Can Animals Feel Empty When They’re Not Living Their True Purpose?

I’ve been stuck on this random question lately, and I’d love to hear what you all think.

Do animals ever feel… empty? Not in a physical way, but in a “something’s missing” kind of way.

Picture this — I’ve had a lion since it was a baby, but I never let it experience hunting, like hunting a deer. Instead, I give it a deer that’s already been hunted, along with other animals a lion would typically eat. It stays well-fed and healthy, but it never gets to live the life it was born for.

Or take a pigeon. What if I clip its wings so it never flies? I keep it safe, well-fed, and entertained. It lives, sure, but does it feel like something’s missing?

Would they sense the gap — the life they were meant for but never knew? Could animals feel a kind of void, like some people do when they feel disconnected from their purpose?

For me, I’ve always believed every person comes into life with this inner sense — a pull toward something greater than themselves. God, the higher power, watching over them. Even people who say they don’t believe — I wonder if they just ignore it, but they still feel it.

Anyway, I’m curious — do you think animals could feel something similar? Can they feel lost without ever knowing why? Would love to hear your thoughts!

4 Kudos

Comments

Displaying 1 of 1 comments ( View all | Add Comment )

Mason

1741927756

I'm not really sure, I never thought about it. Not really my opinion but I've heard stories of search and rescues dogs becoming demotivated to work if they don't find survivors in disasters. During 9/11 they had to fake rescues for the dogs to keep them happy :(

Report Comment

i really love what u said—I’d never heard about that before it’s a whole new way to think about They fake rescues to keep the dogs motivated

but does that mean the dogs are only happy when they get human validation? Or are they actually sad because they feel like they failed their job even without humans rewarding them?

And yeah, the reason i even thought about this question in the first place was because of my bird When we got him the vet did something that made it so he couldn’t fly as high as he naturally would So I started wondering—does he hate us for it? Or was he just born into this reality and never even realizes what he’s missing?

by Goofytown; 1742006592; Report

Those two views are very interesting. I reckon it's probably a mix of both for the dogs.

by Mason; 1742089926; Report

Yeah that makes sense i guess it’s hard to know for sure but it’s interesting to think about. Kinda makes you wonder how much animals are aware of their own ‘purpose’ in the first place.

by Goofytown; 1742190654; Report