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Table of Contents
Do Cats Know About Death?
In life, there are things that are inevitable; one of these is death—complete ending and separation. Death happens and causes separation in different species and different people. It causes a painful separation of loved ones and family members. No matter the species or person, it is important to know that death eventually comes. Knowledge of death is common in humans; however, in animals, their brains are not developed enough to know and understand these kinds of things. Even if they cannot understand death, that doesn’t change the fact that some animals can sense when you are sad and need comforting. Now, about the subject of death, animals just never get it, despite how smart they are. They can know that their favourite person is not there, but they would not understand even if they see the lifeless body.
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Cats are no different when this is concerned; in fact, people even think that cats are so indifferent that they do not care about anything, including the death of a family member or a feline family member. Although this is not entirely true, there is still a little bit of truth in it. In humans, there are no two people that deal with stress and loss the same way. We have different ways of dealing with pain. One person might cry when dealing with stress, and the other might not. That is applicable in cats; they show their grief differently. Their sadness is basically attached to the absence of that furry friend, feline friend, or even human. This means that they know that that person is absent, and they are used to the person’s presence; they might even enjoy the person’s company. They want the person back; they don’t understand that they cannot come back. The answer to the question, “do cats know about death?” is no, they don’t know about death.
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Can Cats Sense When Someone Has Died?
Usually, when someone dies, the body is not the same as when the person is alive. Scientifically, it is said that animals can perceive when a person is dying or is about to die, especially because of the odour change that happens when the person is about to die. If the cat is around someone, and the person suddenly dies, it might not understand; it might think the person is just sleeping. The fact that it doesn’t understand death does not mean that it cannot feel that the person is at their lowest point. feel t The cat may feel that the person is at a very low point and it might be there to support the person. The cat might even cuddle up to the person to show that it is supporting the person. This is to say that it might know that the person is not okay and needs help, but it would not understand that the person is dead, just like a human would understand.
Cats sense that something is not right with the person and that the person might need company. If the person should pass out at that moment, it might as well just believe that the person is asleep and would wake up eventually. Even as the cat lays beside the person, it would know that everything is not alright as it seems. Still, it doesn’t know what is wrong. That is to say that cats might sense when someone is dead, but they might not understand death or anything relating to it. They might perceive something that would tell them that person is not alright, but they would think the person would come back to life or would wake up from a deep sleep; they would not understand that the person is gone forever.
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Can Cats Sense The Death Of Another Cat?
As we all know, for a long time, cats have been known to be—that is, they prefer their own company to the company of other animals or humans. However, this statement is not always true. Although cats can be solitary, they can also be social animals. That is, they are able to socialize even though they want their me-time. So, if a cat has a feline friend, it might bond to that other cat. This bonding does not mean they cannot do without each other; there is just an animal interdependence between them. As said earlier, they follow a routine in their daily life, which means if a cat is part of their routine life and if that other cat is gone, there will be a disruption in their routine life. This disruption in their routine can cause withdrawal and other depression-related signs. The interdependence of the cat on the other cat might cause it to practice social withdrawal from every form of contact, including human contact.
The brain of cats, just like other animals, is not developed to the point of understanding the concept of death, not to talk of sensing the death of another cat. They would know when that cat is not okay and needs some sort of medical health. They would know this, not because there is any form of special cat language or anything close to that. They would know because of the inactivity of the other cat. Especially if the cat has always been an agile cat, the other cat would be quick to notice that there is something wrong with the other cat. When we talk about sensing death, it would mean that we are asking if a cat is psychic enough to sense death. The answer is no; cats are just like every other animal, they are not psychic, so they cannot sense the death of another cat.
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Can Cats Sense Death In Other Animals?
Many scientific studies show that animals sense a lot of things, especially if they are in the community of other animals. Even we, as ordinary humans, are able to tell when we look at an animal if it is sick or if it is alright. It should be known that animals have a higher perception than humans—that is, they are able to know when another animal is weak, if it could be preyed on or if it is strong. It is not a psychic power; it is just the ability of their brain to be able to observe and understand if that other animal is weak. Cats are no different where this is concerned; in fact, they are more sensitive than some other animals. People always liken cats to indifference, saying that cats do not care about the feelings of others or their fellow cats.
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Cats might not know how they are feeling at a particular time or how to show emotions like dogs. Even though a cat senses something, it might not react the way other animals might react. It is said that at death or during sickness, there is a smell that is emitted from the body of the organism. The smell is not even known by humans because the odour sensory receptors in the nostrils of humans are not as acute as those of animals—including cats. Due to this reason, cats might perceive animals that are sick around them.
Although there is no formal scientific evidence, many people who own multiple pets have been able to attest to the fact that cats become succour to other animals that are down. It is true that they might not know that they are sensing death in the other animal, but they could look at the weakness of interaction and other behavioural traits to know if that animal is okay. They might even cuddle next to the dying cat to keep it company. Cats might actually sense death in other animals, just that they might not understand that they are sensing death.
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Can Cats Sense When Something Is Wrong?
When things are going wrong in our lives, there are always signs that show this. These signs that show that we are sad can range from moping around the house all day to drinking, crying, or even oversleeping. These signs can be noticed by even little children, and they would understand everything is not as peachy as it used to be. No matter how hard we try to hide it, just as we cannot hide when we are extremely excited, that is just how we cannot also hide when things go wrong. Animals are not as smart as we are, but the domesticated ones have a little higher emotional intelligence than other animals. Cats are not as selfish as we think they are; they are really observant to know what is happening around them. When your cat notices that something is wrong with you and you are down emotionally, they would want to cuddle next to you at that period. This behaviour is somewhat their own way to cheer you up and make you happier than you are. Meaning they can actually sense when something is wrong. It is the same if the owner of the cat is sick; the person does not need to yell and shout that it is sick.
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The person could just be quietly lying down, and the cat would sense that the normal routine has been disrupted because of something they do not understand. They would notice because you are not scratching their fur as you would normally do, or you are not up and trying to play. There are many behavioural signs that would show your cat that everything is not alright. If a strange person is in the house and trying to harass you, your cat would know that something is not right. The cat might even butt in to save your life. Cats generally know when something is wrong; their senses tell them.
Can Cats Sense Illness In Humans?
No evidence shows that humans release a particular kind of smell when they are sick. Despite the lack of evidence, we could be safe if we say cats sense when humans are ill. That does not mean that the odour could be perceived by humans. As humans, if we are close to a person that is sick, no matter the severity of the sickness, we would not perceive anything; this is because there is only a limited amount of smell that our sensory receptors allow us to perceive. Although, it is not a hundred percent a fact that there is a particular smell when ill. Still, the possibility of a change in the smell that is experienced during illness cannot be ruled out. If we consider behavioural changes when ill, we would see that when someone is sick, he gets significantly weaker.
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Cats are very observant animals, and this means they can sense weakness in a human. When they sense this weakness, it can be attributed to sickness in their feline brain. Although they don’t know what sickness is still, they just know that humans are just not fine. Their instinct would be to cuddle next to the person in order to comfort the person. That is the reason why in many nursing homes, cats serve as company for the sick ones and even the elderly ones. There is no cloud of mystery around the fact that they actually sense sick people; it is just in their nature to sense distress as they are very sensitive animals. This is probably the reason why they are brought to elderly people to keep them company through the remaining years of their life. So, the answer is yes, cats sense illness in people. Although they do not understand what it is, they only understand that the person is not feeling good and might need company.
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Can Cats Sense Cancer?
There are lots of people in the world today suffering from cancer, because of so many reasons. Cancer eats down deep into the system of its target, proliferating into multiple and multiple cells that cannot be numbered. Sometimes, cancer gets to its metastatic stage, where it proliferates and even affects surrounding organs near the main site of action. Most times, it is quite easy to tell when someone has cancer, especially by pulling off hair, muscle wasting, and other physical signs that might show that a person has cancer. However, where cats are concerned, we can see that they do not understand the meaning of illness, not to talk of understanding cancer. When someone has cancer, there is a sort of smell emitted that can be perceived by a few types of animals. Just like dogs that are used in cancer examinations, they are trained in such a way that they can detect cancer. The training they are given is only to heighten their senses, so their prediction could be very accurate. This is similar to cats; cats can perceive certain smells that are released by the cancer cells. Cats all react to this sense in very different ways. Some cats might stick to you all day; some might not but just try to be minimal in some activities because they can tell that something is wrong. Also, the change in appearance that comes with cancer also helps them to be aware. It has not been scientifically proven that they can sense cancer. However, judging from the behavioural traits, it can easily be seen that cats sense a lot of things.
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Can cats sense grief?
Grief is something that is inevitable in humans. People come and go, so do opportunities. When something we want so much or something we cherish so much is no more, it brings a wave of deep sadness that can be overwhelming. If grief has not been experienced before, it is important to know that it would eventually come, just because that’s how the world works. When dealing with grief, there are a lot of things that interest we lose interest in. When grieving, a basketball player might not want to play anymore. There are many other instances, which shows there is a lack of interest in almost everything you would have found pleasure doing. If someone is grieving the loss of someone or something, even someone sitting across the room can be able to tell that. A cat has an internal clock that makes them follow a routine or want to follow a routine. They would want to get their food at the same time every day and play at the same time every day also. When grieving, you might mope around, not being bubbly as usual and, most importantly, missing different things in their schedule. It is these little things that cats pick up on that make them sense your grief and come for a cuddle consolation.
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Can cats sense anxiety?
Anxiety is just like grief; it eats deeply into the personality of a person. When a person starts having anxiety, there is an entire change in the personality of the person, leaving a person who is so unsure and afraid of themselves. Everyone has different ways that anxiety manifests in their daily lives. In some people, when they are anxious they can be seen pacing all over the place. This and many other signs are things that help a cat to know that it has anxiety.
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Hazel Buckley
About Hazel Buckley
Hazel is an animal enthusiast and educator who grew up on a farm which her parents owned in Ingogo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The farm was situated right under the Majuba Mountains - the site where the Anglo-Boer War was fought.
Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information published on this website is accurate, the author and owners of this website take no responsibility for any loss or damage suffered as a result of relience upon the information contained therein. Furthermore the bulk of the information is derived from information in 2018 and use therefore is at your on risk. In addition you should consult professional advice if required.