Cats are very expressive animals, they have various ways of communicating with us, a fundamental part of their interaction comes from physical contact and facial expressions such as cheek and muzzle mimicry, but also, they do it through sound, that is why many people believe that cats cry, but is it true? Here we will tell you if it is true or not.
What does it mean when cats cry?
Cats have different ways of communicating with people and expressing their conditions and moods, but something they have been able to develop is their ability to make sounds to communicate.
These sounds and vocalizations range from purring, meowing, and chirping in various tones, which has led people to believe that cats cry, especially with meows or chirps because they resemble the crying of any human, even when they are newborns.
However, cats do not cry in the literal sense of the word, since they do not have the same human anatomy and for this reason, they cannot produce tears. If your cat presents this condition, it may be due to some health problem.
Next, I will present a series of reasons why cats cry and what you can do in each of these cases.
When they are newborns
If you have newborn kittens in your home, and you hear them crying, it means that the kittens feel the absence of their mother, they are hungry, scared, or cold, since newborn cats lack the ability to regulate their temperature until after the fourth week.
In the first weeks of life, these meows are, in the first instance, a defense and survival mechanism, which allows their mother to be attentive to the needs of her babies. If they are not with their mother, you have to learn how to take care of a baby cat.
When they are newly adopted
It is usual that when you adopt a cat, they start meowing and feel stressed due to the new conditions of their environment, since, at first, they may feel strange, scared, or unprotected, and even more so when they are small cats.
This process of adaptability is not so long, it has an approximate duration of one week, after this period the cat will already feel familiar, and its behavior will be calmer. You can help your cat during this time by providing attention and affection so that it feels more confident and learn how to adapt your house for the arrival of a cat.
When in heat
When cats are in heat, it is common for them to cry and display certain behaviors such as being more affectionate, rubbing against different objects in the house, marking their territory with urine, and of course, meowing persistently.
Care must be taken when there is a colony of cats, as your pet may escape and have fights with other cats which can, in some cases, cause serious injuries and the transmission of some incurable diseases such as leukemia. Take precautions when your cat is in heat.
When they are sick
We have already discussed different situations in which it is possible that your cat cries, however, there is another reason that you should not ignore and that is when your pet is sick.
Analyze your cat’s behavior, its gestures, its expressions, and what is out of the ordinary. Some cases in which cats cry due to illness are:
- When eating: If initially, your cat cries when eating, it may be due to a problem in the teeth or in some area of the muzzle, but if after crying it starts to stop eating, it can be a more serious problem, such as an infection that causes pain when swallowing. This is when we know we need to go to the vet.
- When going to the bathroom: If your cat cries when urinating, it may be a urinary infection. This can be detected if your cat constantly goes to its sandbox and only leaves drops.
- When your cat tries to defecate, it is difficult: it can produce meows or screams due to constipation or anal prolapse. For any of these situations, the most convenient thing is to go to the veterinarian to ensure health.
- When they are older: When cats reach an advanced age, they can suffer from silent diseases, but at some point, it causes them so much pain that they express it with characteristic sounds.
As we have seen, cats cry and produce sounds that are not necessarily related to crying. Like humans, cats are capable of expressing their emotions in different ways, and we are not only talking about their feelings, but also about their health.