Do cats miss their deceased companions?

Robin9 · 21 September 2017 at 8:18AM

We had to have Tasha PTS last week - only 12. We had had her since she was 2 and very much part of the household.

We have a 4 yo male, Bob, and we are sure that in the fullness of time we will rehome another rescue.

But does Bob miss Tasha ? Never the closest of friends but she was the boss.

NaughtiusMaximus · 21 September 2017 at 8:34AM

I don't think they do tbh. We originally had 2 cats from the same litter with a younger rescue cat arriving about 5 years later. When one of the two siblings died a few years ago we didn't really notice any change in behaviour from the other two.

Trina90 · 21 September 2017 at 9:52AM

I don't think they do either. I think some people like to anthropomorphise their pets and say that they do (I may be wrong though - maybe some do).

But in my experience, we initially had 2 litter mates - when the male passed away, the female didn't appear troubled at all. We got her a buddy, her half brother, (well the breeder gave us a 'replacement' since she unknowingly sold us an unhealthy one). The female, too, sadly passed from the same disease as her brother. Again, the new kitten did not appear troubled.

In both instances the kittens were close - they groomed each other and played with each other.. but when one died they didn't show in their behaviour that they were missing them.

hazyjo · 21 September 2017 at 10:32AM

I had a cat once, Arnie, big bruiser of a boy. We also had a Doberman, Ben. When Ben died, Arnie missed him terribly and did some very strange things like poo in the bath. He acted very weird for a while, we thought he was ill. But just missed Ben.

I have two cats now. I don't think Lottie will miss Morris at all - she'll be grateful for the peace and quiet and not having him chase her, but I'm sure he'll miss her if she goes first. He absolutely ADORES cats. He has a little mate round the corner who he wails for on top of the tall fence post. We're in the process of moving house and I know Morris will be devastated and will pine for ages. I wish I could take his mate with us.

Savvy_Sue · 21 September 2017 at 12:47PM

Surely the answer is some will, and some won't?

Bathory · 21 September 2017 at 2:00PM

I had to have my old cat Rosie pts last month. I still have another cat and thought about how she would react as they had been together since kittens. She seems perfectly fine, a little noisy sometimes at night but that could be because she is 16 now.

However, a couple of weeks later after losing Rosie I had to take Matilda to the vets (we often use to take both cats at the same time on a double appointment). When we got back home I noticed that Matilda was very unsettled. As soon as she got out of her carrier she proceeded to search all the rooms, look around furniture and then tried to get into cupboards, like it had finally dawned on her that she was on her own.

Deep_In_Debt · 21 September 2017 at 8:15PM

One of my cats, Sammy, died suddenly in June this year. Her litter sister is still here and shows no signs of missing her sister. In fact, she seems to be enjoying being the only cat now and getting all the food and attention.

They were never close despite living together for 16 years.

Robin9 · 22 September 2017 at 9:01AM

Thank you all for your comments - Bob seems fine.

I'm sure we will home a rescue in a few weeks time - having had two has been such fun.

Gloomendoom · 22 September 2017 at 10:15AM

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Surely the answer is some will, and some won't?

I think this is true. We had an Abyssinian cat and a much younger rescue cat and the two used to chase each other all around the house. The rescue cat got knocked down and killed. The Abyssinian spent the next week or so looking for him all over the house and garden. It was quite sad.

Alter_ego · 22 September 2017 at 10:23AM

Dogs do, neighbour's dog kept trying to dig up the other dog, buried in back garden.

Fen1 · 22 September 2017 at 10:50AM

Many years ago I had two brothers from the same litter. Cat A was run over and we buried him without showing the body to Cat B. This was an awful mistake as Cat B kept waiting for Cat A to turn up and would go looking in "their" places. It took weeks for B to settle down. I still feel guilty about leaving B in the dark, not knowing what happened to his brother, as he obviously knew his brother was missing.

I currently have another two cats, and have learnt that when one dies I should show the body to the other.

Do cats miss their deceased companions?

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