Some cats are super vocal and some never make a peep. Further to that, there are a number of different cries and meows that your cat could make, and at different times or occasions. If your cat is crying there could be a whole host of reasons why. We’ll discuss some of the most common ones in this blog.
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Medical or Behavioural?
Firstly, it is important to differentiate that cats can be crying due to either medical or non-medical causes. For that reason, it could be helpful to get your cat checked by a vet just in case there is an underlying medical problem that your vet will be able to find.
If your cat is crying continuously, and this is abnormal for them, then it could be due to a recent change that has stressed them out; or behavioural reasons including boredom or attention seeking. For instance if your cat is new, you have just moved houses, you have a new baby or anything similar, then all of these factors can be big changes for a cat. Whilst your cat may initially cry to express discomfort, they should settle with time if you provide extra attention and TLC to keep them content.
Common Medical Conditions
Some common medical issues in cats that could cause continuous crying include hyperthyroidism, especially in older cats losing weight, and chronic kidney disease.
Some cats start to cry a lot more as part of the ageing process. For instance due to decreased vision or hearing causing them to be slightly disoriented or confused. Getting your elderly cat’s eyes and ears checked by the vet can confirm this suspicion. And it will rule out any underlying health issues that again could be causing the crying. Keeping your elderly cat comfortable and sticking to a regular routine can help reduce crying of this nature.
Rapid-onset medical problems could also cause sudden crying; including in blocked cats where a sudden obstruction to urination causes huge pain and is an emergency. Male cats are more prone to being blocked than females. Other signs would include increased frequency of attempting to urinate, straining a lot, or licking a lot at the penis. If you suspect that your cat is blocked, you should call your vet straight away as you may need to take your cat in urgently. Read more about blocked cats here.
Other important things to be aware of!
If the crying is more of a sudden-onset event, one of the top things to consider for unspayed lady cats is that she may have come into heat (which is to say, receptive to mating). Crying or calling during heat (also known as ‘caterwauling’) is completely normal for cats. It may be associated with other signs like increased affection, rolling on the ground, and adopting a posture known as lordosis in which she lies with her back end raised into the air, her back arched and her front legs on the ground. You can read more about mating season in cats here.
Sudden Stress
Things to also consider for sudden or perhaps transient bouts of crying could be the sudden presence of another cat or dog (for instance, spotted by your cat from the kitchen window!), where your cat may feel threatened and also puff up their coat and tails. This type of cry may sound quite distressed or may be more of a threatening-sounding low grumble. You may also notice your cat hissing if this is the case. Another thing to consider could be: is your cat hungry? When was their last meal?
Or is it normal?!
For cats that are crying just during the night, this is often just an exhibition of their normal behaviours of hunting or fighting. Cats are crepuscular, which means that they are most awake during the early morning and late evening. Oftentimes whilst we are winding down for bed they are just starting to get energetic! This behaviour can be inadvertently encouraged by some owners. But there are good ways to try to reduce crying at night, which you can read more about here.
So there we have a whistle-stop tour of different causes of crying in our feline companions. Some cats are simply very chatty. But for others there may be an underlying reason to the behaviour, which hopefully now you might feel more comfortable narrowing down.
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