Do Other Pets Grieve? What to Expect From the One Left Behind

Surviving pets change their behaviour after a companion dies — reliably and often noticeably. Whether that is grief in the sense you mean it is not something anyone can actually verify, and we would rather say so than claim otherwise. What matters practically is that the change is real, common, and usually passes within a few weeks.

The useful question is not what your dog is feeling, which is unknowable, but which changes are ordinary and which are a reason to call a vet. That distinction is what this page is for.

What actually changes

The behaviours reported most consistently, in rough order of how often they appear:

• Searching — checking the places the other animal slept, waiting at doors, patrolling
• Vocalising — whining, howling, or in cats a change in the type of call rather than the amount
• Appetite — eating less, eating slower, or ignoring food for a day or two
• Attachment — following you room to room, or the opposite, withdrawing
• Sleep — moving to a new spot, or taking over the other animal’s place
• Activity — less interest in walks, toys or play
• Toileting — occasional accidents, particularly in older animals

Most animals show two or three of these rather than all of them, and most ease within a fortnight.

Letting them see the body

Where it is practical, this is the one intervention most worth doing, and many vets will offer it if you ask.

Animals allowed to investigate the body tend to search less afterwards. The apparent reason is straightforward: a companion who simply disappears prompts looking, and one who has been examined does not. Whether the animal has understood anything is not the point — the behavioural difference is what you are after.

Let them approach on their own terms. Some sniff for a few seconds and walk away, which is a complete response rather than a dismissive one. Some show no interest at all. Do not manoeuvre them into it or hold them there.

If your pet died at the vet, ask — a good practice will usually accommodate bringing the other animal in, or will bring the body to the car.

When it is a vet problem, not grief

This is the part that matters most, because illness and grief look identical from outside, and assuming grief is the most common way a real problem gets missed.

Probably ordinary	Call the vet
Picking at food for a few days	Refusing food entirely — 48 hours in a dog, sooner in a cat
Quieter than usual, still engaging	Lethargy that deepens rather than eases
Sleeping more, in a new place	Weight loss, vomiting, diarrhoea, drinking much more
Clingy or briefly withdrawn	Hiding continuously, or any change still worsening after two weeks

Cats deserve particular caution. They conceal illness effectively, their signs are subtler, and a cat that stops eating can develop liver problems within days. A withdrawn cat after a companion dies should be watched more closely than a withdrawn dog, not less.

The rule of thumb: grief-related changes ease. Anything that deepens is a veterinary question until proven otherwise.

Bonded species are a different situation

For rabbits, guinea pigs and some birds, this is not a behaviour change to wait out — it is a welfare question.

Rabbits in particular are usually kept in bonded pairs precisely because they do badly alone, and a surviving rabbit can stop eating in a way that becomes dangerous quickly. Gut stasis in a rabbit that has stopped eating is an emergency, not a wait-and-see. The same caution applies to guinea pigs, which are social by default, and to parrots and other highly social birds.

Two practical points if you keep a bonded pair:

Let the survivor see the body, more deliberately than you would with a dog or cat. Rabbit keepers commonly report much less searching afterward, and given how fast a rabbit that stops eating deteriorates, anything that reduces distress is worth doing.

Plan for re-bonding, but not immediately. A lone rabbit usually does need another companion eventually, which is different from the advice for dogs and cats. Bonding is a managed process rather than an introduction, and rushing it produces fights. Ask a rabbit-experienced vet or a rescue that does bonding — many will help.

If your surviving small pet stops eating, that is a same-day veterinary call rather than something to monitor.

If your pet was present at the euthanasia

Some vets encourage bringing the other animal; some families arrange a home euthanasia partly for that reason.

There is no reliable evidence either way on whether being present changes the outcome for the survivor, and we are not going to invent some. What owners report is broadly the same as with viewing the body afterward: less searching, and an apparently quicker settling.

If you are considering it, the practical questions are whether your other animal copes with the clinic or the presence of a vet, and whether their reaction would make the appointment harder for you. Being present is for the survivor; the appointment is for the animal being euthanised, and if the two conflict the second takes priority.

The realistic timeline

First few days. Sharpest changes. Searching, appetite drop, restlessness. Some animals show nothing at all in this window and start later.

Week one to two. Usually the peak. If the survivor is going to show a marked change, it is generally visible by now.

Weeks two to six. Gradual settling in most animals. Routine reasserts itself, appetite returns, searching tails off. This is the window in which most owners stop worrying.

Beyond six weeks. A minority, particularly closely bonded or elderly animals, take a few months. What matters is direction: still easing is fine, still worsening is not.

The single most useful thing to track is whether the trend is improving. A dog eating slightly less at week four but better than week two is fine. A dog eating less at week four than at week two is a vet conversation.

What actually helps

Keep the routine. Feeding times, walk times, where everyone sleeps. Predictability appears to do more than anything else, and it is the easiest thing to get wrong while you are grieving yourself and the days have gone shapeless.

Add activity rather than sympathy. A longer walk, more play, ten minutes of training, a food puzzle. Structure and occupation seem to help; concerned attention sometimes reinforces the behaviour you are trying to ease.

Do not make other changes at once. Rehoming furniture, moving beds, changing food, going away — hold these for a few weeks if you can.

Mind your own state. Animals read household tension and your behaviour closely. Some of what looks like grief in a surviving pet is a response to grief in you. That is not a reason to hide it, but it is worth knowing when you are trying to work out what you are seeing.

Do not rush a replacement. A grieving animal is poorly placed to negotiate a new relationship, and a new arrival often adds stress rather than easing it. Wait until things have settled, then judge it on whether that particular animal actually wants company — many do not.

Dogs and cats differ

Not in whether they react, but in how legible it is.

Dogs more often show the obvious version: searching, vocalising, following you, waiting by doors. Easier to spot, and easier to respond to.

Cats more often go quiet — hiding, sleeping somewhere new, over-grooming, or simply being less present. These changes are easy to miss entirely, and because cats also mask illness well, missing them matters more.

If you have several animals, expect the reaction to differ between them, and expect the hierarchy to shift for a while. Some settling of that is normal; sustained conflict is worth a conversation with your vet.

What comes next

If you are still making arrangements, what to do when your dog dies and what to do when your cat dies cover the practical sequence. If there are children in the house, how to tell a child their pet died covers that conversation — and children often notice changes in the surviving pet before adults do, which can be a useful way in.