Do Cats Feel Grief? It’s Possible, New Study Reveals
You have two cats, and one passes away. Does the other cat feel sad? New research suggests that yes, cats may be capable of grieving the loss of another cat or even a human in their household.
Research conducted by Oakland University in Michigan found that when a cat loses a loved one, they exhibit behaviors associated with grief, such as eating and playing less (1). Jennifer Vonk, a professor of psychology at Oakland University and the study’s co-author, told NPR that this may answer the question of whether your cat would miss you if you were no longer in their life.
To conduct the study, a team of researchers asked more than 400 cat caregivers to fill out a survey about how their pet acted when another cat in the household died. After analyzing the results, the researchers found that cats in this situation tended to look for the other cat, clung more to their humans, ate less, and slept more. These behavioral changes appear consistent with those previously seen in dogs who had lost an animal companion (2).
The researchers warned that there are caveats to the study and that part of the observations may be due to humans going through their own loss and their cats trying to console them. Cats may also be responding to a changed household dynamic with one less pet in the mix. Thus, more studies need to be conducted before scientists can 100 percent confirm that yes, cats grieve. This latest research, however, does provide some compelling evidence that cats may have more feelings than previously known.
A Personal Story of Cat Grief
Jessica Reisman, a CVT and emergency room nurse at the Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG) in Santa Monica, Calif., says she witnessed evidence of cat grief firsthand more than a decade ago when her cat Oscar passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.
“His buddy and my original cat Neuman went nuts,” Reisman recalls. “He was climbing up and down the cat tree looking for him for a few days. He would get very upset when I left for work and would run out my apartment door and to the top of a third-floor walk-up. When I came home, I would get in bed after showering and he would wedge himself between my shoulder and my neck and stay there all night.” This went on for about six months, Reisman says.
Cats and Grief: How to Help
Want to help your cat through a period of loss? Reisman says to stick to their routine, as cats are routine-oriented creatures. “Try to keep things as normal as possible for them (same meal routines, etc.),” she says. “It can be helpful to give them more of what they enjoy most, whether it be playtime, or spending time with their favorite person.” These small gestures can help a cat to feel some sense of normalcy while they navigate the changing dynamic of another pet who is no longer in the home.
References
- Greene, B., Vonk, J. Is companion animal loss cat-astrophic? Responses of domestic cats to the loss of another companion animal. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Volume 277 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2024.106355
- Uccheddu, S., Ronconi, L., Albertini, M. et al. Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) grieve over the loss of a conspecific. Sci Rep 12, 1920 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05669-y
