My cat is acting peculiarly. Could he be depressed?

[fizzletto]

There is something not quite right with one of my cats.

I guess I should start by saying that my old cat William recently passed away, this Monday just gone. Some of you might have seen me on the Rainbow Bridge forum.

Whilst it's been devastating for me and my parents, I honestly didn't think it would affect my other two cats very much, because neither of them were very close to William. They would never fight and would happily tolerate being in the same room as him, but they were far from good friends and didn't spend much time together, so I didn't think they would even miss him.

Minka, my 1 year old half-Tonkinese, has been perfectly fine and hasn't even noticed he's gone. Cookie, my 3 year old half-Tonk, was OK for the first couple of days, but in the past few days, I've noticed something is not quite right with him.

• He hasn't been anywhere near as hungry as he usually is.
• He's been spending a lot of time downstairs in the kitchen and living room, which is unusual; Cookie much prefers the upper floor of the house and hardly ever hangs around downstairs. The kitchen and living room were William's preferred areas.
• When he's not hanging around there, Cookie has been hiding for hours at a time in the cupboard under the stairs. He only ever goes in there when he's been frightened or worried badly by something and never enters the cupboard under normal circumstances.
• He also walks around the house, sniffing at the floor and looking around as if he's on the trail or has lost something.

Do you think it's possible that Cookie could be missing William? I don't think he's ill, because he is still eating (just not as much) and he is still enjoying cuddles and acting playful when he isn't in the cupboard. He still looks healthy. In fact, he has even seemed to want to spend more time with his sister over the past few days - he and his sister have always got on well but never been that close, yet recently he's been seeking her out and wanting to be in the same room as her.

If you do think the issue is that he is missing his 'uncle William' as we called him, what can we do to comfort him? It's so awful that we're unable to explain where he has gone.

[tgw]

It could well be that Cookie is missing Uncle William. I suspect in a few days Cookie will recover.

[Jetlaya67]

When my St. Bernard died, Niska took it real hard. She would search all over the house for her friend. They would always hang around together. That is the reason I got Winston, so she could have a friend. Niska did get over Lilly, but to this day she just tolerates Winston.

[fizzletto]

Originally Posted by Jetlaya67

When my St. Bernard died, Niska took it real hard. She would search all over the house for her friend. They would always hang around together. That is the reason I got Winston, so she could have a friend. Niska did get over Lilly, but to this day she just tolerates Winston.

Oh that's so awful, I'm sorry I don't think I need to get another pet considering Cookie has his little sister. I hope that he isn't too upset and will get better soon.

[jusjim]

Very sorry for your loss.

I would guess that Cookie is almost certainly missing William. It's difficult to know, I suppose, but recently I've read an article on how there's a lot of research going on about animal emotions. It seems that most animals have the same range of emotions as humans. I'm not sure that life animal life is possible without them.