Ask Your Question today
I have googled this but I can't find anything about it. My friend's cat died. Another cat lives in the same house and the two cats did not get along. My friend said that placing the dead cat's hair around the house will signal to the surviving cat that his enemy is gone. Does this serve a purpose? Is this normal?
When we have an animal die on our land we let the animals they lived with smell the body before we bury or cremate it. Usually the body is wrapped in a sheet first, unless it was very large
Though the cat would likely be able to tell who exactly the fur pieces were from, I do not know if loose fur would identify whether it belonged to a living or passed animal, I don’t really think it would cause any harm though
I don’t see how that would signal that the deceased cat is gone, surely his/her smell will naturally decrease with time until the other cat realises they are alone.
I suspect what’s really happening is that your friend is upset at the death of their pet and doesn’t want to remove the last remnants of him/her. Personally I would just let them grieve in their own way and try to do something nice for them in this sad time.
Letting the surviving cat see the passed cat has some value for closure if possible. Placing fur around doesn't, the passed cat's scent is already around.
My real question, though, is this a folklore thing...or some kind of veterinarian tool that is official in some way? I am thinking my friend just made this up.
Yes, your cat was probably family to your friend but what your friend should do is to forget about it.
As someone who has had to make a decision to euthanize one of my animals yesterday and has felt gutted about it, you definitely never forget about them. The pain lessens over time, but the beginning is awful. Either way, it is impossible to just forget someone or a pet you loved so much.
The only reason I say this is because it will keep on affecting them even now, yes I know how much it hurts to see a pet die and I know what it's like because I have been there it will just take time until they let their old memories of it go.
EDIT: Yes though the memory will still be there in the owners eyes even when getting a new pet it won't be same nor replaceable as the old pet.