Any cat owner will declare: of course, they can!
Nonetheless, whether the act is due to emotional reasons remains debatable.
However, that does not mean cats don’t have emotions!
There are theories like Charles Darwins’ concept that humans and various animal species experience different degrees of emotion.
Although there are no existing scientific methods to gauge animals’ feelings, there is no question that cats do experience emotions.
Does Your Cat Have Emotions?
Cats can experience positive emotions like happiness and negative feelings like depression, grief, and sadness.
They express these emotions by different signs other than tears: lethargy, tiredness, lack of appetite, or meowing continuously.
Since cats cannot make vocal expressions, they must use body language to convey emotions.
By using behavioral manifestations
, cats can show their masters that something is wrong.An upset cat will not feed or play, displaying behavior similar to human children.
Being familiar with interpreting your cat’s behavior will help you understand it better.
Some people say that cats are less empathetic beings than humans simply because they do not shed tears.
That is an unfair and unfounded statement because cats do not employ tears in the same way humans do.
Are Cats Capable of Crying?
Cats are physically capable of crying because they have tear ducts.
Although many situations cause them to do so, they do not pertain to the animal’s emotions.
Cats’ tears are instinctively used to clean their eyes. Similar to humans, their eyes utilize tears to remove foreign objects.
What are the Situations That Can Make Your Cat Cry?
Can Contaminants Make Your Cat Cry?
Cats might start to cry when a contaminant like pollen or dust gets into its eyes.
That triggers an automatic, involuntary reaction that activates the tear ducts to discharge a liquid, tears, to remove the contaminant.
When the impurity is eliminated, the tears cease.
Do Allergies Cause a Cat to Cry?
Cats are also prone to allergies, and ordinary things such as anti-flea products, a new carpet cleaner, or perfume can trigger these allergies, thus causing your cat to start crying.
Try to identify these products and stop using them to prevent the allergies from acting up.
Does an Infection make Your Cat Cry?
Most respiratory or viral infections can cause or be the result of tears flowing.
Sometimes the tears form pus-like discharges that are thick and usually stick to the fur near the cat’s eye.
When you notice this, better take your cat to the vet to treat the infection.
Can Pain Make Your Cat Cry?
Cats usually try to hide any signs of pain, but it may physically manifest as tears.
Because cats do not exhibit pain as humans or dogs do, you must be attentive to her behavior.
Being highly independent, cats will hide, be irritable, or mew constantly but softly when experiencing pain.
Take your cue from these subtle signs so you can help her effectively and timely.
Does Lubrication Cause Cats to Cry?
Another essential purpose of tears is to keep the eyes lubricated, thus maintaining the cat’s ocular health.
Cat’s eyes quickly become irritated and dry, mostly if she prefers to be outdoors.
She could be more susceptible to itchy dry eyes because of the environment.
Dust and dirt on the eye can cause cat so much discomfort and irritation.
What is Nighttime crying?
Cats are inherently nocturnal hunters, which means they tend to sleep by day and hunt during the night.
You can alter this instinctive habit by playing with your cat to exhaust her before you retire for the night.
However, if this behavior persists, then you have no choice but to try to ignore it.
Why Does a New Cat Cry?
New environments can cause some stress on some animals, especially cats.
Crying is a form of expression a cat uses to relieve this stress and continue to do so as she gets used to her surroundings.
Let her feel comfortable and safe as much as possible, and soon she will be accustomed to the new place.
Do Cats Cry for Attention?
Cats are highly intelligent creatures and, similar to humans, crave for attention.
That means when your cat is unwell, hungry, or merely wants to play with you, she would cry and meow to catch your attention.
Why Do Kittens Cry?
Like human babies, Kittens are likely to cry when they can’t feel their mother’s presence.
Do Cats Cry of Old age?
Upon reaching a substantial age, a cat’s health starts to deteriorate, and her mental capability and eyesight will begin to diminish.
Your cat might start to cry and continue on long stretches with no apparent reason.
Do Cats Cry for Mating reasons?
When female cats are in heat, she will let out loud, constant crying to attract possible mates.
She will also lower her face and raise her posterior, assuming the mating posture.
Also, as male cats start reaching puberty, they would occasionally cry as an expression of the mating ritual.
Do Cats Cry for Manipulation?
Recent studies suggest that a cat’s cry pitch is quite similar to human children.
Furthermore, it appears that some cats have realized this and have tried to make their cries to sound as close to human babies as possible.
That triggers a human maternal instinct.
What To Do When Your Cat Continues To Cry?
When contaminants make your cat cry, the crying will eventually stop as soon as the tears wash out the impurity.
However, if the crying persists, then it would be better to consult your vet to check for eye infection.
In other cases, a cat may display different symptoms further to the tears: diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, etc.
It is recommended to take the cat to your vet to determine if your pet is suffering from a lingering infection.
Conclusion
So the question remains: do cats cry?
The answer is definitely yes, though not by tears.
Crying is normal and soon passes as soon as the reason is remedied.
Finally, some people say a cat that never cries is a strange sign that should concern her master.
