My first instinct is to say yes, of course they are, what do they have to be unhappy about, but when I think about it more, I wonder if they have the capacity to be happy, or if the best their little brains can do is contented (as in, not hungry, not tired, not scared, not wet, etc.), and if you don’t actually have the capacity to be happy, you can’t really be happy, can you? What do all y’alls think?
No, I’d say they’re happy all right, the ones well cared for are anyway.
This is precisely because they have no conception that there’s anything more to life than being well cared for.
We humans, unfortunately, know full well that somewhere somebody is happier than us. Probably a lot of people. And do they deserve that happiness more than we do? No! Of course not! Why is the world full of these kind of assholes rubbing it in my face how happy they are???
You see the problem. Plus we all know that we’re gonna die.
Yup, Many got it. Happiness is relative. I’m sure peasants in ancient Rome were happy if they had meat once a week. Modern-day Italians would likely find such a life unbearable. I’d suffer without internet, but a few decades ago I would have been fine.
The issue I see is happiness is not the lack of unhappy things. You may have no problems but that doesn’t automatically make you happy. Happiness is a seperate emotion. In fact you can be both unhappy and happy at the same time.
For instance, I sometimes take care of my neighbors dogs when they’re away. They have an older dog about 13. He LOVES, I mean he LOVES to sit by the gate and stare at the world go by. He’ll sit out there as long as possible. He just wags his tail, with his stupid doggie grin and watches the world go by.
One time he did this for eight hours. And he was very happy. But usually I check on them, play with them a bit and stay an hour or so. Then I call the dogs in and go my way.
While the old guy would be happy to sit outside all day, he isn’t unhappy he has to go in.
See so there is a middle ground between happy and unhappy.
I think you could alter the OP a bit to say “Are babies happier than adults”? As long as a baby gets food, changed and some cuddles it’s happy. That’s all it needs.
This actually reminds me of an old Peanuts cartoon
Charlie Brown is bitching (like that’s some surprise :)) about how easy Snoopy has it. He brings Snoopy his supper dish and says “What a life” Snoopy eats his food and Charlie Brown says “It must be nice to be a dog.” In the last panel Snoopy climbs back up on his dog house and says “Gee I wonder where my next meal is coming from”?
I’m pretty sure my black pug is the happiest creature in the universe. He just drips with happiness pretty much all the time.
The way I heard it in psychology class is that animals can’t have any emotion, at least in the way we define it, because the way we define is that you answer “I’m happy” when somebody asks you how you feel.
Philosophically, I guess it would be related to their memory. Imho, the shorter the memory, the happier you are. If you are hungry, you forget your misery the second you have something to eat. After you eat, you forget you were hungry just a little while ago. When you get hungry again, you don’t feel regret that you are hungry again, since to you, it was the first time you ever felt it.
Since animals live in the moment, I would figure they are deliriously happy all the time, as they don’t remember feeling bad.
This is why psychology classes have such a bad reputation.
My wife and I were discussing a similar idea the other day:
There is a school of thought that says that dogs are just very, very clever parasites - that they mimic Human emotions (happiness, sadness, love, etc.) so well that we think that they actually have these emotions, when actually, they are just running a program that says “if I wag my tail, I’ll get a treat.”
I don’t believe it - I think my dogs are sincere.
My wife thinks it’s a big laugh, but I still believe that our dogs are actually glad to see us, not just faking it to stay on the gravy train.
Nah, I think the aptly named **Two Many Cats **got it in one. And seriously, posting under a name like that - you know these are the words of an expert. 
Most days when I walk in the door from a long boring day at my boring little job, one of my cats will be lolling on the couch, all four paws in the air. She always looks over with an “Oh … have you been somewhere?” expression on her face. I have no doubt that she’s happier than I am, considering her day was spent napping on the comfy couch, and mine was not.
My dogs are surely ‘happier’ than me. I’m a contented person, but never excited. The littlest thing sends the dogs into paroxysms of joy; when I come home, give them any affection, when we go outside (even if it’s just a pee trip, not something fun). And it’s not a performance for food - my dogs adore running free (and only get to do it every so often as we live in an apartment) and when they do it it’s a pure expression of delight, from their face to their body language.
The cats are a different story. One is very happy, affectionate and dumb, he’s nearly as joyful as the dogs about little things like getting brushed and eating his lunch. The other is reserved, smart and bitchy. I’m lucky to see her look anything but suspicious or hungry a few times per week.
Our dogs are definitely happier some times than others. I’m not sure if they are unhappy lying by the door waiting for someone to come home, but they are a lot happier when we get home. If I’m taking only one for a walk at the moment, the other is very clearly unhappy about being left behind. They are not thrilled when waiting for dinner, and a lot happier when it arrives. There are even different levels of happiness. One of our dogs just loves a neighbor, and when she sees her across the street she goes crazy, pulls me over to her, and starts squeaking with joy.
Not to be callous, but my husband’s grandfather is in a state of dementia right now where he has almost zero short-term memory. I don’t think it’s made him happier.
And I’m not entirely convinced about dogs “living in the moment” either( I don’t even try getting into a cat’s head. ). If dogs have such short-term memories, how do they remember a spot where they encountered a cat a week previously, and anticipate its being there again? We know they cannot verbalise their experiences, but I bet their brains can store little “snapshot” images of previous events, and can associate sensations to them.
I agree. When my mother first met my Irish wolfhound he took a liking to her (beggin strips) 5 years later she came to visit me at my home and the dog absolutely freaked. I never seen him act so absolutely overjoyed. There is some type of memory be it smell or sight, 5 years is a long time. Shyt I forget things from 5 seconds ago.
So yeah, what the hell was the point I was trying to make? Ahh screw it.
Based on how often they purr, my cats seem to be happy.
But are they happier than humans? Do you metaphysically purr as often as they do?
I think it depends on the HUMANS they live with. Animals tend to mirror the happiness or depression or grief or whatever of their “masters”.
I don’t buy the theory that as long as they are “cared for” in a sense of being fed and watered and sheltered they are automatically “happy”. More contented than if they were on the street fighting for every meal, sure, but “happy”? Not necessarily.
An animal, dog or cat, who is emotionally or otherwise neglected in their primary relationships (not petted, spoken to kindly, played with, etc…) is not likely to be happy.
In my many years of experience with both dogs and cats, I can say that there IS such a state as “happiness” vs mere contentment…the difference between a dog sleeping on the couch and playing fetch at the park or a cat on a lap being stroked and curled up alone and ignored is obvious to me.
I would say that it is easier for us to visually see the difference with dogs, who show more expression, as a rule, than cats, but both are discernible.
Those who state that animals have no emotion are, imo, wrong. I’ve seen it too many times (esp. with dogs…cats do as well, but they just tend to be less demonstrative about it).
As for being happier than humans, again, depends.
Our dog is happier than I am. He doesn’t spend even one moment contemplating my demise and the fallout from it. I can’t look at him without the tiniest, nano-sized bit of unhappiness butting in from the knowledge that some day I won’t have that face to look at and I don’t know how I could bear that. It strikes me that just about everything goes the way he wants it to, except for when we go out without him. He may be the teensiest bit spoiled. And he is very happy. One of our cats is not all that happy, but she would be if we would get rid of all the other cats.
I’m jealous of my cats. I wish I could sleep, eat, and play with toys all day like they do. They don’t even have to figure out what to have for dinner or do any work to prepare their food.
I think it depends on the owners. My dog is a very spoiled boy and he never seems unhappy. Well, unless I run out of treats.