Your Cat Could Feed on Your Corpse

From hairballs demanding attention every 45 seconds to miniature lions with fierce independence, cats are a challenge in themselves. Every time we think we understand something about them, they surprise us and force us to start from scratch. However, there is a detail that has just been... confirmed accidentally: They will eat our corpses if they have the need "and" the possibility. A study published by researchers at the University of Colorado (Mesa) explores the patterns of feral cats consuming human flesh, and they apparently showed a certain preference for softer tissues...

I'm sure you've heard a similar story before in the media: a man or woman living in solitude dies and authorities find their body months later, half-devoured by their cats. The scene is horrifying... but it makes sense. Those cats lost their guardian, no one knows they are there, hunger affects them like anyone, and there is a body lying on the floor...

A Forensic Research Station

How did we get to this? Simple: The Forensic Research Station of the University of Colorado (Mesa) is dedicated to the study of corpses and the effects of the environment on them. In other words, its researchers observe multiple human bodies (previously donated, of course) as they decompose. The utility of this practice is immense, as it serves to assist doctors, forensic teams, and authorities in general, separating what is "natural" from what is "provoked".

However, in a review of the security cameras, a student detected that one cat in late 2017 and another several months later entered the facility to feed on two corpses: a 79-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man.

The availability was ample (more than 40 bodies at the site), but both cats always returned to the one they had chosen for over a month. They only stopped when the bodies began their wet decomposition phase (they emit fluids), although they managed to reach the bone in their visits, prioritizing the soft flesh of the arms.

Scavenging Behavior Explained

Although this suggests (not to say "confirms") that cats are extremely selective when eating, it also surprises because it is scavenging behavior, when the domestic cat is considered a predator. Still, we are not facing a deviation or anything like that. Forensic experts and veterinarians insist that it is perfectly normal, and not exclusive to cats. The rest is merely a "moral projection" that we make onto our pets. Once dead, we are only meat.

Source: Washington Post

Access the study: Click here