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 ...
This is not news. At one time I had 2 dogs — a Schnauzer near the end of his life and a Golden Retriever puppy. They had a bow tie shaped rubber toy that they used to play tug with. The pup would pick up that rubber toy and whack the older (sleeping) dog with it until he grabbed the other end and they would run all over the place playing tug o’ war.
The pup was used to seeing the older Schnauzer go away in the car to the groomer and never batted an eyelash. However, on the morning when my husband had to take the older dog to the vet to be put down, it was different. My husband put the dog in the car and the pup chased through the house to the front window to watch them leave. When my husband came home with just the collar and tags, the pup jumped at them and let out a mournful whimper.
And she would never again play with that rubber tug toy. EVER. Even 10 years later, she would just turn away when the toy was offered.
Doggie ping
I’m not sure about that. I remember I was a kid we had this cat named Bigfoot die. We thought it was only fair that his mother knew the horrible thing that happened to her son.
So we brought Meow Meow to the corpse of her deceased only son. She sniffed it and then went along her merry way.
I swear, she did NOT care at all!
We were fortunate to have two beautiful Snowshoe Siamese. Demi and Handsome Boy. Demi was Handsome Boy’s mom. When Demi passed Handsome was looking for her and tried to initiate running games they used to play. When Handsome gave up looking for his mom, he gave out the most horrific guttural scream. The kind that make the hairs on the back of your neck rise. He eventually calmed down after some TLC. Very sad to watch.
We actually had (till last month) three dogs. Jojo, the oldest, was a chihuahua-dachshund mix. Bella, a year older, is a shepherd-chow mix. These two were our kids' pets and developed a lively play-relationship over the years. About 18 months ago, we "inherited" a Cavalier King Charles spaniel from one of my adult children whose living venue made owning a dog difficult. Hannah was barely tolerated by the much older pair.
We put Jojo down last month at the ripe old age of 16+. Since then, Bella has shown what's described in this article -- diminished intake of food, disinterest in treats, pronounced lethargy -- sleeps almost all the time now, greatly diminished interaction with me and my wife. She often looks at me, eyes sad, ears laid back, as if I'd just scolded her (which I have never done!).
Once in a while she shows some friendly behavior toward the previously rejected Hannah, but Hannah never responds in kind (I guess she holds a grudge?).
How do they know? Did they do some polling?
We can make educated guesses but do we really know what our pets are thinking or have we Disneyfied them and transfer our emotions to them?
Many pets notice OUR emotions and respond to them. They are empathetic when they see us sad or despondent. But I wouldn't be so bold as to state an animal's emotions declaritively. For all we know, they're just sad to lose a playmate or somebody that feeds them.
I’m not sure. From what I’ve seen of elephants, they seem to grieve and even hold funerals.
We have a Beagle named Buddy who is about 17 and he’s getting frail. Our Chihuahua Coco is only about 5 and she is very close with Buddy. If he stays out too long on a walk she is very nervous when he gets back and sniffs him all over to make sure he’s OK. We are worried about how she is going to take it when he passes. We are thinking of going ahead and getting another dog so it won’t be as hard on her. She is a very sensitive dog anyway and I am not looking forward to the day Buddy goes out and does not return.
Wife’s horse had a heart attack while we were riding in the mountains last night. Pretty awful to watch. Wonderful beautiful horse did his best not to hurt my wife when he went down thrashing in the brush & trees. Wife & I & my horse & the dog are all not doing to well today.
I am so sorry for your loss.
sorry to hear that,but glad your wife is ok.
Who’s he to say it isn’t as deep?
I figure I’m gonna treat em as if they feel and understand. If I’m wrong, I look a little stupid...who cares? Far better than being unnecessarily callous to a being capable of understanding, even if less so than a human.
When I had to have a kitty put to sleep several years ago, we brought the body home in a cardboard coffin the vet gave us and laid it on the floor in the living room for an hour or so to let the remaining 2 cats have a chance to see and understand, rather than wonder where he went. I may slag on the girls for not being the smartest animals I’ve ever owned, but make no mistake, they understood. They mourned...
I think of the way my elderly brother kitty moped about his elderly sister’s favorite spots in the garden and yard after her death—and I don’t doubt but that he was mourning.
Fishbreath the cat died a couple of weeks ago, Murphy and Miller the black labs are delighted.
I also had one of my goats abort about a month early, the baby was formed perfectly but had no hair as that forms in the last month prior to birth...she also would not leave the dead kid and was curled around it trying to keep it warm. I opened the pen and she would not leave, after about 15 minutes I had to drag her out of the pen and close the gate so she wouldn't go back in and removed the dead kid....there is such an occasion that in my reading up on Angoras that a whole flock with abort for no known reason. I was afraid I'd loose the who new kids we expected. In 24 hours 3 aborted and I had to close that area of the barn so no goats would get in....the theory is that for some reason, could be the smell that caused an "abortion storm" within a flock...Both my goat and the cow I watched were aware that something was wrong, but with both, they tried to keep the calf and kid warm. Also had watched something similar in the chicken coop. All I will say about that is that a hen hears her chick peep before its born and if you move that chick is moved the mother hen will leave the eggs she is sitting on and look for her chick and tuck it under her. This is the short story of the chicken experience...animals are amazing and I have come to the conclusion that they have emotions, and knowledge, even a mother chicken....
Wish I had the will to be a vegetarian, but like steak too much....
We have a German Shepard random terrior and who knows what else mixed dog...his name is Baxter. He is used to the comings &goings of our large family. He never acts “odd” even when the college aged kids/leave come back or when my husband used to travel for work. It’s like he knew “they’ll be back.” Except, three years ago my husband had a massive heart attack (a 100% blockage of his LAD). Our two youngest (teens) thought we were both at work (the HA occurred during their summer break) both texted me telling me something was weird w/Baxter. He wouldn’t stop whimpering.
Later they day after PaDad was stabilized & I went home to tell the boys (and call our older kids) did i see what they texted me. Baxter (all 75 lbs of him) curled up under the kitchen chair PD sits at. He was making this weird low whimpering sound. After our daughter came home (to look after the 2 younger ones) I went back to the hospital. PaDad was on a ht pump for the following 48 hrs. Baxter got out from under the chair and somehow found a baseball caps of my husbands and then went back under the chair with his head on the cap.
He stayed in that place (only getting water). His behavior was adding to the nervousness at home. When it was time for the pump to come out I told my daughter I would call as soon as I talked to the doctor. Well before I could call, Baxter stopped the whimpering got up, the kids say he shook, and went to his food dish.
He “knew” before I could even call home that his best buddy was going to be okay.
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