Do other pets grieve?

Yes — though not in the way we do, and that distinction matters when you are deciding how to help.

An animal who has lost a companion shows it plainly: off their food, sleeping more or in odd places, searching the house, standing at doors, vocalising at night, following you closely. Dogs often become clingy; cats often go quiet and withdraw. It usually eases within a few weeks.

What they are actually experiencing

Probably not a concept of death. What they have is the sudden absence of a member of their group and the collapse of a routine — and for a social animal that is genuinely distressing on its own terms. Add that they are also picking up on you: your household has changed shape, the schedule has gone, and somebody they rely on is crying — your own grief is part of what they are reacting to.

You do not have to decide whether they understand mortality. They know something is wrong and they have no way to ask.

Should they see the body?

If it is practical, many vets suggest letting them. The evidence is mixed and the reasoning is reasonable: an animal who sees the body often stops searching, where one who does not may keep checking the house for weeks.

Most will sniff, perhaps briefly, and walk away — which looks like indifference and is not. Some show no interest at all. Either is fine, and forcing it helps nobody.

What helps them

• Keep the routine. Same walk, same times, same feeding. Predictability is the main thing you can offer.
• More exercise and more play, if they will take it, especially for dogs.
• Do not remove everything at once. The other bed still smelling right is a comfort, not a cruelty.
• Extra company, without turning it into an event.
• Watch the eating. A few off days is normal. A cat who has not eaten for two days needs a vet — that is a genuine medical risk, not just sadness.

See a vet if

The searching, howling or not eating goes on beyond a few weeks, or you see real physical decline. Grief and illness look alike from the outside, and an old animal who has just lost their companion is also an old animal.

Should you get another one?

Not for them, and not yet.

Bringing in a new animal while the survivor is unsettled usually adds stress rather than removing it — a stranger arriving in a home that has just lost a member. Wait until they have found their footing, and then get another animal only if you want one.

There is no disloyalty in eventually loving another. There is also no deadline, and no obligation.

If it helps, write down what the one you lost was actually like while you still remember it exactly — the free tribute writer asks the right questions, and a page for them keeps the photographs and the small details, which fade faster than anyone expects, with room for the people who knew them to add their own.