When I was growing up I had 2 rabbits that lived in an outdoor hutch. They had separate compartments of the hutch, but they were next to each other with only a wall separating them. When Victor died at age 13 (he lived a long good life for a rabbit), Vincent definitely mourned. We didn't even realize that could happen, especially since they never actually bonded. But they must have known that the other one was there and Vincent was 6 and healthy. I know a rabbit can easily die at the age of 6, but I don't think Vincent died because of age. He just slowly seemed to wilt away after Victor died. We tried so hard to give him extra love and attention, but he just never seemed to stop grieving. I absolutely think that he died from a broken heart and it still breaks my heart to this day to think about that.
As for my cats, I had an 8 month old kitten die from FeLV. He was so close to one of my other cats (Patches) and he died so suddenly. We were able to get him to a vet, but we just never thought we would have him euthanized that day. We didn't even know that he had leukemia (he tested negative originally). Had we known that when we left the house we wouldn't be coming back with him alive, I would have let Patches say goodbye to him. It never occurred to me to let her see him once he was already gone and I wish I had thought about that. She definitely grieved and I think to a point she still is. She just seemed to get very sad. Even now she just seems so sad sometimes and she was never like that originally. After he died she also became very clingy, and she was never like that before. It was like she just needed extra comfort and love and we tried our best to give that to her. She definitely isn't as bad now, but she does still seem sad, and when it seems really bad, we make a point of loving on her even more than usual. She never bonded with another cat the way she did with Cledus, although she's making progress now. We have a new little kitten that she really seems to like. She grooms her and snuggles with her and I am hoping this might make the sadness go away completely
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As for my cats, I had an 8 month old kitten die from FeLV. He was so close to one of my other cats (Patches) and he died so suddenly. We were able to get him to a vet, but we just never thought we would have him euthanized that day. We didn't even know that he had leukemia (he tested negative originally). Had we known that when we left the house we wouldn't be coming back with him alive, I would have let Patches say goodbye to him. It never occurred to me to let her see him once he was already gone and I wish I had thought about that. She definitely grieved and I think to a point she still is. She just seemed to get very sad. Even now she just seems so sad sometimes and she was never like that originally. After he died she also became very clingy, and she was never like that before. It was like she just needed extra comfort and love and we tried our best to give that to her. She definitely isn't as bad now, but she does still seem sad, and when it seems really bad, we make a point of loving on her even more than usual. She never bonded with another cat the way she did with Cledus, although she's making progress now. We have a new little kitten that she really seems to like. She grooms her and snuggles with her and I am hoping this might make the sadness go away completely
