| It has been said that animals grieve when an owner passes away. I have seen this with dogs but I am now seeing this
in my cats as well. Since my husband passed away recently, my feline friends have started to exhibit behavior that would indicate that they are going through the grieving process. One cat that I have had since he was barely a couple
of weeks old has slept with me faithfully every night, but since my husband has been gone, the cat has not slept in the bed with me. Another of my cats had a litter of kittens a couple of months ago and the kittens that are normally
romping through the house have not been their usual playful selves since my husband's absence. I believe the animals know.
 Some say that animals can actually grieve themselves to death after the loss of an owner. It seems that
animals have a sense of emotional loss akin to that of their human counterparts. People tend to develop bonds with their pets that can be every bit as strong as the emotional attachments fostered with other individuals. Those ties do
not disintegrate easily, even in death. Animals know when something is not right; this may be referred to as their animal instinct, or a type of sixth sense, but regardless of what it is called, it certainly seems to exist. I've never
seen my cats so depressed.
Animals are more attune to our feelings than we realize. They can sense that something is wrong even though they cannot communicate their feelings to us on the level that we are used to, but
they do communicate their emotions in their own ways. Most pet owners are perceptive enough to be able to pick up the signals that an animal is sending. Pets are loyal and loving, and they grieve just as humans do.
 One of my
cats had a cold in his eye a few days after my husband died, and although I know I am probably letting my imagination get the best of me, it looked just like a tear in the corner of his eye. This same cat has also taken to laying in
the exact spot on the couch where my husband would always lay, even though he never jumped up on the couch previously. This type of behavior gives me the impression that even though he is an animal, he does understand.
Much has been proven about animal intellect in recent years and I believe that animals do have an intelligence more akin to humankind than we imagine. Although they may not have the ability
to reason in a somewhat logical manner, they do have an intellect beyond what is referred to as just animal instinct. I'm sure there are many pet owners who could relate their own tales detailing events concerning the reactions and
grieving patterns of their pets. Animals are capable of feeling just as we do. They may not be able to express sadness in the same way as we do, but they do grieve. They do feel loss. Their actions prove it. |
