Domestic cats gnaw human corpses: Thought is a horror story but real!

A decomposing corpse is clearly something many people don't even dare to think about because of the horror. But for so many animals - from insects to corpses - it's a feast, a tremendous reward of nature.

The thing is, have you ever thought about cats sometimes gnawing on humans? It seems like a horror movie, but this is a true story. For example, at a Colorado decomposition research facility, security cameras recorded footage of wild cats climbing on the dead bodies to . gnaw. Over the course of several days, they came and enjoyed the horrific party with anyone who witnessed it.

Cat's human eating behavior has rarely been documented in the literature.

In fact, the cat's human behavior is not too new, but it is rarely recorded in the documents. Often, it is thought that the majority of cases are domestic cats whose owners died suddenly, causing them to be trapped inside without food, forced to gnaw the body to survive. However, a recent study from Colorado Mesa University turned out to have this behavior, too , and they decided to find out why.

"Wild cats are very popular in the United States and around the world, so understanding their behavior will support the autopsy process better" - cited in the research report.

Cats only eat special corpses

In research centers on decomposition such as in Colorado, the human body will be exposed to help scientists observe changes in the natural environment. The goal is for the examiner to better identify the time and cause of death, as well as to distinguish wounds before and after death.

Because predator species are part of nature, experts decide to have cameras set to monitor which species will appear. As a result, they discovered unexpected creatures: two "homeless" feral cats came to eat.

Not only domestic cats, it turns out that wild cats also have this behavior.

Of course, for cats (especially in developed countries), it is really difficult to see just from appearance that they are wild cats or not. But this time they knew it was a feral cat, because the research facility was far away from the residential area. Moreover, they often come back at night, so it is almost certain that these cats are born "out of the wind".

Data on the camera shows some noticeable points. The first was a tabby-haired cat who visited the body of an 79-year-old woman. Her body was frozen before being transferred to the facility for testing, focusing mainly on soft tissues on the left hand and chest, targeting the skin and fat. However, it is worth noting that when experts put a cage around the body (cats could not get through), it did not come again during the next week. Time to remove the cage, cats appear again in the next 35 days. In other words, for some reason, it completely disregards the other bodies.

The second black cat stopped by the body of a 70-year-old man. It targets the left shoulder, eats soft tissue and part of the intestine. He did this for 10 - 16 nights, disappeared for about a month, and then continued again. And just like a tabby cat, black cats do not pay attention to the surrounding bodies.

But why?

As noted, many domestic cats (and dogs) were forced to eat their owners' bodies in extreme cases. Obviously, when there's nothing left to eat, survival instincts will force them to.

When there's nothing left to eat, survival instincts force them to gnaw the body.

As a whole, cats will eat soft and exposed tissue, including their hands, feet, lips, or nose. Wild cats - at least in this study - are different. They did not touch the face, partly because the exposed human body had no cover.

"In both cases, feral cats will target the damaged skin. They will only focus on the body that is in the early stages of decomposition - perhaps due to its instinct to prefer fresh flesh. " In other words, cats will only eat new bodies.

While it's hard to accept the fact that cute cats with the habit of . gnawing on human corpses, experts say this is a real phenomenon, and the study of it is important for with forensic species. In addition, it also helps science better understand cats - even as predators but they are also ready to eat corpses, even feel like because . you can eat nothing.

The study was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.