"Because it had to be pointed out that animals don't "grieve".And to add insult to injury I'm forced to inform you that there's no Easter Bunny either...grieving or otherwise."
Posted on 08/05/2013 5:37:54 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
When a family pet dies, people grieve. But the reverse is also the case: When you go, your dog, cat or rabbit may grieve over losing you. And when a pet dies, a surviving pet may take it worst of all.
Pet grief exists. It's not the same as the grief a person experiences nor is it as deep. It's not present in every case. But it exists in ways recognizable to us.
The most evident manifestations of grief are a loss of appetite, social withdrawal or the frequent revisiting of places that were meaningful, according to Barbara King, a professor of anthropology at Virginia's College of William & Mary who specializes in animal behavior.
King, the author of "How Animals Grieve" (University of Chicago Press, 2013), says that in some cases an animal's response to a death can be explained by the pet being in tune with the surviving people in the house.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
I’m living it.
Pets DO grieve.
“Because it had to be pointed out that animals don’t “grieve”
Sure.
Just like our cat that howled, cried and slept in my dead father’s sofa spot for months after Dad died (the cat, per the vet, was totally healthy & in his prime, quit eating and passed soon after)...
Or last summer, having to take my 16 yr old white shepherd to the vet to be put down. My two younger shepherds wanted NOTHING to do with me for days afterwards. And all of Old Lady’s toys and bedding had to be tossed, as the other pooches wanted nothing to do with them, either. Both lost weight during that time period, and we had to switch vets due to anxiety attacks and incidents at that location.
But, no...animals don’t grieve...glad to learn it from an EXPERT.
Piffle!
I took a very old GSD to help a friend of mine that had to go to a nursing home. My friend had the dog since puppyhood and they were very attached to each other.
Even though I gave her lots of attention...I was beginning to worry that she would grieve herself to death. Wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t move off of a blanket I had brought from her “home”.
It took every bit of 5 months before her appetite returned in full. The first time she sought me out and wagged her tail, I considered it a major event. She was never really happy here, but she “put up” with things until she died a few years later.
heck...If my dog is playing with something and I tell him to stop he puts his chin flat on the ground and lets out a huge sigh.
Thank you for your very kind post. Yes they both are. And I want to add that we got Baxter from a shelter. He was a scruffy looking bigger black dog (who kept getting over looked). He took to my boys in a tail wagging frenzy immediately. I think he was happy to get a family and is over the top protective of all of us.
There are ample reports and observations over the centuries that prove that you are wrong.
Bless you for taking in the old dog. I do some work with a rescue group and too many times the “old ones” just don’t get adopted. We have a lovely, healthy older dog up for adoption now, and every time, people seem interested until they read her age, and then they move on. She’s got some good years left, and I just keep hoping she’ll find a good home.
Really? A friend and I feed this colony of cats. A brother and a sister literally pranced tail intwined by tail....side by side -—all the time for the past 8+ years. They ate together and were always together. Very happy and full of life little things.. Just 3 weeks ago, one of them disappeared. The other one would not come to eat, she just layed under a hedge looking and waiting for her brother. She just wouldnt move....so after awhile we started going over to where she was and put food by her....I think she’s eating, but boy is she grieving.
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