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Yes, I've observed captive fish in ponds and community tanks display what appear to be a variety of emotions - moodiness, humour, fear, affection, anger, sadness, jealousy, excitement, nervousness, haughty pride - even what might be considered playing harmless but sneaky, funny pranks on other fish and then dashing and tumbling about gleefully as if they were boasting and laughing about the prank they played on the other fish.
Just wondering why you don't see dogs or cats or other animals with chronic coughs or becoming moody.
I agree with the poster who suggested that you should become more closely associated with animals. My wife and I have always had cats, and we always got/get them from animal shelters. We also were volunteers in an animal shelter in Brooklyn for a number of years. Both the cats in the shelter and our cats at home definitely have moods, good days and bad days, just like humans.
I think there are a lot of misperceptions about animals along these lines. We often have had non cat owners ask us if our two cats (different ones over the years) really had different personalities. That’s like asking a mother if her two kids have different personalities. The answer is, of course they each have their own personality.
We had a big male cat who enjoyed being petted most of the time, but there were times when he’d look at you and then get up and walk away. He clearly was letting you know that he just wasn’t in the mood right then. Cats have personalities, moods, likes and dislikes, pretty much similar to humans. One of the real joys of having a cat as a pet (or a dog or pretty much any animal) is to learn its likes and dislikes, and it’s moods. It’s an ongoing process, just like sharing the house with other humans is.
Regarding coughing, we’ve never had a cat that had a chronic cough, but we did have one that wheezed several times a day. The vet said the cat had allergies. His eyes ran almost every day as well. We got used to his wheezing and we cleaned his eyes with warm water and cotton balls every day. He let us do it because he knew he would be getting a treat directly afterward.
Of course animals can be moody, or develop chronic coughs. For example, my sister's rescued dog has a cough which she developed as a result of previous cigarette smoke exposure.
Her last home, a condo, was a smoke chamber because the woman who lived there was a heavy smoker who had paper-trained the dog, and never took her out for walks. That's abuse. The woman, sadly, died, and my sister adopted the dog.
I've had very moody dogs. I had a Siberian Husky who was usually very sweet and loveable, but at other times, irritable, and needed his personal space.
It does sound like you haven't had much exposure to animals.
You might not be interested, but for anyone else who wants to catch a family of rescued animals in their daily routines, and sometimes showing changing moods, catch the entertaining twice-daily Sharyn Zoo on YouTube.
Sammy, a mini pig, is the star .
Mini Pig throwing a tantrum �� Sammy the Hammy the smiling Pig on Face book
I think you mean you're wondering why YOU don't see it. I suspect you just probably haven't spent much time in your life around very many animals. Go do some volunteer work on a regular basis at an animal shelter/rescue service and it will open your eyes to the various physical and mental health problems that animals can suffer from.
I've encountered lots of cats and dogs with chronic coughs, often as a result of them contracting kennel cough at some time in their past and it wasn't properly treated in time. Really small toy breed dogs and dogs with short muzzles seem to be particularly susceptible to respiratory allergies, coughs, sneezing and other problems, in my experience.
I've also seen many types of animals become moody and unpredictable, both domestic and non-domestic animals, even birds and fish. There's animals that suddenly turn insanely vicious against other animal companions or people without any warning or apparent reason, and pets that get severe separation anxiety and act crazy as soon as their owners leave them alone. There's animals that become despondent when their environment changes, and pets that fall into the depths of depression and sometimes pine away and die after a beloved companion or owner has gone missing or died.
I was just thinking how some humans have coughing fits that go on and on for hours on end, and that I had never observed any other animal having such fits of coughing.
On the moods - I should have been more specific - humans can cry - ugly cries, with noises, nose blowing, etc., and can go on and on . . . I know animals cry too, because I have seen tears . . . but I have never heard them cry, or seen any animal I know just burst out crying. I do remember when I was burying a cat another cat "cried" (kind of howled) - but it was short-lived - it didn't go on-and-on, and then she seemed to be fine and went on with her business.
Other animals just seem to "shake it off" much easier than humans (and that is another subject - dogs actually shake to wake themselves up or something - not sure what the exact purpose is) . . .
And I have seen dogs and cats kind of "down" (depressed), but I am not talking about that - I am talking about quickly changing "moods" and crying (which I forgot to add - lol).
I was just thinking how some humans have coughing fits that go on and on for hours on end, and that I had never observed any other animal having such fits of coughing.
On the moods - I should have been more specific - humans can cry - ugly cries, with noises, nose blowing, etc., and can go on and on . . . I know animals cry too, because I have seen tears . . . but I have never heard them cry, or seen any animal I know just burst out crying. I do remember when I was burying a cat another cat "cried" (kind of howled) - but it was short-lived - it didn't go on-and-on, and then she seemed to be fine and went on with her business.
Other animals just seem to "shake it off" much easier than humans (and that is another subject - dogs actually shake to wake themselves up or something - not sure what the exact purpose is) . . .
And I have seen dogs and cats kind of "down" (depressed), but I am not talking about that - I am talking about quickly changing "moods" and crying (which I forgot to add - lol).
Question makes even less sense now. Just because an animal doesn't express emotions/moods/health problems like a human doesn't mean they don't have emotions/moods/health problems. Other animals are NOT HUMAN. They are themselves; different, specific to their own kind. Can't say it any plainer than that. OP you keep posing these questions about animals but you keep couching the questions using human terms. It's never going to work out.
Well, my dog came back from the kennel with a coughing virus of some sort, he coughed for months.
Do you not have pets? Most people who have pets know very well that they have moods.
Dog got depressed when the other passed away, he sulks and pouts, he gets fearful, he gets happy and playful.... same with my cats, horses...
Humans benefit from shedding tears while crying because tears contain higher than normal levels of certain stress hormones that our bodies produce while were under stress. ... Chances are, since dogs don't shed tears while crying, that they have other ways of getting rid of those extra stress hormones.
Why do dogs whimper instead of crying tears? - UCSB Science Line
scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=1044
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