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Who says animals don't have feelings?

jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
edited July 2006 in General Discussion
My parents had to have one of their favorite cats put down today; one that I grew up with, one of my favorites. One of two brothers, the other passed away two years ago.

While we all feel pretty bummed out about it, I thought I'd share this.

Last year, my parents took in another stray cat. The one we had to have put down today bonded with it; they always cleaned each other, slept next to each other, played together, etc. Well the nature of the illness from which the sick cat was suffering caused him some trouble breathing these last few months, and today it went crucial, he could barely breathe. He just laid in a sunbeam, gasping.

The stray we took in last year sat literally over him for hours, as if protecting him, keeping him company. When the cat was taken into the vet, the stray stood at the door looking down the driveway; and when my parents got back, the stray was lying in the freshly deceased favorite spot, with the dead cat's favorite toy, and hasn't gotten out of the spot since.

Children often don't understand death until age 4 or 5. I am convinced this cat understands what happened to his freind.

2004_0204Image0005.jpg
We'll miss you.

Comments

  • bobskibobski Member Posts: 17,868 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    of course they have feelings. thats why it hurts to see them suffer. they tend to display true feelings.
    what animals dont have is a soul. other than that, they are all part of a perfect creation balance created by God. perfect indeed was the garden. its a shame what we did to it.
    Retired Naval Aviation
    Former Member U.S. Navy Shooting Team
    Former NSSA All American
    Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot
    MO, CT, VA.
  • spanielsellsspanielsells Member Posts: 12,498
    edited November -1
    People who say that animals don't have feelings are full of horsecrap.

    We had to put down our dog in February. I've owned dogs all my life, but Oscar was probably the most emotional dog I'd ever had. I also remember our Great Dane was also a very emotional dog.

    I also owned a horse until about ten years ago. He also demonstrated emotional attachment, not only to me, but to the other horses kept on the property.

    Animals get depressed and are happy, just the same as you and me. Anyone who thinks otherwise has probably not spent a lot of time around animals.
  • p3skykingp3skyking Member Posts: 25,750
    edited November -1
    Animals are living creatures the same as us. Only they're a little closer to perfection because they aren't dishonest with their feelings. If we have a soul, they do too.
  • MossbergboogieMossbergboogie Member Posts: 12,211
    edited November -1
    Animals all have souls or why would humans have one i think your forgeting that we are animals like it or not.

    I saw somthing a few days ago that is mearly like what you say jonk. A yellow finch had been creamed on the road and i saw the other one still alive right next to it looking over the dead one. Felt sorry for the little bugger. but thats life.
  • 1911a1-fan1911a1-fan Member Posts: 51,193 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    animals cannot have souls, or we humans could not be superior, or at least think that we are superior than anything else in the universe

    all part of the human nature to think we are superior, this is why we have a religion, and other animals do not


    ever wonder when a animal who gets killed by a vehicle sometimes another gets hit by hanging around
  • scottm21166scottm21166 Member Posts: 20,723
    edited November -1
    I saw a show on national geographic....the LION pride matron went up a tree to steel a meal (impalla)from a leopard.
    she managed to get up there and get it away from him but she dropped it and when she tried to come down the tree she fell wierd and broke her back when she was lodged between two tree limbs...
    she died during the night...so in the morning her pride mates came and got her out of the tree...they looked her body over, now siff with rigamortis...
    after they realized she was dead....they sadly
    ATE HER....animals live on instict...we attribute human emotions to them but all it is conditioning (hers or pack mentality)...they do not have the part of a brain required for higher feelings like we do
  • bondaibondai Member Posts: 1,239 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Nice story but animals do not have souls.....sorry, not my plan.
  • MossbergboogieMossbergboogie Member Posts: 12,211
    edited November -1
    quote:1911a1fan Posted - 07/01/2006 : 11:06:06 AM
    animals cannot have souls, or we humans could not be superior, or at least think that we are superior than anything else in the universe

    all part of the human nature to think we are superior, this is why we have a religion, and other animals do not


    ever wonder when a animal who gets killed by a vehicle sometimes another gets hit by hanging around

    Thats because humans are ignorant and shall bring this rock to its end someday.

    Things in nature are bigger than we think and in fact they are even bigger than we can possibly ever imagine.

    Watch mircat manor on animal planet some time.

    Religion is a form of conditioning to make you a good citizen.. Animals do the same thing you either follow the rules or your dead.
  • p3skykingp3skyking Member Posts: 25,750
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by scottm21166
    I saw a show on national geographic....the LION pride matron went up a tree to steel a meal (impalla)from a leopard.
    she managed to get up there and get it away from him but she dropped it and when she tried to come down the tree she fell wierd and broke her back when she was lodged between two tree limbs...
    she died during the night...so in the morning her pride mates came and got her out of the tree...they looked her body over, now siff with rigamortis...
    after they realized she was dead....they sadly
    ATE HER....animals live on instict...

    Kind of like Communion? Or like the Soccer players that crashed in the Andes?
    You folks that are saying animals have no emotion are a little behind the knowledge curve on animal research. Not only do some animals use tools, that actually plan, teach, learn, and love.
  • dawniedawnie Member Posts: 1,213 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Have you ever seen the poem "Rainbow Bridge" I talks about going to heaven and over the bridge is where all the animals go and wait for their love ones to show up and take them home with them..great poem when I find it I will post it.

    Yes I believe animals have feelings..Vixie and Blackie are sister cats from the same liter. They are 12 years old.When they were young Blackie always tried to get outside and did a few times,when she got out Vixie would go around the house and meow and get my attention and then walk to the door,I open the door and there would be Blackie.
  • jackson231jackson231 Member Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    im sorry for your loss
  • DancesWithSheepDancesWithSheep Member Posts: 12,938 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by scottm21166
    ...they do not have the part of a brain required for higher feelings like we do

    This amuses me no end. What animals do not have is the capacity for "self-pity". That requires a human brain. D.H. Lawrence has some relevant words about this in a poem of the same name. I suggest you read it. There is a difference between having "higher feelings" and being self-absorbed. No doubt you and the omniscient bondai take your desperate need for superiority very seriously.
  • HAIRYHAIRY Member Posts: 23,606
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by p3skyking
    Animals are living creatures the same as us. Only they're a little closer to perfection because they aren't dishonest with their feelings. If we have a soul, they do too.
    Man, do I agree with you on this one.
  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 35,988 ******
    edited November -1
    I don't know whether a dog has a soul, but I hope it does. I sure would like to see old Nick again.

    I know they have feelings. One evening, Sam was chewing on a bone in the living room. He stopped chewing and the bone lay between his feet. Beau, the idiot rat terrier, sneaked up and tried to steal the bone. Sam, who hasn't a mean or selfish bone in his body, did a snarl & snap at Beau, just to let him know he wasn't finished with the bone.

    But, Sam miscalculated and snapped down on Beau's head. I am convinced he did not try to bite Beau, but Beau just happened to be in the way. Sam's teeth made two little gashes in Beau's head, and Beau cried and squealed for several minutes.

    Beau jumped into Dawnie's lap for comfort. Sam sat at Dawnie's feet, looking intently at Beau. The expression on his face was one of regret and concern, and his lower lip was trembling. He was genuinely sorry to have hurt Beau, and was concerned over his condition.
  • tr foxtr fox Member Posts: 13,856
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by bobski
    of course they have feelings. thats why it hurts to see them suffer. they tend to display true feelings.
    what animals dont have is a soul. other than that, they are all part of a perfect creation balance created by God. perfect indeed was the garden. its a shame what we did to it.



    "We"? I didn't do anything to it.
  • CS8161CS8161 Member Posts: 13,595 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Who can say with 100% certainty that an animal has no soul? My dog of 14 years that I had to put down last year had a soul..all I had to do was look in his eyes.
  • spryorspryor Member Posts: 9,155
    edited November -1
    Don't know if it's a soul, but they definately have something. I've
    always had a way of communicating with some animals, and still contend
    that they can read our minds to some extent.
    My closest canine companion pretty much let me know he would be
    leaving, the night before he passed. Nothing unusual that anyone
    would notice, but enough that I told my partner that he was trying
    to tell me something. Deep down I knew what it was, but just didn't
    want to say.
    Even our current house dog, without any cues whatsoever knows when we are going to be going somewhere.
    So, it's not to hard for me to believe that anything that in tune to
    the human psyche could also have a soul of sorts.
    I can also say that they will show loyalty far beyond what any human
    ever could.
  • zipperzapzipperzap Member Posts: 25,057
    edited November -1
    Somebody tells you that an animal doesn't have a soul
    and you believe it. LOL You're talking to the wrong person.

    Ask HIM when you see HIM and I'll bet HE'LL set you straight.

    Don't believe folks who profess to KNOW THE TRUTH - it just
    ain't so! ... so you needn't believe what I just said.[:D]
  • spryorspryor Member Posts: 9,155
    edited November -1
    A man was walking down a road next to a tall glistening white wall. Beside him walked his favorite dog who he realized with a start had been dead for several years. He realized that he must be dead also.

    With a shrug of his shoulders he set off down the path with a hand on his dog's head. A little down the road he saw a bueatiful pearl gate that glistened in the sunlight. Standing next to it was a beautiful man. When he got to the gate he asked where the gates lead to. The man replied "Heaven."

    He asked if he could come in and get a drink for himself and his dog because the day was very warm. The beautiful man replied that he could, but dogs were not allowed into Heaven. The man smiled, patted his dog and turned away from the gates to continue down the path.

    After a little while he came to a much shabbier gate that was in much need of attention. Beside it stood a somewhat dirty farmer. Again the man asked where the gate lead to, and again he was told "Heaven". He then asked for a drink for him and his dog, and the man gladly gave him a cup and a bowl. After he filled the bowl, and drank his cup from the fountian inside he asked the man if he knew that the other gatekeeper was claiming that the other gate also led to Heaven.

    The Farmer said "Yes, but that was Hell." A bit confused, the man asked if that upset the Farmer. "No," he said giving the dog a pat, "They help us weed out the ones who would leave their best friends behind."
  • Queen of SwordsQueen of Swords Member Posts: 14,355
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by spryor
    A man was walking down a road next to a tall glistening white wall. Beside him walked his favorite dog who he realized with a start had been dead for several years. He realized that he must be dead also.

    With a shrug of his shoulders he set off down the path with a hand on his dog's head. A little down the road he saw a bueatiful pearl gate that glistened in the sunlight. Standing next to it was a beautiful man. When he got to the gate he asked where the gates lead to. The man replied "Heaven."

    He asked if he could come in and get a drink for himself and his dog because the day was very warm. The beautiful man replied that he could, but dogs were not allowed into Heaven. The man smiled, patted his dog and turned away from the gates to continue down the path.

    After a little while he came to a much shabbier gate that was in much need of attention. Beside it stood a somewhat dirty farmer. Again the man asked where the gate lead to, and again he was told "Heaven". He then asked for a drink for him and his dog, and the man gladly gave him a cup and a bowl. After he filled the bowl, and drank his cup from the fountian inside he asked the man if he knew that the other gatekeeper was claiming that the other gate also led to Heaven.

    The Farmer said "Yes, but that was Hell." A bit confused, the man asked if that upset the Farmer. "No," he said giving the dog a pat, "They help us weed out the ones who would leave their best friends behind."




    Isn't that a "Twilight Zone" episode?
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