Would my pets eat me?

[LilyoftheField]

When I lived alone, I sometimes wondered if my pets would eat my earthly remains if I were to suddenly die? This was not really an idle thought as my family history is rife with strokes and heart attacks. Sure, I have friends and relatives, but I was not in touch with any one of them on a daily basis. So I could conceive of the possibility that I would suffer a sudden catastrophic medical event which could possibly kill me, and several days (if not longer!) could go by before anyone would notice my absence...

I have two cats and a dog. They are not free fed, by which I mean, they get a certain amount of food every day, at the same time and food is not just left out for them to consume at will. I like to think that this is why they are all fit and active and not fat as so many pets often get. But I would also think that after a day or two of no food, they would be getting pretty hungry.

It's not that I would object to them consuming my body, per se. After all, I'm not using it anymore, what better use of your earthly remains than to sustain another life? Right?

Still...I would like to think that they would have to reach the point where they are actually starving, before they would start snacking on my body. Just being a bit peckish doesn't seem like a good enough reason. Probably a little judgmental on my part.

I suspect that it is the cats who would be the first to abandon any sense of loyalty...I like to think that my dog would be at least a tiny bit horrified before giving in to the inevitable...

Well, I don't live alone any more so the point is probably moot for me right now, but has anyone else wondered the same? Or do I just have a morbid sense of curiosity?

[Cap'n Obvious]

They certainly would, and you're right that the cats would be the first to chow down. A quick google search will point you to countless articles where such things have happened in the past.

[LilyoftheField]

Originally Posted by Cap'n Obvious

They certainly would, and you're right that the cats would be the first to chow down. A quick google search will point you to countless articles where such things have happened in the past.

Yeah...and this is exactly why I brought the question here instead of to Google!! I fear the truth...wouldn't be the first time that Google has horrified me!

[Huerta88]

Originally Posted by LilyoftheField

Yeah...and this is exactly why I brought the question here instead of to Google!! I fear the truth...wouldn't be the first time that Google has horrified me!

Remember the French face transplant lady? Remember how she lost her face? She tried to kill herself with pills and while she was still alive her Lab (friendly, gentle, easygoing breed, right?) gnawed off most of her face.

Yeah no they'd do it in a heartbeat I'd say more often than not.

[LilyoftheField]

Originally Posted by Huerta88

Remember the French face transplant lady? Remember how she lost her face? She tried to kill herself with pills and while she was still alive her Lab (friendly, gentle, easygoing breed, right?) gnawed off most of her face.

Yeah no they'd do it in a heartbeat I'd say more often than not.

NO!!! NO, I totally don't know what you're talking about!! I don't remember that at all! I'm pretty sure that was just a myth! Besides, I'm dead, remember? I'm dead and my pets are maybe snacking on my body! That's bad enough, let's not bring in the 'possibly still alive' aspect! You are a horrible person to mention that!

Or...then again, maybe you're just a realist, but let's not go there, k?

[needscoffee]

Sometimes I think my cats are contemplating it as they watch me from across the room.

[Jenaroph]

I saw some show on TV once about people who owned exotic and dangerous pets who died in not entirely unpredictable nasty ways. There was one guy who kept Komodo dragons in his house, roaming around free. Oh yes, they ate him. Unlike your common dogs and cats, they killed him first. And how Komodo dragons kill you is, they bite you and then hang around for a few days and wait for you to die of infection from their filthy and slightly venomous mouths. So this guy gets bitten by one of his dragons, and then doesn't go to a doctor because he was afraid they'd take his dragons away, knowing what would likely happen.

His neighbors and coworkers said he was kinda weird and that they were not surprised. Me, I'm sticking with dogs and cats.

[Derleth]

Originally Posted by needscoffee

Sometimes I think my cats are contemplating it as they watch me from across the room.

Dogs might form contingency plans, but cats make dinner reservations.

Animals are not sentimental. Animals will try to survive as long as they can. Also, humans seem to prefer predators too small to hurt us, and I don't think there's very many mammalian predators who'd turn down something they don't even have to kill.

[Boulter's Canary]

Originally Posted by needscoffee

Sometimes I think my cats are contemplating it as they watch me from across the room.

I know my cockatiel is - and 'tiels are veggie!

[beowulff]

Why wouldn’t you want them to eat you?
You’re not feeding them if you’re dead, so how else are they going to survive? What use is your dead body otherwise?

[PapSett]

I wonder about the same thing. I am single, live alone, and I have no family or friends I am in contact with regularly. I also have 5 dogs and 2 cats. If I were to die suddenly, I have often wondered how long I would lay there before I was found...and how much of me would be left?

[LilyoftheField]

Originally Posted by beowulff

Why wouldn’t you want them to eat you?
You’re not feeding them if you’re dead, so how else are they going to survive? What use is your dead body otherwise?

Which is exactly what I said! It's not that I mind them dining on my dead body....it's just...well, I want them to at least wait until the wolf is at the door! I know that's a human reaction and animals don't think in terms of - hey, tomorrow, there may be kibble! But, still...can we just have a period of mourning that lasts longer than 24 hours?

Yeah, well - should it happen, I'm pretty sure it won't matter to me at that point - I'm just would prefer not to traumatize whatever relative happens to be checking up on me!

[Acid Lamp]

Originally Posted by PapSett

I wonder about the same thing. I am single, live alone, and I have no family or friends I am in contact with regularly. I also have 5 dogs and 2 cats. If I were to die suddenly, I have often wondered how long I would lay there before I was found...and how much of me would be left?

Anything over three is a pack and "follow the leader" takes over. We have three dogs, and I don't doubt that after a day or two I'd be lunch. The oldest would take the lead and the others would follow.

[Yllaria]

Originally Posted by PapSett

I wonder about the same thing. I am single, live alone, and I have no family or friends I am in contact with regularly. I also have 5 dogs and 2 cats. If I were to die suddenly, I have often wondered how long I would lay there before I was found...and how much of me would be left?

I've also heard that cats will take the plunge a few days before dogs will, on average. I've never seen a good cite for it, however, so take it for what it's worth.

You have to remember, though, that both dogs and cats identify things more by smell than humans do. To a human, barring a heat wave and no A/C, you'll still look like you in three days. To a dog or cat, what's left is less and less identifiable as you as time goes on and the smell of meat begins to rise. So it isn't their human friend that they're eating so much as it's the meat that snuck into their absent friend's clothes.

[lavenderviolet]

Originally Posted by PapSett

I wonder about the same thing. I am single, live alone, and I have no family or friends I am in contact with regularly. I also have 5 dogs and 2 cats. If I were to die suddenly, I have often wondered how long I would lay there before I was found...and how much of me would be left?

Maybe you should make arrangements with someone on this website that if they don't hear from you after a certain number of days they should investigate the situation. It'd be sad if your pets starved to death before anyone figured out what had happened.

[Slithy Tove]

What if your dog eats you and then later has to take a shit? Will he realize he's consumed the one person in the house who can work the door handle? Kind of painted yourself into a corner there, Fido.

[StGermain]

This dog stayed with his dead owner for two weeks until they found him. No munching. But still, I know cats are shown to to nosh.

StG

[miss elizabeth]

Originally Posted by Yllaria

So it isn't their human friend that they're eating so much as it's the meat that snuck into their absent friend's clothes.

This really comforted me, for some reason. I think it's true too; the "you" they know and love would be gone. You'd just be meat...

[Scubaqueen]

Originally Posted by needscoffee

Sometimes I think my cats are contemplating it as they watch me from across the room.

you too??

seriously, i can't bring myself to care. as long as i'm dead, they can have at it, and yep, cats will chow down on you in a heartbeat. they are what they are, and that's nature.

after all, it's not like i'm taking my mortal remains with me...

[Koxinga]

cats ... cats ... ask mr pipes ...

[Annie-Xmas]

There was a case in NYC a while back. A woman who had a big dog had just given birth. She had no money for three days, and no food for herself or the dog. She went out to get her welfare check, leaving the dog and the baby alone.

When she got home, the dog wasn't hungry anymore.

[brainstall]

If your dogs and cats are used to eating kibble, it may take them a few days to get hungry enough to realize that the pile of meat that was you is actually edible. I know my dog looked at raw meat when I first offered it to him and refused it.

Raw fed pets... probably a lot quicker to start in on your corpse.

[Gesturing Mildly]

I knew a guy in college who's mom passed away alone and wasn't discovered for several days. Her dog ate part of her. The guy was the only family member willing to take the dog, and still had it when I knew him. It was a little weird.

Then there's this guy Bad doggie.

[Ibanez]

I'd think I'd eventually eat them if I was starving so it be no suprise if they'd do the same.

[Minnie Luna]

When my dog licks me, she is doing it to show me affection. When my cats lick me, they are just testing to see if I taste good.

[Duckster]

This is why you should keep your ketchup bottle on the kitchen counter and not in the fridge ...

[Daylate]

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/25/andyb.jpg/

What do you think would be my fate? (Have shown this image before, but it fits in here.)

[Captain Tremayne]

If it makes you feel any better, cats make sure their prey is dead before they eat it. Dogs, not so much.

On the other hand, I've heard cats don't like meat that's starting to spoil. So they'd do the job quickly.

[purplehorseshoe]

Originally Posted by Jenaroph

I saw some show on TV once about people who owned exotic and dangerous pets who died in not entirely unpredictable nasty ways. There was one guy who kept Komodo dragons in his house, roaming around free. Oh yes, they ate him. Unlike your common dogs and cats, they killed him first. And how Komodo dragons kill you is, they bite you and then hang around for a few days and wait for you to die of infection from their filthy and slightly venomous mouths. So this guy gets bitten by one of his dragons, and then doesn't go to a doctor because he was afraid they'd take his dragons away, knowing what would likely happen.

His neighbors and coworkers said he was kinda weird and that they were not surprised. Me, I'm sticking with dogs and cats.

Oh, wow, that is an extra-special brand of stupid right there. Good to know Darwinism is still chugging along, cleaning up the gene pool as best as possible.

I can't watch it here at work so someone else with have to vouch for the veracity but I believe Jenaroph is talking about this here video.

[olivesmarch4th]

It's not the question of my corpse being eaten by my cat that keeps me awake at night.

It's the question: ''If he were suddenly 6 feet tall, would he eat me alive?''

I think the answer is yes.

[akira5822]

Originally Posted by Daylate

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/25/andyb.jpg/

What do you think would be my fate? (Have shown this image before, but it fits in here.)

Yea, that cat is already sizing you up, Have a nice day

[chiroptera]

Originally Posted by olivesmarch4th

It's not the question of my corpse being eaten by my cat that keeps me awake at night.

It's the question: ''If he were suddenly 6 feet tall, would he eat me alive?''

I think the answer is yes.

I think you mean if he were suddenly 6 inches tall....
I'm sure the cats would eat me if I shrunk to chipmunk-size, without hesitation.

I am equally sure that the dogs would too, but it might take them longer to get around to it. I have a friend about my age, also single, also lives with a demonized breed (raw fed, yet) of dog....we have a loose arrangement that if one of us can't reach the other for several days, call the authorities. In case the dogs have finished us off and are getting hungry again.

Being dead, I can't see how I would be concerned about it though. Just happy to be useful.

[Skald the Rhymer]

Originally Posted by needscoffee

Sometimes I think my cats are contemplating it as they watch me from across the room.

Just sometimes?

[Miss Mapp]

Living alone with cats, I've always assumed it's a possibility, but I've never seen it as something to be especially upset about--nor see it as a lack of loyalty on the cats' part. They have to eat something once the kibble bowl is empty. And once I'm dead, I'm food for worms anyway (not to mention flies, ants, and other household bugs); I have no sentimental attachment to them, so why shouldn't the kitties get first dibs?

[TokyoBayer]

Keep fish. Just saying.

[Jenaroph]

Originally Posted by purplehorseshoe

Oh, wow, that is an extra-special brand of stupid right there. Good to know Darwinism is still chugging along, cleaning up the gene pool as best as possible.

I can't watch it here at work so someone else with have to vouch for the veracity but I believe Jenaroph is talking about this here video.

Yep, that's the one. And the link's labeled two ways; the page title says Komodo dragon, but the video says monitor lizards. And they look like monitors, so I guess I misremembered. Maybe he had both.