While the subject is quite grim, it’s intriguing to note that a 2015 study documented 63 instances of dogs consuming their deceased owners. Remarkably, in a quarter of these cases, the dogs began to eat the remains less than a day after their owner’s death, even though they had access to other food sources which they ignored.
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The discussion suggests that dogs have a greater tendency to scavenge compared to cats. In the wild, cats typically do not scavenge, and their ancestors, the wildcats, are not recognized for scavenging behavior. However, it is argued that when caregivers feed their domestic cats, they are inadvertently encouraging scavenging habits in their feline companions.
So perhaps the domestic cat has become a scavenger. That said, research on this topic indicates that dogs are far more likely to eat their dead owner than cats. For cats, a factor must be how starved the cat is. Pure survival must kick in at some stage. And cats are great survivors.
It seems that if a cat and dog are living with their recently deceased owner, they may attempt to revive them by nibbling at their face. In the case of dogs, they might proceed to eat the face because the flesh is softer. They apparently show a preference for the face in these situations.
One might assume such incidents are rare, but it’s not uncommon for many elderly individuals who share their lives with pets to lead secluded lives with minimal human interaction. Consequently, when these individuals pass away, their dogs and/or cats, may find themselves trapped inside the home, without any means of escape. In order to survive, they may have no choice but to scavenge from their deceased owner’s remains.
The occurrence of dogs consuming their owner despite the availability of dog food may suggest a preference for raw meat. This might interest some dog owners. I have composed an article on the raw meat diet and the potential for transmission of zoonotic pathogens from companion animals to caregivers.
The research published in the journal Forensic and Legal Medicine found that large and medium-sized dogs are more likely to scavenge on their owner’s dead body. The Beagle dog breed was the smallest to do it.
Labradors and golden retrievers have also eaten their owners. It is said that these breeds are particularly “food driven”.
The research was led by anthropologist Carolyn Rando of University College London. She confirmed that canines do more damage than felines in this regard.
Should we be squeamish about it? Should be see something bad in this? I don’t think so as it is entirely normal. It’s a reminder, however, of the behavioural characteristics of companion animals and that despite the very close bonds that we have with them, they are a different species even while the caregivers treat them as members of the family and often as little humans.
Ms Rando suggested that an anxious dog may be more likely to eat their owner’s body than a more relaxed canine.
To prevent this form of dog and cat behavior, it’s advisable for owners to stay connected with their neighbors. A system could be established where a neighbor checks in on the pets if they haven’t heard from the owner after a certain amount of time. This approach has proven beneficial, especially for the elderly who may struggle with mobility due to age-related disabilities.
Examples
The Daily Mail provides us with some slightly unpleasant examples. The 2015 a Staffordshire bull terrier from Merseyside ate his owner’s corpse. The police discovered this when they entered the home. The woman had died of an aneurysm and was discovered the morning after she had passed.
Forensics found that the dog had eaten part of her face. Her cats had not touched her corpse.
Ms Rando mentioned something which I mentioned in the past that when their owner is sleeping, their cat might try and wake them in the morning by nibbling on the nose. Sometimes I believe that cats are checking that their owner is alive. This might be a reasonable assessment because often cats will expect their owner to be active during the night as they often are. If they are inactive the cat might think that there’s something wrong with their owner and check to see if they are alive, which might seem like an extreme assessment but I think it’s plausible.
An American medical examiner operating in Michigan, said that he has seen evidence that dogs but not cats have nibbled their owners during autopsies. He has seen this a couple of times a year.
In another case of 2017, a woman living in New Jersey, USA, had been dead for a considerable time, believed to have been two weeks, before anyone noticed. Her Chihuahua ate her body to stay alive.
In 2017 a Labrador Chow mix survive for a month consuming their dead owner’s body.
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