Barb
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Barb, Thank you for this touching story. I know that animals have "feelings", unique relationships with each other, and share many emotions with us. My opinion is based on my experience with & observance of the domesticated animals I've lived with over a period of 53 years. There are those who insist that "crazy animal people" like me are simply projecting our own feelings onto our pets. I disagree, and some scientists are beginning to seriously look at this issue.


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for Oscar & Arthur

We got Ozzy, a 9 week old rescue Pomeranian who'd been dumped at a kill shelter, adopted by a rescue service when Sophie was 12. She'd always been my lap dog, a toy Poodle, only dog in the house.

But she was all heart, shared everything with him (even her food), annoying as a puppy can be to an elderly dog.

When she died he was 9 months old and he whined as we placed her in that hole under the pear tree, tugged at the pillow case she was layed on trying to pull her up and out.

He barely slept, didn't eat for days. That summer, as the flowers bloomed - they all come at different times - I'd cut a few of each and bring them to her grave. Little Ozyy followed and watched.

He'd sit close, quiet while I cried.

One day while I was weeding, I cut off some dead flowers, tossed it all in a pile. I looked around and where is Ozzy? Dragging the half-dead flowers to Sophie's grave, then sitting waiting for me to come.

A year passed after Sophie died before I adopted Rudy. He doesn't understand why, but he knows we do not play under the pear tree - Ozzy forbids it. And we still put flowers there whenever we have some, and Rudy knows to leave them there.

They love, they grieve, they get annoyed. Differently maybe than we do, but they feel.

Touching stories.
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I agree that they have feelings. At the end of October I had to put my Cinder down due to kidney failure. (She is the kitty in my avator) 13 1/2 years old and sweeter then sweet. My Siamese cat Daphne (13 years old) has not been the same since. She chews on her arm and legs and needs lots of cuddles to get by. She has become very nuerotic. If we are away she mopes and chews on her arms and legs even worse. Vet has considered kitty downers but we do not want to have to drug her. She already takes drugs for her thyroid. Our other two younger cats seem no longer affected.

Joyce

Animals absolutely have feelings and emotions. These stories and many others prove it. I don't think that humans give animals enough credit - we could learn a few things from them if we paid attention. Animals are non-judgmental and very accepting. I'd be lost without my pets (2 cats).

Absolutely!!!

I've had cats since I was 4 years old, so that would be ohhh, almost 55 years.
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YES! They have feelings! I don't know how people think otherwise. My daughter and I almost lost one of my cats due to depression. Our beloved Macho died, and Tink, his constant companion, grieved heavily. She couldn't eat and became anorexic and lethargic and didn't care anymore. It was SO sad!!

We almost lost her. Had to force feed and water her for a long time, pick her up and carry her to her litter box. It was a struggle of a time for us because we did this for weeks on end. I'd have to run home at lunch every day to force feed her. We were about to give up when she finally showed up in the kitchen, licked some water and nibbled just a few pieces of food. We breathed a huge sigh of relief.

She is now my senior citizen cat and 18 years old and the sweetest baby.

Yes they have feelings AND memories!

Thank you

for sharing your sweet and beautiful story. It brought tears to my eyes.

This is such a sad story, I do believe that animals have feelings.
Thanks for posting it.

thank you for the story about oscar and ozzie. The folks here have it right. I will never forget the time I was trading squirrel chasing stories with a fellow dog lover. She said she'd made the mistake of keeping a baby squirrel after he fell out of a tree, broke his leg, and was nursed back to health by her. the following spring she occasionally found him looking out the window with such longing that she decided to rehabilitate any animal she (if) ever rescued in the future. But "Rocky" had a good life while with her, although a sad end (not painful, just sudden).
She said that Rocky got along really well with her 2 huge golden retrievers since they had adopted him when he still had that new baby smell. Every morning, the retreivers would wait outside the bathroom (rocky had to sleep in the tub, of course) until he was let out every morning, when they could play. And did they play. Their favorite game was first in the AM "chase" me, which would be pell mell up and downstairs with everything but childish shrieks. Her favorite was "Rocky sez". Rocky would take a piece of dog kibble out of their food bowls, and go over to a dog who was sitting down. Rocky would pull on the dog's paw to tell the dog to lift it up, who would, and then carefully 'bury' the piece of kibble under the dog's paw, patting the dog's paw down over the kibble and then pretending to lose interest, at which the dog would let his paw fly, chase the kibble, and begin another game of chasing Rocky!
One sad day though, the house went silent suddenly one morning during 'chase'. She ran upstairs to the bedroom and when she saw the room empty except for the two dogs, she said sharply, "Where's Rock..." then saw him dead on the bed. As one dog had hit the waterbed, Rocky was flung up into the air, and obviously right into the path of a huge dog coming down from a jump because Rocky was pancaked.
She buried Rocky outside, but spent alot of days crying for not just Rocky, but for the dogs, who went to Rocky's bedroom for more than six months every morning, crying for their friend.

Hey Kelly!

I'm thinking about changing my signature to ""You can tell the character of a person by how they treat...animals!"
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