Research|According to the researchers, the findings challenge the understanding of cat behavior and suggest that grief reactions are common in animals.
Cats show signs of mourning when another pet in the same household dies.
A new one tells about it Applied Animal Behaviour Science – a study published in the scientific journal. The research was covered in news, among other things The Guardian.
According to the researchers, the research updates everyday perceptions of cats as distant and emotionally cold.
Research the material was based on questionnaires filled out by 412 cat owners.
The requirement was that there was a dead pet in the household so that at least one pet cat remained.
Based on the surveys, the cats sought more attention, vocalized more and ate less and slept more. In addition, they looked for a dead pet and sniffed its characteristic places.
According to the owners and researchers, grief work can also be seen in time spent alone and hiding.
Similar results have been obtained before from studies of behavior interpreted as sadness in dogs after the death of a fellow species.
Dead the time previously spent daily talking with the pet predicted a greater amount of behavior suggestive of mourning in cats.
The relationship with the dead pet therefore affected the behavior counted as grief.
Based on the owners’ observations, the species of the dead pet had no effect on the cats’ grief behavior.
Cats mourned the death of a dog and a cat equally.
Favorite collector also filled out questionnaires about their attachment to their pets and ratings of attachment between different pets.
As expected, owners who were particularly attached to their cats reported more attention seeking from their grieving cats.
In addition, owners who reported greater personal sadness were more likely to report that their cats spent more time alone, sleeping and hiding.
Researchers admit that some of the results can be explained by grieving owners projecting their own feelings onto their pets.
According to previous studies, it is common that people imagine feelings for their pets.
The researchers still consider the findings important, as there is still little research on grief in pets.