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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This week I’m going to take on introducing a cat into a dog household, or vice versa. How you handle the first days and weeks can set a lifelong friendship or rivalry. It takes knowledge and patience to do it right. If you don’t take the time to do it right, you could end up with serious risk to the cat, or pets marking the house inappropriately to express their distress over the alien in their midst.

Safety First

First and foremost, you must keep cats and dogs separate in the beginning to keep them safe, and take the introductions slow. Here are a few pointers:

• Put the dogs outside or send them for a walk with your pet sitter while you bring the cat in so that they don’t have to confront each other immediately.
• Give the cat a secure space of her own right away, a spare room with all the things she needs for comfort — her water and food bowls, toys, bed, and litter box. Close the door, but be sure to give her regular attention. The cat may need to be sequestered for for several days or even weeks. Be patient and don’t rush it.
• When you bring the dogs in, let them smell the cat’s scent on your clothes and hands.  Keep them leashed and calm while they sniff at the door of the cat’s room. Reward good behavior.
• Rub towels on the animals and then exchange them and rub them on the other so they can get used to each other’s scent. Leave the dogs’ towels in the cat’s bed and the cat’s towel in the dog’s bed.
• The next step is to start carefully exposing the dogs and cat to each other. The dogs should be leashed or crated or behind a gate. Continue to reward calm behavior.
• Gradually, as the animals remain calm, allow them to approach each other, with the dogs on leash.  Keep rewarding them for behaving well.
• Always be sure the cat has an escape route or an easy way to jump out of reach once you start removing the leash.
• If the dogs continue to get overly excited or act predatory toward the cat, you might need to muzzle them until you’re sure they won’t hurt the cat.
• Even after they seem to be getting along, eating or sleeping in each other’s presence, wandering casually past each other, be cautious about leaving them alone. Build up the time they spend alone gradually.
• Never let the dogs chase the cat, even in play.  It is ok for the cat to take a swat at the dogs to show them she can hold her own, as long as the dogs don’t react aggressively.
• This introduction process will take as long as the animals need. Rarely, they will never accept each other and they will have to remain separated, but most animals will get along over time.

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