“ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by Rytemk Aato » Wed May 27, 2015 7:00 pm

In addition to Liver's comment but not as convincing perhaps, there was a recent study done which subjected flies to repetitive threats and available sustenance. They found that with each passing "threat" the fly would linger in safety or go to safety faster from the danger. Apparently showing that they would have to feel emotion in order to hide from danger when it's no longer present, if the fly didn't feel emotion then it would know there is no reason for it to linger in safe hiding. Basically being irrational seems to link to having emotions.

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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by SolitaryHowl » Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:14 pm

Rytemk Aato wrote:In addition to Liver's comment but not as convincing perhaps, there was a recent study done which subjected flies to repetitive threats and available sustenance. They found that with each passing "threat" the fly would linger in safety or go to safety faster from the danger. Apparently showing that they would have to feel emotion in order to hide from danger when it's no longer present, if the fly didn't feel emotion then it would know there is no reason for it to linger in safe hiding. Basically being irrational seems to link to having emotions.
That could just be instinctual though. Baby birds stay quiet when a predator is around because its instinct, not necessarily its because they are scared?

I always find animal behaviour and psychology to be fascinating!
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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by _Nimbus_ » Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:15 pm

Of course they do.
It"s not debatable
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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by D0m » Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:34 am

They do have feelings of pain and worry. Dogs especially seem to have feelings, when you feel down they tend to mimic your feelings. And when they sense there is something wrong with you they seem to feel down and protective those are all feelings. Their feelings won't work the same as humans but they do defiantly seem to have them.
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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by Hairam » Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:10 am

I wouldn't go as far to say "feelings" in a sense, for example if you were to take their favorite toy away for no reason (dogs actually can sense when you aren't being fair) it wouldn't hurt their feelings.

However, I do believe they can feel some emotions! I know from personal experience that dogs can sense happiness, sadness, and I can't remember the word for it but some dogs/cats actually can "cry" when their master dies or disappears.

But here's a really cool (to me) fun fact that often causes a lot of debate (all in good sport)... Dogs actually can not feel guilt.

When a dog does something they know they will get punished for (from past experience, a dog doesn't know something is "wrong" unless they are punished) they often will look "guilty." But, this is actually not guilt, the "sad eyes" or hiding, low body posture, even raising their lips and baring teeth, is all because they are afraid of the punishment- not guilt. You could say dogs know it's wrong, but they don't feel guilt for doing it because they'll probably do it again (like getting in the trash), the "guilty" behavior is actually just them knowing they are going to be punished.

I'll go back and edit this with links further explaining this, just posting on mobile. c:

But yes, I do believe animals can feel emotions.
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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by Granger » Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:11 pm

Our colt, Teddy, suffered an injury to his eye. It had to be stitched up and now he is living in one of the stalls for now so we can monitor it and keep him out of trouble and whatnot. It definitely seems like my gelding, Caspian, is concerned about him. We actually had to make Caspian a hay net and put it in the stall next to Teddy so that they could hang out together, as Caspian was standing in the stall and nuzzling Teddy over the wall, ignoring the hay. Perhaps it's not on the same level as it is for humans, but it definitely seems like Caspian is trying to offer some emotional support to his man-friend, and it's pretty adorable. ^^

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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by Tokyon » Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:35 am

I believe they do.
I don't believe that if cats are fighting, they fight without any feelings or reasons.
Like wolves, they love and some other hates other.

When the dog's tail is between its legs, that's shows to us it's getting scared.

Even animals can not speak the same language like we, should never to forget that, they've no feeling, because they have and they will shows that to the various movements, but also people do that.

In short, what life would be without any feelings? Nothing.

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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by cosmobianca » Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:00 pm

Fascinating article! A very enjoyable read.

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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by Jeames » Fri Dec 04, 2015 12:53 pm

I'm certsin dogs feel a lot of emotion. They feel happiness, pain and fear, that's for sure.
I'm not sure about anger, I think that would be more on instict. But I do know dogs realy feel close to their human companions and other dogs, so I'm sure they have lots of emotions.
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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by D0m » Fri Dec 04, 2015 4:26 pm

I think it depends on what you class as feelings. I class feelings as showing emotion towards someone/something, therefore I believe that they do to some degree feel emotions. Other animals may not be able to show feelings in the same way we do, they cannot communicate with us in the same way that we do to others, but in their sense they communicate through their own languages. When another animal, or human, feels down animals actually do begin to comfort them, this to me shows that they do have feelings. In another sense, animals show their feelings through body language, whereas we use speech. We may not understand their feelings sometimes but I do think that they are there.

Hope this makes sense, its late.
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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by Fireclawiswoot » Tue Dec 08, 2015 10:35 pm

Why wouldn't they?

Humans are animals afterall. Just because we can read and write, doesn't make us any smarter than any other animal.

In fact, we're not even in the same class as other animals, we're less.We've pulled away from and betrayed nature. Some call that evolution, others call it a stain. I'm more inclined to believe it's a stain.


A litter of kittens happily greet their mother after she's been gone for a while, that's not instinct, that's joy at seeing her, it has nothing to do with their survival, they're just happy to see their mother.


Animals can have friends, they can have individuals they do or don't like for no reason other than they do or don't, they can have favorite toys, places to sleep etc. Just like people. Animals are capable of feeling grief, anger, hunger, fear. They can give affection etc.


Just because something doesn't have the same level of intelligence as something else, never assume it's less of anything.

After all, Humans are one of the most disgusting creatures on the planet, but we're considered the dominant lifeform on the planet.

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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by Mozzarella » Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:06 pm

There's no way their emotions are at the same level as a human's, but I believe they do have feelings. Humans are just highly intelligent animals, after all. I highly doubt our feelings just popped up out of nowhere, just that they became more refined as we evolved.

Basically I think humans have emotions because they're animals, as opposed to animals not having emotions because they aren't human. I hope that makes sense.

Edit
What would be interesting to know is if animals have feelings unique to them. Like how dogs can't feel guilt but humans can, I wonder if there are emotions a dog can feel that a human cannot.

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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by SingingWithSirens » Sat Dec 12, 2015 5:26 pm

I think animals have some feelings, but not as much as humans do. I remember reading in an animal book that elephants will sometimes pass by the bones/bodies of family members and touch their trunks against them as if remembering. Also, the mother elephant will stay by her dead calf's body for a couple days after death. To me, that is sadness. And with dogs when they see someone they love/know they will wag their tail. Doesn't that remind you of joy? I'm sure animals also feel fear and hostility.


If this was already mentioned, I must've missed it!

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Re: “ Do Animals Have Feelings? ”

Post by Fireclawiswoot » Mon Jan 11, 2016 6:00 am

Feelings and emotions are universal. There is no "more than less than" when it comes to the wide range of emotions. What makes other animals different than humans is humans dwell, other animals do not, they can't afford to. A cat or dog can't afford to sit around and mourn a dead puppy or kitten, because if they're laying around feeling sorry for themselves, they're not eating. If they're not eating, they're getting weaker and if they're getting weaker, they're a target for predators or competition.


When I was a child, we had a cat, that cat had kittens. Well, when her kittens were 4 or 5 weeks old, the neighbors dog made it's way over to the house, as it often did because the owners never kept it contained. Well, it killed both of the kittens. The mother was not around, she had no idea what happened, when she returned, she found her kittens and acted like any cat does, she hung around for a few minutes then wandered off, as if it didn't bother her.

The next morning, she was sitting on the porch rail, just sitting there, staring out into the street. She sat there for *3 days* until eventually the neighbors dog got out again and made it's way over to the house. Momma cat went HAM on that dog! She launched herself off the porch, hissing and spitting, she attacked the dog so savagely that within minutes they were both literally covered in the dogs blood. The dog lost an eye from the fight and momma cat went back to acting normal, two weeks later she went back into heat.

Now, weird thing about this? At least a dozen people and their dogs passed by our house over those three days and momma cat never reacted, she wanted that ONE dog that killed her kittens and she was hellbent on getting him.

If that's not some form of higher intelligence then I don't know what is.

My point is, animals are capable of feeling everything humans can, happiness, sadness, grief, jealousy, they can even want revenge. But they simply don't dwell on these feelings.

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