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A friend of mine is a former prosecutor for the Crown/State. He's observed that it was often harder to investigate whether a deceased person was murdered when they own cats because the cats will eat the corpse of their owner. He also observed that dogs will starve to death before they eat their owner.

While I don't doubt the veracity of his observations, I am wondering if is this a known phenomenon that can be generalized for all cats and all dogs, or just a sampling peculiar to his practice?

If so, one must admire the loyalty of the dog and the survival instinct of the cat!

MrHen
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Brian M. Hunt
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    practical testing _could_ prove troublesome... – Mihai Rotaru Jun 10 '11 at 15:23
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    So... the next time I murder someone I need to bring along a bag of cats to clean up the mess... – MrHen Jun 10 '11 at 15:26
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    @MrHen - you need to be careful though, you _could_ get into trouble. Animal rights activists might object because the animals might get sick by eating dead corpses. – Mihai Rotaru Jun 10 '11 at 15:29
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    Live corpses are the finicky cat's preferred choice. – horatio Jun 10 '11 at 17:58
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    Cats are like selfish little psychopaths -- ever see how they enjoy playing with an injured and suffering mouse or bird they just caught? They're also not loyal like dogs, who tend to just retrieve the dead or dying animals on the hunting fields for their gun-wielding owners, and do so without exhibiting the psychopathic cat-like traits of playful brutality. – Randolf Richardson Jun 10 '11 at 19:02
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    Never heard of a person being maimed by a pack of wild cats. Though cats do like to lick your hand. Maybe they are just sampling so they can decide if you would be a tasty treat in the situation were right. – JohnFx Jun 11 '11 at 02:50
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    I'd like to believe my cat wouldn't make a meal out of my corpse and I was reading a response saying dogs are more loyal and more likely to bring their prey to their owners than make them their prey but I beg to differ. I've owned cats who've brought home dead snakes, mice, gophers, various birds and they do this as a gift. It's their sacrifice to show their loyalty to their owners and I believe it's their way of saying thanks. Also recently heard of a dog eating the body of it's owner after so long because it was on the verge of starvation... –  Jan 08 '12 at 07:40
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    @Elis: Out cat has given up bringing us stuff that's properly alive as we're terribly inefficient hunters. Now she only brings *maimed* prey. It's like hunting special ed. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Jan 08 '12 at 21:58
  • I think both sides are projecting on animals. dogs, and cat's, are just animals. They are attached to their owner sure, but in the end of the day they don't have the sort of foolish views we have. If it's starve or eat evne most humans would choose to eat; and I gaurentee in the end both a cat or a dog, without our 'moral' limitations, would make the same choice! If anything I think this question should be rephrased toa sk which would resort to it sooner; though I'm not sure even that can be reliable answered; it probably varies off of relationship with owner and invidual animal. – dsollen Sep 10 '12 at 20:11
  • I suspect that dogs wouldn't eat the dead human because they aren't smart enough to know the owner is dead. They think they are just sleeping. Cats are quite a bit smarter in many ways, except for doing tricks. – Dunk Sep 10 '12 at 20:47
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    My cat tries to eat me while i am still alive... – SirDuckduck Jun 11 '13 at 14:01
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    Another factor: Cats have much lower reserves and thus will be driven to extreme measures much sooner. By the time the dog is driven to such such measures the owner will be much more decomposed. – Loren Pechtel Jan 31 '14 at 03:14

1 Answers1

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Google "Dog eats Owner"

CNN

Pravda

Mail Online

It doesn't appear to be common, but then the circumstances in which this occurs aren't real common either as it requires someone dying in a confined area with a dog and not being discovered before the dog runs out of better pickings.

Though google also seems full of some crazy story about a dog saving a diabetic man by eating his toes (though links seems to disagree on where this happened and the number of toes)

Wertilq
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Russell Steen
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  • I wonder if the dog would have stopped at the toes if it was a pitbull? – Randolf Richardson Jun 10 '11 at 19:03
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    Oh sure, dog eats man, that's news. But man eats dog.... wait, never mind:) – Monkey Tuesday Jun 10 '11 at 21:15
  • Doesn't really answer the question? – gerrit Nov 07 '12 at 16:31
  • The question asks if a dog will starve to death rather than eat it's owner. These examples prove otherwise. – Russell Steen Nov 07 '12 at 17:00
  • The question is vague what it is about. And obviously dogs eat its owner proven by the answer. – Wertilq Jun 09 '13 at 21:00
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    To clarify, the question is whether dogs will starve rather than eat their owners, and cats will eat them. The claim does not require that all dogs or all cats adhere to this behaviour. In setting such a standard one can close the case with one counterexample - as here - but that does not illuminate the general claim of general experiences that the prosecutor has seen. A better answer to this question would illuminate the general circumstances. FWIW, the claim is true according to at least two coroners, a prosecutor, a police officer, a judge, and a funeral home owner I have spoken with. – Brian M. Hunt Feb 22 '14 at 14:19