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?
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! :eek:
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! :eek:
Or…then again, maybe you’re just a realist, but let’s not go there, k?
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.
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.
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?
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?
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
