Cat psychology

dss62467

dss62467

Cathlete
This morning at 4:00, I woke up to the sound of a cat meowing loudly outside. I thought it sounded like my T.C., but she usually doesn't stay out all night. She's a homebody and stays right near the house. Goes out the front door, runs to the back and starts meowing to come back in. Not the brightest animal, but very sweet.

I got up and went out to find her. But she wasn't right by the house. I called her, but she didn't come. So she wasn't meowing to come in.

When I went out with the dogs 20 minutes later, she came in.

I was thinking maybe she was out crying for Kuzco. Trying to find him. It kind of broke my heart. She doesn't know he died - she only knows he's not there.

I wonder if anyone has taken their other pets with them to say goodbye when putting down a pet. Purrple, well...she didn't care too much for Kuzco, but TC and he were pretty tight. I feel bad I didn't take her with us.
 
She very well might miss him and think he's lost.

But I don't think taking animals to say goodbye at the vets is necessary. Most animals don't have a good association with the vet's office anyway ("am I going to get another shot?","What's happening?", "I hate riding in this carrier in the car."). If you had taken T.C. to the vet's with you, she wouldn't have any idea of what was going on. And it wouldn't keep her from calling for him, because she couldn't reason that he's gone for good.

Don't feel bad for not taking her with you to the vet's. I think taking her would have been the wrong decision.

I wondered how my cats were thinking/feeling after Scooter died (who died in bed at home, and Bobsie washed his head as he was passing, so she said goodbye), then a month and a day later, I took Mandy to the vet's, and she never came back.
 
When Tucker was hit by a car and killed, Kimo knew he was killed (sniffed his body, etc) yet she still looked for him for a while and was very depressed. She would also go to the place where he was hit and just sit there and stare at the spot. I don't know letting her sniff him helped, but I do know animals can grieve and can miss a good friend. They are so much smarter than we ever realized. I think just letting TC know you love him is the most you can do. Like us, the pain gets less as time passes.

{{{HUGS}}} to you and TC.
 
This isn't cat specific, but I do know someone who brought their living dog to view and sniff the body of their dog that they'd just put to sleep.

I wouldn't take an animal to view the process of putting another pet down, but I've heard from others that viewing the body helps to stem some anxiety. As opposed to a pet seeing its buddy leave for the vet's office and not coming back.

I'm sorry about Kuzco. :(
 
Yeah, logically I know she wouldn't have understood. I just wish I could say to her, "he's not coming back, sweetie."
 
Awww that is so sad. I know my pug is still adjusting from the loss of Cosmo. He doesn't like to be out of his crate when I'm not home & his appetite is sporadic--used to be he scarfed up every scrap in front of him but now he leaves his food sitting sometimes for hours. I don't know if it's b/c when Cosmo was around he felt he needed to eat his food before she did, or if it's b/c he misses her.

I have no doubt animals feel the loss of their "brothers & sisters." Some people say their memories are only 30 seconds long but I don't believe it. I think Max will remember Cosmo forever. I bet even though you think Purrrrple didn't love Kuzco she did, just in her own way.

That said, I don't think having the other animals "say goodbye" would really mean much to them. I don't think they'd understand & you'd still be in the same situation of the animals just knowing their friend isn't there, but not why.
 
Hey Donna-

I feel bad for your kitty, I am sure he is missing his friend. But, unless they actually "see" what happens to their buddy i don't think they would understand you putting down a cat.

My Stormy had a best friend for 2 years, Oscar. He wasn't my cat-lived 2 houses down but was always at my house, they don't really take good care of their pets so I fed & gave him water twice a day & tried to get him to come in but he flipped out- i think he had been abused sometime b/c it took me 3 months of feeding him before he finally trusted me to hold him. He was a male cross eyed Siamese cat, so adorable. He was inside/outside cat of their & Storm is my inside/outside cat on her terms & they became instant buddies when they met & Storm hates every cat she's ever met until him. A lot of nights she wouldn't come in b/c she wanted to sleep outside with him, I'd always leave my garage cracked for him to sleep.

Anyway, long story short I hadn't seem in for 5 days (this is like 1 1/2 years ago now) so i went to their house & asked where he was and they were like, what do you mean he's here... I informed them that no he wasn't b/c I never went more than 2 days without seeing him. Still to this day don't know what happened to him but Stormy was depressed & wouldn't do anything for a couple weeks-I think she either saw what happened or something b/c she knew. I still miss him like crazy & so mad at his owners b/c poor guy didn't have his claws & they let him outside-that is why I tried to "steal" him b/c I knew that if something tried to get him he wouldn't be able to defend himself.

Sorry for the long post, just want to let you know that it'll take time but Stormy is better now & puts up with my new kitty Sport but to this day hasn't ever "liked" another cat like him but luckily I think I've read that cats memories are shorter than humans so I hope that she still isn't sad about him...

HUGS!
 
>When Tucker was hit by a car and killed, Kimo knew he was
>killed (sniffed his body, etc) yet she still looked for him
>for a while and was very depressed. She would also go to the
>place where he was hit and just sit there and stare at the
>spot. I don't know letting her sniff him helped, but I do
>know animals can grieve and can miss a good friend. They are
>so much smarter than we ever realized. I think just letting
>TC know you love him is the most you can do. Like us, the
>pain gets less as time passes.
>
>{{{HUGS}}} to you and TC.

I had a similar situtation with my cats Jinxy & Seymour (they were littermates). Seymour was killed by a car (Jinxy was inside)and we immediately buried him. I know Jinxy knew what happened even though she didn't see the accident nor did we let her sniff him before we buried him (although in hindsight I think we should have brought her outside and let her see him). She whined and looked out the window for him for a long time, she also developed litterbox and anxiety issues which the vet attributes to Seymour's death.

It took me a long time to let her outside and now it's only while under constant supervision (unfortunatly I learned the hard way) and she often winds up laying next to his grave. So to answer the original question I absolutely believe they greive and miss their "friends" and if possible I think it's a good idea to let them view the body (although I wouldn't put them through the stress of taking them to the vet if I were having to make the heartbreaking decision to put one of my cats to sleep).

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty. {hugs!}
 
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