But that's what I'm pointing out in my original comment... Cats definitely experience love, they notice the absence of people or animals they love, and they react to it.
All I'm saying is that I don't think the word "grief" is the correct word in this context, because grief implies an understanding of the concept of death, which is a very human idea that we had to learn. We weren't born with this understanding, learning about death is something very upsetting that children have to go through.
> Grief is the anguish experienced after significant loss, usually the death of a beloved person. Grief often includes physiological distress, separation anxiety, confusion, yearning, obsessive dwelling on the past, and apprehension about the future.
That seems to describe the behavior people have seen cats display after the loss of someone or another animal in their homes. Maybe they don't know it's death, but they know it's a loss and exhibit signs of distress, anxiety, and confusion. We can't really ask them to find out if they're dwelling on the past or apprehensive about the future though.
I'm not saying other social animals have some kind of abstract understanding to death, but that they very, most, extremely, likely have an innate response to seeing dead members of their "pack" or other social structure. And if so, it would be very strange if humans did not have it too.
You may believe it is not so, but maybe you now understand my position?
