Here's your 500° vote!..
Well I think that any animal suffers, the difference is that we as humans are able to intellectualize that suffering and be aware of death. Animals are subjected to natural law, they are less conciuss about the cause-effect laws in time (thay act mostly by instincts) so from certain perspective they are more "machines" than us, but they may suffer too.
I thank you very much for appreciating my blog. It took a long time because I didn't know a lot of this when I started writing.
Are we the only animals that have an awareness of death? How do we know that? Cats go off to die when their time comes. I've seen it. And elephants--they grieve their dead. That is documented. What is in their heads? I cannot say. Do they have existential angst? Really, it doesn't seem likely, but do we know? What is the line between instinct and deliberate action, even in humans? Do we really know?
None of these questions I have answers to. However, it heartens me to know that others (such as you) are out there asking the same questions.
Have a wonderful Sunday.
Cats tend to hide when they are very sick or injured, as an instinctive reaction to avoid being exposed to potential predators. Do they know they are going to die? Perhaps they do, but perhaps they are not as aware of it as we are.
Many animals experience pain at the death of another, but perhaps they do not intellectualize it to the same level as we do, perhaps in a more primitive way. It is not in an animal's best interest to be depressed about the death of another, it should focus on survival. An animal does not want to be depressed by the death of another animal, it should focus on survival. Humans, on the other hand, no longer focused on survival, developed more intellect.
These are interesting issues that still do not have definitive answers. Best regards!