How to tell if a cat is grieving or depressed
Cats can experience sudden personality shifts, becoming sedate, withdrawn, or crying loudly after losing a companion or experiencing trauma. This leaves owners second-guessing whether their pet's unusual behavior is true grief or depression, and whether they need another animal companion to cope with the loneliness.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 47.0× more often in r/dogs than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Watching them closely, providing extra comfort or presence, and discussing their behavioral changes online.Did this help you?
- 2Giving him plenty of love, attention, scritches, brushes, lovings, and massagesDid this help you?
- 3Giving him time to process the loss and providing companionship and reassuranceDid this help you?
- 4Considering getting another cat friend down the road when the time is rightDid this help you?
- 5Allowing the surviving dog to see and sniff the body after passingDid this help you?
- 6Maintaining a consistent routine, extra attention, and comfortDid this help you?
- 7Getting a new puppy or companion animalDid this help you?
- 8Using medication such as Prozac for severe depressionDid this help you?
- 9Taking an unwashed item of the deceased's clothing to the grave so the dog can make a scent connection.Did this help you?
- 10Bringing a piece of clothing with the deceased's scent to a favorite place they used to visit together.Did this help you?
- 11Leaving traces of the deceased dog's scent in the house to fade naturally over time.Did this help you?
- 12Washing the deceased dog's bed and returning it to its original spot.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“It’s been two weeks. he’s been very down and now the last couple days has found his voice again, but cries super loud early in the AM every morning. Is he grieving ? he grew up with his sister from birth, i’m worried he’ll be lonely now as the single cat of the family.”source ↗
“I still am fighting mentally if he is struggling from the loss of his sister ( i know we all still are) and maybe we can get him another cat friend to play with down the road when the times right.”source ↗
“I was there when my ex's mother died. as soon as she died one of her cats (actually an overly aggressive and not particularly affectionate cat) changed personality immediately, became sedate, withdrawn - things that if a human was doing after a death we'd regard as depression.”source ↗
“Sometimes I see my dog looking fondly at where my uncle lounged, and I wonder if he sometimes is sad thinking he's gone away without saying goodbye. I'm afraid now that the body is no longer smell-able and my dog won't know he's there and understand he's gone?”source ↗
“I just wanted to ask you guys for your experiences or opinions with dealing with loss and dogs. I just want him to say goodbye”source ↗
“We are needing to put our older dog down. We have a bit of time left, but our other dog knows things are not alright. We say he is her emotional support animal as she has never been without him. How could we help soothe her during this time and after?”source ↗
“So on one hand I would happily take Peanut. On the other hand, I am depressed.”source ↗
“Would I let Peanut simply shit all around the apartement because I don't have the power to go on a walk with her? Would she starve to death because I don't have the power to feed me or her?”source ↗
“Can anybode please tell me their stories or soothe me into accepting the dog or giving me a hard but true real life check what caring for a dog entails and that I with my chronic depression simply would no be able to take care of her.”source ↗
“So yesterday I and jojo (my dog) went for a walk as usual which he is always excited for but sadly yesterday was not a great day because while we were crossing the road he saw a street doggie caught into an accident I tried to avoid it but I can't as I was standing on the signal.”source ↗
“This led to jojo not coming for walks now and he sits throughout the day in a corner in his own thoughts and his behaviour has changed a lot.”source ↗
“I'm too feeling sad seeing jojo in such a way what should I do?”source ↗
“I lost one of two dogs unexpectedly a few days ago. During the process of her decline, she had peed her bed. After her passing we had removed her bed because of the pee. I didn’t want to throw it out but we had removed it from the original spot. I’ve come to realize that the surviving dog could benefit from the smell of the other dog’s scent. It’s been a few days and I’m concerned of bringing it back and confusing the surviving dog.”source ↗
“My boy is really depressed and has not gotten back to eating regularly and sleeps non stop.”source ↗
“My girl was so lost when my older boy passed. She grieved for months.”source ↗
“We came home without him, and our other dog went into severe depression. On our walks, he pulled me to the local dog park and kept looking for his brother.”source ↗
“my old dog knew when my grandpa passed before anyone told us, just sat by the door and whined for hours.”source ↗
“I am a dog walker and when I lost my dog, my boarders who came to the house afterwards would immerse themselves in the traces of scent that were in various places in my apartment. Then, eventually, as that faded, they all realized that she would not be coming back.”source ↗