I read dozens of scientific papers—about a mother dingo who carried her dead pup for days, elephants who appear to bury their dead, dolphins who would not let a deceased podmate sink—and debates about how those behaviors should be interpreted. I often did so while cradling my cat Maya, then dying from kidney disease, and thought sometimes of Ingmar, my cat who died last winter from cancer. On the final night of her life, her body hollowed, she summoned the energy to visit her favorite spots, as if paying them a last visit. I thought often about the inevitable death of those I love, which troubles me constantly. I thought sometimes about my own death, which for now is less of a concern. I attended the passing of a goat named Caramel at the sanctuary where I volunteer. Goats have very large pupils, and near the end, as he lay on his side, they were like galaxies.
As someone living with a dog in her end-days, I found this piece in Natilus, How Animals Understand Death, to be well worth a read.
