I have long been convinced that animals grieve when a loved one disappears from their life. Think of how deeply we mourn the loss of our pets. It only stands to reason that other sentient beings would experience a similar emotion when they lose a loved one. Some people chide me for anthropomorphizing — attributing human qualities to animals, but I’ve seen this emotion many times in animals.
ShaktiPaw grieving the death of his human.
My “evidence” began with the first dog I had as an adult. My husband and I had adopted Buffy as a puppy, and she was our “child” for the next ten years, until we divorced. This hardy German Shepherd went into a nose dive when she and I moved out. She developed severe health problems and depression that she never really recovered from.
The next incident showed up when one of my two dogs died. Copper, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, died of a blood immune disorder after living for about 6 years with Kutya, our alpha Kuvasz. In life they squabbled, ignored each other and competed for my attention. So when Copper died, I was surprised to see Kutya lay down in front of the fireplace with her chin on her paws and barely move from that position for the next three months. Her depression became so deep I feared she was going to die of heartache. Whether grief had run its course or the homeopathic remedy I began giving her for grief worked, she pulled out of it. Just 18 months later, 7 year old Kutya succumbed to bone cancer. I’ve always wondered if her immune system was compromised by an ongoing undercurrent of loss.
Most recently, my Beagle mix Ernie has developed a panoply of health problems since his mentor Scooty died last December. He has lost his appetite, and along with it a significant amount of weight. Ernie has always appeared to be a stoic, but time and again I’ve seen how deeply sensitive he is beneath the surface (a Scorpio dog maybe?).
I’ve seen other examples of grief among my pet sitting clients’ animals. I’ve been thought of as a kook sometimes for my beliefs about animals’ emotions, but a growing body of research supports the notion of animals’ having a rich emotional life. Dogsters “For the Love of Dog Blog” carried an interview on August 23, 2010 with Dr. Michael W. Fox, renouned Brittish veterinarian, author of more than 40 books, and advocate for the humane treatment of animals. Dr. Fox validates my pet grieving theory much more eloquently than I can. The article is very interesting, and I hope you’ll take a look.
What do you think — do animals grieve the loss of a loved one? If you’ve seen it first hand, please share your stories.
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