary Manual, Behavior Problems of Cats, and Quimby et al., 2021).

🧠 Why the same behavior can mean different things

An animal model lets researchers study a specific aspect of a human condition. For example, they could test how quickly a dog returns to a task after a distraction. To establish a clinical condition, they’d need to show that a broader set of traits reliably occurs together, affects the animal’s life and can be distinguished from other causes. For an autism comparison, they’d also need measures of social communication that make sense for a dog or cat.

Human ADHD and autism assessments likewise look at patterns across development and daily life. For more on how those diagnoses are understood in people, see What Is ADHD? and What Is Autism?.

📝 When to talk to your vet

Contact your vet if a behavior appears suddenly, is getting more frequent, causes injury or interferes with eating, sleeping, movement or other usual activities. A vet can check for medical causes and ask about the settings in which the behavior happens. For example, pacing mainly when someone leaves the house may prompt different questions from pacing that starts during the night and continues through the day (Merck Veterinary Manual, Diagnosis of Behavior Problems in Animals).

If you can, write down a few examples before the appointment.

📅 When it started. Has it always happened, or is it new or getting more intense?
🏠 Where and when it happens. Note what was going on just before, such as visitors arriving, someone leaving, a meal or a loud sound.
⏱️ How long it lasts. Can your pet disengage on their own? How quickly do they return to what they usually do?
🐾 What else has changed. Include changes in appetite, weight, sleep, movement, grooming or litter-box habits.

A short video can help if you can capture the behavior safely as it happens. Your vet can advise whether an assessment by a veterinary behavior specialist would help. UC Davis Veterinary Behavior Service

🌿 What can help in everyday life

🐶 Practice with your dog in a quieter setting. If a familiar cue falls apart on busy walks, start where there are fewer distractions and reward the behavior you want. Give your dog opportunities for movement and sniffing that suit their age and health, along with a place where they can settle (American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and Merck Veterinary Manual).
🐱 Give your cat places to play and retreat. Offer short games that let them stalk and pounce and a quiet place they can reach easily. Keep food, water and litter accessible, so a cat who wants space can still get to what they need (Ellis et al., 2013).

📚 Research and veterinary sources

🐶 Sulkama, S., et al. (2021). Canine hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention in Finnish pet dogs
🔬 Csibra, B., et al. (2025). Development of a human analogue ADHD diagnostic system for family dogs
🐕 Moon-Fanelli, A. A., et al. (2011). Characteristics of compulsive tail chasing in Bull Terriers
🧪 Tsilioni, I., et al. (2014). Blood markers in autistic children and tail-chasing Bull Terriers
🐈 Saito, A., et al. (2019). Domestic cats discriminate their names from other words
🏠 Ellis, S. L. H., et al. (2013). AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines
🐱 Quimby, J., et al. (2021). AAHA and AAFP Feline Life Stage Guidelines
🐱 Adopt a Pet. Veterinary overview of ADHD-like behaviors in cats
🩺 Cornell Feline Health Center. Hyperthyroidism in Cats
🐾 Merck Veterinary Manual. Behavior Problems of Dogs
🐾 Merck Veterinary Manual. Behavior Problems of Cats
🩺 Merck Veterinary Manual. Diagnosis of Behavior Problems in Animals
🎓 American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. Humane Dog Training Position Statement