Should I show surviving cat the dead cat's body or not?

[LittleGreyFluffyCat]

I'm trying to make a difficult decision. Later today we're collecting the body of my poor little grey cat who was killed by a car on Wednesday.

Her brother was quite close to her, they were littermates, 1.5 years old. I can't decide whether it's wise or unwise to let him see and/or sniff the body of his sister when I bring her home for burial later today.

The vet's assistant said that vets have different opinions on this, some think it a good idea and others think it doesn't do anything useful.

My worry was that my surviving cat might think that we've murdered her if we bring her home dead! Obviously, cats don't have human levels of reasoning and thought, so I mean on some kind of base cat instinct level that it might frighten him in some way.

On the other hand, it might help him understand that she's not coming back.

But also I've been advised to not look at the body as it's not nice, yet the same vet assistant also said we might want to wrap her in a nicer blanket before burial (which would mean seeing her body), so there's that to think about too.

Thoughts?

Lots of different opinions here, thank you all for posting.

I'm sorry for all of your losses.

The situation has changed, we were going to bring her home to bury her in the garden, but we haven't been able to dig a deep enough hole (too many tree roots). So we'll now get her cremated. Which means there won't be a chance for her brother to see her body unless we specifically brought it home for him to see and then had it collected for cremation. I hope he can adjust quickly.

The breeder who gave us our two told me she always allows bonded cats to see the other’s body.. they instinctively understand so are not looking for them, and seem to adjust more quickly.

So sorry I didn’t see your last post. I’m sure you will make the right decision.

Cats do know when another animal is dead - I assume by smell. When our dog passed away suddenly at home, the cats were wary of his body and slunk round it slowly as if it was dangerous, whereas when he was alive they'd have rushed past him or jumped over him without a thought.

I'm sure her brother will be fine in a week or two. Please don't worry about this.