Do cats grieve?

 

Grief, the feeling of pain and sadness following a loss, is a universal emotion in humans. We all experience grief eventually, regardless of our background, culture, or upbringing. In this way, grief, one of the most profound and personal human experiences, connects us firmly to others.

 

I think this is why the question about whether cats experience grief feels so important. For a cat to feel grief when someone in her life passes, whether animal or human, she must have first felt love – just like us.

 

But how do we know whether cats feel grief when there is a death in the household? Even if we witness a change in behavior following a death, how do we know if it is grief, or if it is something else?

 

We are just at the very, very beginning of understanding the inner lives of cats, and science has only begun to explore the question of whether cats experience grief.

 

I will share what we know with you in this post. If you’d like to skip ahead to the juicy parts, scroll down to the section entitled, “The one big study on cats and grief.”

 

Do animals experience emotion?

 

Before we can know whether cats experience grief after loss, we should first ask whether animals experience emotion.

 

A very, very short history of the science of animal emotions

 

We are far from the first generation of people to ask whether animals have emotions. Pythagoras, the 6^th century BC philosopher, mathematician, and teacher believed that humans and non-humans have the same kind of soul. He gave up eating meat, stopped wearing leather shoes, and bought animals from the market to “liberate” them.

 

In the late 1800s, Charles Darwin developed his famous theory of evolution to explain how all living things got their physical characteristics. But he also wrote a lesser-known book, called The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, in which he explained his belief that humans inherited our ability to feel emotion from our mammal ancestors as well.

 

By the early 20^th century, however, some scientists refused to even entertain the idea that animals experienced emotion. These scientists called themselves “behaviorists” and limited their research of animals to behaviors they could actually observe with their own eyes. Emotion in animals was not considered worthy of study.

 

Today, the idea of animal emotions is still a controversial subject. While most people agree that animals can experience basic emotions, like fear, some argue that it’s impossible to know if animals experience more complex emotions like grief.

 

Why is the idea that animals have emotions so controversial?

 

The problem is that we can’t ask animals what they are feeling. We must rely on our interpretation of animals’ facial expressions and body language to infer what emotion an animal might be experiencing.

 

Sometimes it seems easy to guess what animals are feeling. Most people, even those with little experience interacting with animals, when shown an animal’s body posture, gait, face, and eyes, will tend to agree with one another about what an animal is likely feeling.[1]

 

But there are some famous scientific experiments that have shown, unfortunately, how easy it actually is to get it wrong when we try to guess what an animal is feeling.[2]

 

Some examples of emotion in animals

 

You can put everything I just said above aside for the moment. Here are a couple of animal stories that might make even the staunchest doubters question whether animals are capable of complex emotion:

 

Rats have empathy

In one scientific experiment a free-roaming rat was presented with a rat friend who was stuck in a very restrictive cage. The video below shows how diligently the free rat worked to release his trapped friend.

 

Since there were no rewards involved, and since the experiment worked even if the trapped rat was a stranger to the free rat, or if the free rat knew he wouldn’t have access to the trapped rat for play after release, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that the gesture was motivated by empathy.

Later, when given a choice between opening a restrictive cage containing his friend or another containing chocolate chips, the rat opened both, and shared the chocolate chips with his newly freed friend.

 

Crows like to have fun

Crows have been observed deliberately sliding in the snow, including this crow who is using a plastic lid as a sled, an apparent sign of the birds’ capacity for joy.

A gorilla feels sad

And here is a video of Koko, the famous hand-signing gorilla, watching her favorite movie, Tea with Mussolini. When it comes to a sad part in the movie, when a boy has to say goodbye to his relatives, Koko turns her back to the screen, signing, “Frown, sad, cry bad, trouble, mother, Koko-love.”

You can decide for yourself whether you think animals experience complex emotions.

 

Do any animals experience grief?

 

Before we get to the question about whether cats, specifically, experience grief, it might be helpful to understand whether any other animal species grieve when one of their own dies.

 

There’s actually a scientific discipline to study this phenomenon. It’s called comparative thanatology, and its purpose is to study the responses of non-human animals to the dead and dying.

 

Studies in comparative thanatology suggest that the experience of grief is actually widespread in the animal kingdom. It’s believed that a range of animals, especially highly social animals like birds, dolphins and whales, primates, and dogs, experience grief.[3]

 

Animals have “death rituals” too

 

Human beings engage in death rituals according to their culture or religion. Catholics hold wakes and Jewish people sit shiva when someone dies, for example. But animals also seem to have death rituals.

 

When a female elephant named Eleanor died in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve, a parade of elephants from five different families came by to view her body, as if they’d come to pay respects.

 

Two male dolphins were seen attending the body of a dead female dolphin on the sea floor near an island in Japan. They remained with the body at all times, surfacing briefly to breathe before returning to their vigil.

 

Chimpanzees have been observed carrying the bodies of their dead infants around for days or even months. When an infant chimp was unexpectedly killed at LA Zoo, keepers allowed her mother to keep the body so that she could carry out this important chimpanzee grieving ritual.[4]

 

What is the purpose of grief?

 

For grief to exist in the animal kingdom, most scientists agree that it must have a purpose. It must help the surviving animals continue to survive in some way.

 

One theory is that grief can help a highly social group of animals reaffirm their bond with each other after losing a member of their group.

 

This might be why we tend to observe apparent grief and death rituals in the most highly social animal species.

 

Are cats as social as other animal species that experience grief?

 

One of the factors when thinking about cats and grief is their sociability. Cats are social creatures, but not in the same way that dogs or humans are social. It’s worth reading this post about whether cats are social or independent, to learn more.

 

Cats evolved from wild cats who were asocial, meaning that cats’ wild ancestors were just not all that interested in interacting with other cats of their kind. (This is different from anti-social, which involves being actively hostile toward others.)

 

But domestic cats are a lot more flexible about the whole sociability thing. Many feral cats live in busy colonies, and cats who live in our houses get along with us, our kids, our dogs, and our other cats.

 

What do we know about whether cats experience grief?

 

Science has not paid enough attention to cats. Research is only just beginning to catch up, hopefully helping us understand them better, including their capacity for grief.

 

The one big study on cats and grief

 

So far, there’s only been one big study on cats and grief and it was just published in 2024.

 

Researchers surveyed 412 cat guardians who had lost one pet but still had at least one surviving cat in the household. Respondents were questioned about their own relationship with the pet who died, as well as the surviving cat’s relationship with the deceased pet. They were asked about changes in behavior on the part of the surviving cat.

 

Researchers learned that cats do seem to exhibit behaviors that are associated with grief. The surviving cats ate less, and slept more. They “spoke” more often and more loudly. They asked for more attention from their guardians. Some cats spent more time alone. Some appeared to be looking for the animal who had passed.

 

Many of these behaviors were consistent with behaviors we associate with grieving dogs. Dogs are not only more social than cats, but they are the more well-researched species.

 

As you might expect, the depth and length of a cat’s grief seemed to be correlated with how well the surviving cat knew the deceased pet, and how close their relationship was.[5]

 

Possible problems with the cat-grief study

 

Because cats can’t tell us directly about their feelings of loss, this study relied on cat guardians’ observations of their cats’ behavior after a death in the family.

 

Guardians might have been projecting their own feelings of loss on their cat.

 

The cat might have just been behaving differently because the household dynamic had changed after the death of one member.

 

The behavior change witnessed in cats after a death might not have been grief. It could be that the surviving cat was trying to console their grief-stricken guardian. In fact, cat guardians who reported that they felt more grief upon the loss of the pet reported more grief behaviors in their surviving cat.[6]

 

A simple change in the household routine could have caused a cat to feel stress, anxiety, or frustration.[7]

 

Or not.

 

What are the signs that your cat may be grieving?

 

Cats who are grieving might show:

 

Changes in appetite

Note that if a cat has not eaten in two days, contact your veterinarian. Cats are susceptible to a deadly liver disease called hepatic lipidosis which can be triggered by a brief period of not eating.

 

Changes in sleep patterns

Some cats sleep more, some sleep less.

 

Restless behavior

Cats may seem to be unsettled. They may cry or appear to be searching the house for the deceased pet.

 

Seeking attention

Some cats may seem to want more attention from you, but some may seem less interested in playing with you.

 

Sadness

A cat may just not seem to be himself. There may not be any other way to describe it other than “sad.”

 

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Don’t be concerned if your pet exhibits none of the symptoms shown above. Some cats do not appear to miss the deceased pet at all. Some cats even seem to revel in the absence, enjoying more territory in the house than they might have otherwise while the other pet was still alive.

 

How can you help your grieving cat?

 

You obviously cannot do the one thing that would make your cat’s sense of loss go away.

 

The best thing that you can do for a grieving cat is to eliminate additional sources of stress. For cats, a change in routine is incredibly stressful. Unfortunately, routine changes typically accompany the loss of a member of a household.

 

Read about cats and what happens during a change in routine in this post.

 

A predictable life can be a source of comfort and stability for a grieving cat. Keep meal times, play times, and other routines as routine as possible.

 

Do not go overboard trying to spend extra time with your grieving cat. Even loving attention can be too intense or stressful for a grieving cat.

 

Should I show the body of my dead pet to my surviving cat?

 

If the pet who passed died from a communicable disease, you should not expose your living cat to the deceased pet’s dead body. Perhaps that goes without saying.

 

If you are uncomfortable having your cat see the body, or if you are unable to show your surviving cat the body of your deceased pet for whatever reason, it is OK. Do not feel guilty about this.

 

We do not know what animals know about death. We don’t know if cats understand that the corpse in front of them once belonged to their living housemate. We don’t know if they understand that death is permanent. We don’t know if they have need of “closure” the way we might.

 

When possible, my personal preference has always been to show the body of my deceased pets to their living cagemates or housemates. My pets have displayed the gamut of responses, from frantically grooming and attempting to open the eyes of the deceased friend (a guinea pig), to stepping on or over the body as if it wasn’t even there (a rat), to complete disinterest in the dead body (my current dog upon the home euthanasia of our other dog).

 

Should I get another cat or kitten for my surviving cat?

 

As much as you would like to release your grieving cat from pain, there isn’t a new cat or kitten in the world that will be able help your surviving cat in this way.

 

You must give your cat time to adapt to her new life without the pet who is passed. There is no replacement for the relationship that they had.

 

If you decide to get a new cat (or dog) after the death of a pet, it should be only because you and your family would like to welcome a new pet into the home, not as a favor to your surviving cat.

 

Even if your cat had the most wonderful relationship in the world with the animal who passed, it does not mean that your cat will have that kind of relationship with another pet again.

 

Cats don’t always bond with other cats

 

Cats are not equally social with other cats. Science shows that cats get along best with other cats who are related to them. They can also get along with other cats that they already know.

 

But cats who do not know each other, even if they have been social with other cats in the past, can be aggressive with each other.

 

If you decide to bring a new cat into the home, read this post on introducing cats to each other.

 

A final word on grief in cats

 

Queen Elizabeth II famously said, “Grief is the price we pay for love.” I think this is why it means so much to us to imagine that our cats experience grief, just like us.

 

None of us who love cats want to them to experience pain of any sort. But knowing that they might grieve our loss if we die, or the loss of another cat or dog in the house, somehow expands the meaning of those relationships to the cat in life.

 

For now, we can only guess what cats are thinking or feeling, and speculate about their grief experience.

 

I, for one, don’t think it’s wrong to think that cats are like us, or we are like them, in some deep and important ways like this one.

 

You might also be interested in reading:

What to say and do when someone loses a pet

 

Love Pinterest? Here's a Pinterest-friendly pin for your boards!

 

Dawn LaFontaine

Dawn LaFontaine is a lifelong animal lover who always seems to have a little pet hair in her keyboard. Her blog, Kitty Contemplations, helps cat guardians better understand and care for the special beings they share their lives and homes with. Her cat-products business, Cat in the Box, sells beautiful, well-made, and award-winning products that she designed to meet the biological needs of cats.