Do animals know that they are going to grow old and die?

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   paradigmsearchposted 13 years ago

   Thoughts?

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      Stacie Lposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      no,they don't know that they age or not...they do know when the end is near..(call this personal experience)

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         paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Agreed. And any entity that understands the concept of death would, by definition, have self-awareness. And if an entity is advanced enough to have self-awareness...

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            Stacie Lposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            has a conscious?  (I feel like i'm in school...)

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               paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Me, too. And I will be for my entire life.

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   recommend1posted 13 years ago

   No they don't.  They do know they don't work so well, and they do choose to rest and sleep more - but knowing you are going to die requires the understanding that we are alive.  Dogs just are alive and do not have the higher conscious ability to understand life and death - this is why it is kinder to end a pets life when it becomes too old or ill to be happy, it does not know or care.
   
   I would prefer that end myself if I got too old and ill to be happy, but this is a conscious decision based on reasoning.

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   paradigmsearchposted 13 years ago

   Animals absolutely understand the concept of death (see the prey run) (see momma bear protect her cubs).
   
   However, we now have 2 answers that agree that animals don't understand the concept of old age. Although I tend to agree, I'm not completely sure yet.

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      recommend1posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      paradigmsearch  -   Fear of being killed and fear of our kids (cubs) being killed is a totally natural response along with eating and copulating.  There is no understanding involved, it just is.  To look at it another way, you don't expect Momma bear to reason in the depths of boring sleep in winter that there is a handsome Papa bear sleeping in the cave just round the corner and wandering round there to give him the 'eye' - do you ?

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         paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         In as much as that I've seen dogs dream, it could very possibly be so!

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   waynetposted 13 years ago

   Yes! My dog has said that when she dies, she wants The eye of the tiger playing at her funeral and a huge house party for everyone to share her canine life and celebrate it!

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      paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Better have her put it in writing so that there's no confusion. Otherwise, there might be some problems when you try to carry out her wishes. I'm just saying...

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         waynetposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I've already written a will for her upon her own request...she said something along the lines of woof woof rrrr woof rrr woof which was quit similar to yes that will is written well thanks!!!

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   Wesman Todd Shawposted 13 years ago

   Yes, they most definitely do.  Out here in Rural Texas our chows (un cut, un chained, un fenced) always wander off to die.  You can see it in their eyes too.  They are like Spartan warriors.

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      manlypoetrymanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'm hoping you meant cows...my lab "chow" mix had better not wonder off whenever his time comes...sad as that may be to think on...in advance.

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   Blabbergasterposted 13 years ago

   I am not 100% sure however my 3 younger cats are the same age and appear to gang up on my oldest cat who is 45 in cat years! I believe there is an awareness of age but perhaps death remains a mystery unless the animal has stumbled across another dead animal or human?

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   habeeposted 13 years ago

   I think Robert Burns had it right:
   
   "Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!
   The present only toucheth thee:
   But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
   On prospects drear!
   An' forward, tho' I canna see,
   I guess an' fear!"
   
   In other words, animals don't look back with regret or worry about the future.

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   manlypoetrymanposted 13 years ago

   I agree with answers that an animal does not know when they get old or that they will die...but I would say that they have many instincts surrounding "death" and the domesticated ones have different reactions to it.
   
   There is a pic of one of the Seal Team 6 members dog walking up and laying next to the casket of his owner during the whole funeral ceremony. My foster pup was extremely worried for her brother foster pup when he got sick and was at deaths doorstep. When the "brother" foster pup died...she went up to him and took one sniff then went on her way...in the backyard. Her personality swang 180 degrees opposite afterwards...so I really have no idea what processed in her brain....over this...other then it seemed to have made an impression on her from that moment...in her own little doggy world.

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   ExoticHippieQueenposted 13 years ago

   I have had many dogs through my life, all beloved members of the family.  We never gave a dog away or sold one.  They all died or had to be put to sleep.  My older dog Daisy now seems to know that she is slowing down, can't walk as well, and is moving slower, etc.  Believe me, a dog knows when they are going to die, they know when they are sick.  They have been like my children and I have seen the concern and sadness in their faces as death approaches.  No one can ever tell me different.  Dogs are far more aware and perceptive then many people realize, especially those who lock their dogs up and pens and only let them out through their whole lives for hunting purposes.  Those owners have no idea of the love and intelligence that dogs possess.

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    2uesdayposted 13 years ago

    Elephants must know when they are dying because they go to a special place to die. If this is not a true fact about elephants - then the TV programmes I watched as a child told lies.

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