# Would my pets eat me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296 "2011-10-20T22:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/21 "2011-10-21T13:36:50Z")
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. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/22 "2011-10-21T14:23:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Gesturing\_Mildly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@Gesturing\_Mildly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gesturing_Mildly)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/23 "2011-10-21T14:34:40Z")
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.](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diabetes/dog-eats-toe-man-diabetes/story?id=11322244) ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/24 "2011-10-21T15:50:13Z")
I’d think I’d eventually eat them if I was starving so it be no suprise if they’d do the same. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/25 "2011-10-21T16:13:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/26 "2011-10-21T16:44:47Z")
This is why you should keep your ketchup bottle on the kitchen counter and not in the fridge … ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/27 "2011-10-21T16:50:41Z")
[http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/25/andyb.jpg/](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.) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Tremayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@Captain\_Tremayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Tremayne)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/28 "2011-10-21T17:14:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/29 "2011-10-21T17:20:42Z")
> [@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](http://animal.discovery.com/videos/fatal-attractions-killed-by-a-pet-komodo-dragon.html). ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/30 "2011-10-21T18:03:56Z")
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. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/31 "2011-10-21T18:20:51Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > [http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/25/andyb.jpg/](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 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/32 "2011-10-21T19:04:01Z")
> [@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. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/33 "2011-10-21T19:16:54Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Sometimes I think my cats are contemplating it as they watch me from across the room. Just sometimes? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/34 "2011-10-22T16:07:06Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/35 "2011-10-23T15:39:52Z")
Keep fish. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296/36 "2011-10-23T16:01:35Z")
> [@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](http://animal.discovery.com/videos/fatal-attractions-killed-by-a-pet-komodo-dragon.html). 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. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-my-pets-eat-me/600296.md?page=1)