I recently lost one of my cocker spaniels, Bobbi. She was fit, healthy and active, but had a catastrophic diagnosis of oral melanoma two months before I had to make the decision that anyone with deeply loved pets dreads.
It is easy to presume that only humans have a true concept of death and what it means. However, death is universal in biology and many animals experience death within their social groups, and even as an intrinsic part of meeting their nutritional needs.
After Bobbi’s initial diagnosis, I entered a state of anticipatory grief. This is where there is rehearsal and awareness of the emotions associated with the death of a loved one.
I was reassured that Bobbi was largely unaware of her situation and what it meant. She still ran, played, carried sticks (her favourite walk activity), barked as I joined video calls and acted as the “fun police” with my other spaniels, keeping them firmly in check.
But I found myself trying to negotiate how to manage my other dogs and their emotional states. This got me wondering and exploring how animals experience death and what their behaviour around death can tell us. After all, we are simply one species trying to understand how another species experiences and perceives the world – they cannot directly tell us and we can only ever work from our own experiences and awareness.
Understanding death
The most basic concept of death is where a living being understands that a death results in the total loss of function of another who was once alive, and that the situation is irreversible. The loss of companions, family or social group members is clearly widespread in all animal societies, so it is likely that these animals have some consistent reactions to death.
Indeed, many behaviours associated with death have been observed in non-human animals. Some species such as the opossum, “play dead” as a survival mechanism, to make predators then leave them alone. This behaviour, known as thanatosis or tonic immobility, is also seen in some birds, snakes and insects. “Playing dead” behaviour relies on the ability of other species to recognise and react to the apparent “death” of another species.
Domestic cats have shown behaviour associated with grief, such as a decrease in eating, sleeping or playing, after the loss of a close companion dog or cat. Female dolphins often show attentive behaviour to their dead calves, sometimes carrying them for days. In 2018, a female orca was observed carrying her dead calf for 17 days, creating debate about how other species experience loss and grief.
A range of other species including elephants, non-human primates and birds have all been observed displaying grief or “funeral-like” behaviour. Bumblebees have been seen to avoid rose flowers containing either the scent or the body of a dead bumblebee, suggesting an awareness of death which is a likely anti-predation response.
Although these observations do not prove that a human-like understanding of death is universal across the animal kingdom, it is clear that different species, including reptiles, fish and invertebrates,, have the capacity for conscious awareness of the world around them although they differ in their cognitive capabilities.
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Taking a human-centric view to death means that we may fail to appreciate the sentience and emotional complexity of the way other animals might respond to death and dying. Wild and domestic animals have many opportunities to experience death and develop a concept of death even without the complex cognitive skills that humans possess. A concept that probably differs to our own, which is often linked to anxiety and fear of death.
For some species such as insects, reactions to death are probably intrinsic and functional responses without emotion or deep cognition. For example red ants demonstrate necrophoresis, where the bodies of dead group members are removed from the colony, probably to reduce disease risk.
Conversely, in species considered to have more complex cognitive skills such as chimpanzees and other primates, death can be linked with behaviour patterns more akin to human grief, loss and sadness. For example, mothers carrying their dead offspring, sometimes for prolonged periods, or animals apparently cleaning the body of a deceased of a group member.
What Bobbi taught me
Bobbi is not the first companion animal I have said goodbye to. However she taught me something about how her canine companions experienced her loss.
I brought her home from the vet that Friday afternoon, peaceful, pain-free and wrapped in her blanket. I laid her body out on our grass with the sun shining and birds singing and I let my other spaniels out to see her. After a cursory sniff all but one left her alone and went off exploring. However, Bobbi’s nephew, Bertie sat with her. He sniffed. He licked. He examined. For almost half an hour we sat together quietly while the others “spanielled” around the garden. Bertie was Bobbi’s friend, and for all my scientific training, I knew he knew she was gone. I am glad I gave him the time to process however it was that he experienced her change.
Since then, our family group dynamics have shifted. Not negatively or positively, but they are different. Perhaps my other dogs were simply responding to my emotions but it seems more likely that they too had an awareness of her death and we have each coped in own own way.
In addition to her academic affiliation at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and support from the Institute for Knowledge Exchange Practice (IKEP) at NTU, Jacqueline Boyd is affiliated with The Royal Kennel Club (UK) through membership, as advisor to the Health Advisory Group and member of the Activities Committee. Jacqueline is a full member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT #01583). She also writes, consults and coaches on canine matters on an independent basis.