Do illnesses expiate the sins of animals and elevate their ranks, as is the case for humans?

Beasts are not accountable, and they have no sins requiring expiation. The Gardens of Bliss were not prepared for them to inhabit, but rather for those whom Allah has honored among the children of Adam. Allah described those who refused to be anything but like beasts by saying: "Those are like cattle; nay, they are even further astray." (Quran 7:179) For cattle fulfill the wisdom for which they were created, whereas these (people) do not know why they live.