New study reveals cats actually grieve - even for dogs

A new study has revealed that cats grieve when another animal in the family has died, much like dogs do.

The loss of a furry friend can be devastating for owners but new research in paper published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science has revealed it can be the same for cats too, reports IFL Science.

Researchers surveyed more than 400 people about the response from their pet cat when another animal, either a cat or a dog, in the family had died.

And results showed there were similarities between how the cats behaved and what is considered to be mourning.

The more the cat got on with the animal that died, results showed there was a decrease in the usual rate of playing, sleeping and eating.

And the more time the cat would spend with the animal that died, the more their owners felt the cat looked for attention from themselves.

A new study has found cats grieve / AdrianHancu, iStock

The research team concluded cats may experience the death of another pet in the household in a similar way dogs do, in that they seek human contact more often.

Jennifer Vonk, an Oakland University psychology professor who co-authored the paper, told NPR: "For me, the most compelling finding is that when cats were reported to change their behaviour in ways that would be consistent with what we would expect for grief.

"It's predicted by things like the length of time that the animals lived together or the amount of time that they had spent together engaged in various activities or the quality of their relationships.

"Maybe it's more likely than I thought before that cats do have those feelings."

This could lead to a change in the idea that cats are distant and anti-social.

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