We had a Siamese cat from a litter of 6 and we kept him along with his mother and a black cat from a different litter, same mother. Then at some point we had another litter from the same mother and kept one of the babies. For some reason the Siamese from the first litter hated the half brother, so we thought because he was never nice to him or the black half brother, even though he was a loving and spoiled thing with us. One day as we headed into town, we saw the newest little one,(about three at the time), across the highway in a field chasing mice. He always brought them home to feed the other animals (yuck) and I stopped the car and called to him and told him to get home. When we got home there was a note on the door telling us that in the back of our pick up there was a box with our beloved kitty in it. He had been hit by a car as he was going home and the neighbor had scraped him off the road for us. I buried him the next morning and the oldest half brother that had not been very nice to the little one cried and cried and walked around and around the rocks I circled the grave with. And for days afterward, I would see him out there walking around those rocks and crying. Yes they mourn.
Kris H. - 9 years ago
I believe cats mourn their home-mates and their human companions, also. We had a "dad" tabby when we received a kitten from a customer. When Dad Tabby died, Dolly went to him where I had him on his bed and ran back to us with eyes "bugged out" and meowed loudly as she jumped into my lap. She would not leave one or both of us for several weeks after her "dad" passed. (He was 16 and she was just 2 or 3. Then, when my husband passed, Dolly went downhill for several weeks. Yes, she was going on 24, but in relatively ok health. Finally, one day she barely got up on the couch and into my lap to look at me and lay her head down as if to say - me too. And she was gone 10 days before her 24th birthday. She was my husbands from 3 weeks of age and I know she just missed him too much. We are soooooo blessed to have these wonderful creatures to give and receive love.
Kitty - 9 years ago
My male cat would go down to the basement and HOWL after his female companion of many years died. This went on for months and only stopped when we got a female kitten, but he never really bonded with her, only tolerated her.
My current 2 cats are littermates and they are never without each other. I shudder to think what would happen if one of them died. They are indoor cats only, having been rescued from the forest.
Janet - 10 years ago
Yes, I believe my cats do mourn because we had several losses of furbabies over the years and everytime we go to the back yard to bury them, all the animals come a gather around the grave. I am not kidding. Even when the guinea pig passed, the cats are in-out cats and they all came around the grave and stayed there until it was over. All my furbabies are brothers and sisters, mother and babies, fathers and babies in spirit and they do miss each other when they are gone. I have a mom and dad and two adorable furbabies right now. Butter ball would not know what to do without hazel. If hazel goes out and she don't, she sits and cries, and cries. They are pitiful and spoiled rotten.
Janet
Lori - 10 years ago
In a more animal nature, they "miss" the companion animal(s) in their lives and still tend to "view" them as a mirror-image of their own need system. Another odor that is not fearful and can be used in other ways. My more feral cat tried to eat one of her babies when presented to her for inspection after it died, taking a bite out of its head. Rather gruesome at the time, it taught me just how "animal" my loving cat was.
Ed - 10 years ago
If the cats are close enough, they will mourn, but as in humans, mourning is not uniform and can be manifested in different ways.
I feed stray (feral) cats in my backyard. One year there was a litter, and two of the kittens were inseparable, always together. I named than Frick and Frack after an ice-skating team in the Icecapades. When they were about 6 months old, one of the kittens was killed by a car. The other kept walking up and down the block, calling endlessly. I know it continued that behavior for most of the day, but I had to go to work the following days, so I'm not sure how long it continued that behavior.
In sad agreement with poster Joan S, "Watching that young cat searching and calling for his friend was heartbreaking."
Joan S - 10 years ago
Had 2 male cats, not litter mates who bonded as young cats that snuggled together every nite for almost 18 years. The survivor roamed the house every nite for another 2 years crying. It was an absolute heartbreak.
We had a Siamese cat from a litter of 6 and we kept him along with his mother and a black cat from a different litter, same mother. Then at some point we had another litter from the same mother and kept one of the babies. For some reason the Siamese from the first litter hated the half brother, so we thought because he was never nice to him or the black half brother, even though he was a loving and spoiled thing with us. One day as we headed into town, we saw the newest little one,(about three at the time), across the highway in a field chasing mice. He always brought them home to feed the other animals (yuck) and I stopped the car and called to him and told him to get home. When we got home there was a note on the door telling us that in the back of our pick up there was a box with our beloved kitty in it. He had been hit by a car as he was going home and the neighbor had scraped him off the road for us. I buried him the next morning and the oldest half brother that had not been very nice to the little one cried and cried and walked around and around the rocks I circled the grave with. And for days afterward, I would see him out there walking around those rocks and crying. Yes they mourn.
I believe cats mourn their home-mates and their human companions, also. We had a "dad" tabby when we received a kitten from a customer. When Dad Tabby died, Dolly went to him where I had him on his bed and ran back to us with eyes "bugged out" and meowed loudly as she jumped into my lap. She would not leave one or both of us for several weeks after her "dad" passed. (He was 16 and she was just 2 or 3. Then, when my husband passed, Dolly went downhill for several weeks. Yes, she was going on 24, but in relatively ok health. Finally, one day she barely got up on the couch and into my lap to look at me and lay her head down as if to say - me too. And she was gone 10 days before her 24th birthday. She was my husbands from 3 weeks of age and I know she just missed him too much. We are soooooo blessed to have these wonderful creatures to give and receive love.
My male cat would go down to the basement and HOWL after his female companion of many years died. This went on for months and only stopped when we got a female kitten, but he never really bonded with her, only tolerated her.
My current 2 cats are littermates and they are never without each other. I shudder to think what would happen if one of them died. They are indoor cats only, having been rescued from the forest.
Yes, I believe my cats do mourn because we had several losses of furbabies over the years and everytime we go to the back yard to bury them, all the animals come a gather around the grave. I am not kidding. Even when the guinea pig passed, the cats are in-out cats and they all came around the grave and stayed there until it was over. All my furbabies are brothers and sisters, mother and babies, fathers and babies in spirit and they do miss each other when they are gone. I have a mom and dad and two adorable furbabies right now. Butter ball would not know what to do without hazel. If hazel goes out and she don't, she sits and cries, and cries. They are pitiful and spoiled rotten.
Janet
In a more animal nature, they "miss" the companion animal(s) in their lives and still tend to "view" them as a mirror-image of their own need system. Another odor that is not fearful and can be used in other ways. My more feral cat tried to eat one of her babies when presented to her for inspection after it died, taking a bite out of its head. Rather gruesome at the time, it taught me just how "animal" my loving cat was.
If the cats are close enough, they will mourn, but as in humans, mourning is not uniform and can be manifested in different ways.
I feed stray (feral) cats in my backyard. One year there was a litter, and two of the kittens were inseparable, always together. I named than Frick and Frack after an ice-skating team in the Icecapades. When they were about 6 months old, one of the kittens was killed by a car. The other kept walking up and down the block, calling endlessly. I know it continued that behavior for most of the day, but I had to go to work the following days, so I'm not sure how long it continued that behavior.
In sad agreement with poster Joan S, "Watching that young cat searching and calling for his friend was heartbreaking."
Had 2 male cats, not litter mates who bonded as young cats that snuggled together every nite for almost 18 years. The survivor roamed the house every nite for another 2 years crying. It was an absolute heartbreak.