Report Shows Cats Grieve After Housemate Passes Away
In popular culture, cats are often seen as aloof creatures, living a carefree life and only seeking attention when they truly desire to be petted. However, new research indicates that cats do show signs of mourning when a housemate dies, even if that housemate is a dog.
According to surveys, some cats have difficulty sleeping, lose their appetite, or make mournful sounds after the death of a housemate. Other pet owners reported that their cats demanded more attention, even neglecting activities they usually enjoyed.
This new research counters the stereotype that cats are antisocial and suggests the potential for expressing grief among living beings.
Famous meme of a sad cat – (Image: Internet).
“Cats no longer sleep, eat, or play as much; instead, they seek attention from their owners or other pets, hide more, spend time alone, and seem to be searching for their lost companion,” noted the study’s authors from Oakland University.
In the animal kingdom, grief behavior is frequently observed and has been documented in elephants, dolphins, and chimpanzees; sometimes, they display sorrow by keeping the body of a close companion nearby. A recent study conducted by Italian scientists also found that dogs show signs of mourning after the death of a housemate.
However, according to researchers at Oakland University, cats do not often exhibit these signs.
“While dogs, being pack animals, react strongly to the death of a member of their group, cats that are cared for tend to adapt to life among individuals of the same or different species. Their capacity to express grief needs further study,” the team commented.
Do cats feel sorrow when their friends die?
The new study surveyed cat owners who had recently lost another pet, either a dog or a cat. The report noted emotional signs in over 450 cats; of these, 2/3 of the deceased pets were cats, while the rest were dogs.
“We often think that cats live in isolation, avoiding interaction with other species,” said Professor Jennifer Vonk, a behavioral psychologist at Oakland University and co-author of the study, in an interview with Times magazine. However, she noted that cats in the wild tend to form social groups and establish hierarchies. “I think we have misjudged cats,” Professor Vonk said.
The study suggests that cats are deeply affected if they have lived with a friend who has passed away for a long time. Witnessing the death directly or the number of pets in the home appears to have no impact on the cat’s psychological state.
“The time that pets spend together, daily activities together can predict signs of grief and fear in cats [after a housemate’s death], while the positive relationship between [the two living and deceased individuals] predicts decreased sleeping, eating, and playing,” the research concludes.
However, one study alone cannot definitively state that cats grieve when their friends die: “there is a possibility that the owners perceive the cat’s distress while they themselves are grieving.”
“This hypothesis is plausible, as grieving cat owners often notice that the remaining cat eats less, prefers solitude, and seeks hiding places,” the research team wrote.
