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Do Cats Dogs have heartbreaks?
- Thread starter atanu
- Start date
Yes. We once had two dogs for several years, and when one of them died, the younger one only wanted to sleep where his companion slept for weeks. His energy was down, and his eating changed. It took him a couple of weeks before he was barking at the UPS truck again.
I've been convinced he was grieving heavily.
jonman122
Active Member
I'm not sure conclusively, because it doesn't seem to have any long term effects as far as I can tell, but my fiance's dog had puppies and all of them but 1 died during the birthing, she technically wasn't supposed to be able to breed anymore but somehow it happened. Regardless she was fairly stressed out for weeks, but once the single puppy that survived was older and sold to good owners, the dog seemed to return to normal. None of my cats have ever been heartbroken, they seem to be very solitary.
I've seen stories of dogs going to their owners graves after they've died and either living there or returning there regularly, which would imply something akin to heartbreak I suppose.
I've seen stories of dogs going to their owners graves after they've died and either living there or returning there regularly, which would imply something akin to heartbreak I suppose.
I think that they do. Dogs at least. I don't have much experience with cats.
Several years ago our dog got out of the fenced yard during the (still dark) early morning hours. My husband found her dead on a nearby highway while he was on his way to work. We figured she must have been chasing a car, because she was dead, but not bloody.
My husband brought her back home to bury her. He left her in the vehicle while the two of us cried at little, and talked about how to deal with it with the children. I suggested that we wait to bury her until after the children woke up, so they could see her one last time. We decided not to try to "shelter" them from the experience.
A dog from the house across the street, that rarely ever came into our yard, walked over and laid down on our driveway next to the vehicle and just stayed there for the longest time. I don't recall if it was before or after our dog's body was taken out for burial. It was unusual behavior for that other dog.
My husband commented that it looked like the dog knew and in the way he just lay there, it seemed like he was very sad. It seemed that way to me, too.
Several years ago our dog got out of the fenced yard during the (still dark) early morning hours. My husband found her dead on a nearby highway while he was on his way to work. We figured she must have been chasing a car, because she was dead, but not bloody.
My husband brought her back home to bury her. He left her in the vehicle while the two of us cried at little, and talked about how to deal with it with the children. I suggested that we wait to bury her until after the children woke up, so they could see her one last time. We decided not to try to "shelter" them from the experience.
A dog from the house across the street, that rarely ever came into our yard, walked over and laid down on our driveway next to the vehicle and just stayed there for the longest time. I don't recall if it was before or after our dog's body was taken out for burial. It was unusual behavior for that other dog.
My husband commented that it looked like the dog knew and in the way he just lay there, it seemed like he was very sad. It seemed that way to me, too.
I had a female cat who adopted an orphaned kitten. The kitten and the older cat bonded as mother and child. When the younger cat died of an acute asthma attack, the older cat walked around the apartment, searching everywhere, meowing pitifully while searching. This went on for a month. I asked my veterinarian about it. He said he believes that animals grieve and miss their companions in their own ways. Someone I know has a huge mastiff who was raised from puppyhood with a cat. They were best friends. When the cat died and was missing from the home, the dog acted very depressed. I have two Shih tzus, brother and sister. When my male was away for a while with my stepdaughter, my female would not eat unless her brother's bowl had food in it. She'd look at her bowl, look at his bowl, then look at me. This went on several times. I thought "no, this is not possible!" Only when I filled his bowl with a little food did she begin eating (they share their food).
Cats can have heartbreaks. I have met a few myself. Can mention a cat mother who after being separated from her kids became extremely hungry for attention. She would start to call out as soon as anyone came close, because she wanted company.
I dont know that much about dogs, but I have a hard time imagining they cant have heartbreaks.
I dont know that much about dogs, but I have a hard time imagining they cant have heartbreaks.
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YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
My experience is similar. When MaXx, my German Shepard died, his buddy, a Golden Retriever, aptly named Buddy by my housemate simply went down hill and died about 3 months later. And yes, he was listless and off his food ... it was a bit heartbreaking just to watch.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
Not only that, but you'll also never see pets exhibiting crocodile tears or drip with insincerity, like humans do. This type of behavior in people always becomes particularly prevalent after tragic occurrences.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
True, but dogs do tend to slobber - a lot.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
Depends on the breed. We have a Brussels Griffon - not only does he not slobber, but he also has a dry nose.
methylatedghosts
Can't brain. Has dumb.
I know a dog who grieved for a cat...
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
Draka
Wonder Woman
I think you are extremely wrong about cats. On both fronts.
Cats can indeed have heartbreak. They grieve, miss others, get depressed, even care for each other if one is sick. Cats will cry out and search for those gone. Mope around the house. Not eat, and so on. In fact, not long ago, my oldest cat had gotten quite sick and we thought we might lose him (gratefully he is doing much better now and is on daily medication), but there was quite a while where he was spending a lot of time curled up on the couch having trouble breathing and not even getting up to feed a lot of times (we had to try to feed him where he was), our other two cats, one in particular, hovered constantly around him. The one black one practically never left his side and would sleep with him, clean him, and seemed quite upset and even hiss at us if we tried to move her away from him. I can about guarantee had he died, we would not be the only ones mourning him.
Monotheist 101
Well-Known Member
I would call it seperation anxiety
DreadFish
Cosmic Vagabond
I think they both do, though in different ways than humans. I have had experiences with dog and cats (mostly cats 
) and I have seen it in both species. My old dog Tucker, a German Shephard dog, was a very loving dog and he really loved his cats. We had a kitten that we brought in and he grew up playing with the dog. The cat would slap the dog, the dog would slap the cat back. Anyway, he displayed sadness when said cat died of leukemia. There were other times too. Of course, he was an exemplary dog, very intelligent and loving; he actually taught himself a couple of tricks. So, given that different breeds of dog and cat have a greater capacity for intelligence than other breeds, it is likely that they have varying capacities for compassion and heartbreak as well.
Also, cats. We had a cat with three legs named "Phish" (I didnt name him), a mainecoon. He was taoish of a cat who laid around outside all day, even in the rain, was non-violent and non-aggressive, and grew dreadlocks in his mane, which lead me to calling him "Dread Phish". So anyway, he and Tucker were good friends, they would hang out on the back porch together and, when Tucker was dying, Phish stayed by his side the whole time. Unfortunately, I was away at school when Tucker died, and with both Tucker and I gone, Phish just left. Mom said that he just disappeared one day right after Tucker died and never came back.
Both of those animals were pretty exemplary of their species, I think, so they were a lot more "human" than a lot of animals I have known. So, we can anthropomorphize animals all we want, their minds work in different ways than ours. I believe that they have their own version of heart-break. It may not be the same as the way we experience, but its the equivalent.
) and I have seen it in both species. My old dog Tucker, a German Shephard dog, was a very loving dog and he really loved his cats. We had a kitten that we brought in and he grew up playing with the dog. The cat would slap the dog, the dog would slap the cat back. Anyway, he displayed sadness when said cat died of leukemia. There were other times too. Of course, he was an exemplary dog, very intelligent and loving; he actually taught himself a couple of tricks. So, given that different breeds of dog and cat have a greater capacity for intelligence than other breeds, it is likely that they have varying capacities for compassion and heartbreak as well.Also, cats. We had a cat with three legs named "Phish" (I didnt name him), a mainecoon. He was taoish of a cat who laid around outside all day, even in the rain, was non-violent and non-aggressive, and grew dreadlocks in his mane, which lead me to calling him "Dread Phish". So anyway, he and Tucker were good friends, they would hang out on the back porch together and, when Tucker was dying, Phish stayed by his side the whole time. Unfortunately, I was away at school when Tucker died, and with both Tucker and I gone, Phish just left. Mom said that he just disappeared one day right after Tucker died and never came back.
Both of those animals were pretty exemplary of their species, I think, so they were a lot more "human" than a lot of animals I have known. So, we can anthropomorphize animals all we want, their minds work in different ways than ours. I believe that they have their own version of heart-break. It may not be the same as the way we experience, but its the equivalent.
The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
I know for sure dogs do, but as for cats I'm only going to guess it's logically so that they would
apophenia
Well-Known Member
A family of lobster-like aliens were cooking some abducted humans for lunch.
They threw them alive into boiling water.
The young child aliens present were distressed by the screaming of the humans as they were dropped into the boiling water.
"Do humans suffer when we cook them?" they asked the adult aliens, "Why are they making that horrible noise ?"
"Don't worry" said their parents, "That noise is just the air rushing out of their lungs".