Although the myth tells us that cats are very independent animals, the truth is that, just like dogs, they can show displeasure, anxiety or sorrow in our absence. The meows or cries when we leave the house and leave them alone can occur in cats of any age.
In this article on our site we are going to explain why the cat cries when we leave and what we can do to prevent this situation occurs, always bearing in mind that the first thing to do is rule out any veterinary pathology, since recurrent meowing may indicate some discomfort.
The closed doors
As cat keepers we have surely observed the animosity that cats tend to show towards closed doors, whether at home or in cupboards or cupboards. Cat likes to be able to explorethroughout what he considers to be his territory, without being blocked from entering any area. This is why it is common for cats to meow intensely in front of a door.
They will shut up as soon as we open it and, if they have entered or left somewhere, they will immediately meow again so that we allow them to enter again. If we live in a safe place so that our cat has access to the outside, the cat door will be a good solution that will allow him to enter and exit freely.
But in buildings this is not going to be possible and such a situation can explain why the cat cries when we leave, because it will feel that it stays, in a certain way, "stuck", so that it cannot satisfy its exploratory needs. When we leave the house and leave our cat inside, closing the door, it will show its discomfort by meowing.
The cat doesn't want to be alone
It could be the case that the explanation for why our cat cries when we leave is simply that he does not want to be alone. The cat doesn't know that we are going to return nor can he control our time away, hence he can cry as soon as he detects that we are going to leave the house, which is quite simple, since we tend to repeat the same routines such as putting on our shoes, taking our bag, combing our hair, etc.
Although there are no studies that show that separation anxiety occurs in cats, there are also no studies that rule it out, for that reason, if we believe that it may be the case with our cat, it may be helpful get him used to our outings gradually, that is, starting by leaving us for a short period of time, which we will gradually increase with the aim that our cat understand that we will return.
This adaptation is not always possible because many cat keepers are going to have to be away for many hours from the start, for example for work reasons. In these cases we can consider the possibility of adoptar, not one, but two cats (or more, depending on our circumstances) if we are sure that our feline has been correctly socialized.
A accompanied cat will not feel lonely and it will rarely cry during our absence. We must ask ourselves this question before the adoption, in order to pick up the cats together. If we already have one and we want to introduce another, it is likely that we should follow some guidelines so that the adaptation is done with the minimum stress for everyone.
You must also bear in mind that cats, before living together, must be tested for immunodeficiency and feline leukemia, as they are contagious diseases among them for which there is no cure. If we observe our cat truly anxious or stressed when we leave home, we should contact a specialist in feline behavior, such as a veterinarian with the appropriate training or a ethologist
Basic needs covered
Other times it is explained why a cat cries when we leave because of a lack in what for him are his basic needs, such as food, water or the litter box. If our cat realizes that we are going to leave and has any of these needs, it is normal for him to cry to get our attention.
That is why before leaving, especially if we are going to be away for several hours, we must make sure that it has clean and fresh water, food and a clean sandbox, as there are cats that are reluctant to use it if they consider it too dirty. Also, a cat with a full stomach is more likely to take a nap, noticing our absence less. We will see other tricks in the following sections.
Boredom
Sometimes cats cry or meow when they are alone out of boredom. As we have said in the case of loneliness, having more than one cat it is difficult for this situation to occur but, if we are dealing with a single cat, why the cat cries when we leave can be explained by this reason.
To counteract it, if increasing the family is not feasible, we can introduce improvements in the house, which is known as environmental enrichment. This consists of offering the cat different entertainment in which he can spend his energy, thus avoiding boredom and frustration. This point will be especially important for cats that live indoors and in small spaces.
Some ideas to improve the environment include:
- Scratchers, there are many types and heights and include games and different textures. We can find a wide variety on the market but we can also make them ourselves if we are a bit skilled, using simple materials such as cardboard boxes, wood or rope.
- Different heights that we can achieve just by combining shelves, because cats love to control from heights.
- Interactive toys that the cat has to manipulate to obtain rewards (if it is food we have to deduct it from its daily ration to avoid problems of overweight). Like the scratchers, we can find several models for sale, but we can also make them ourselves in a homemade way with a plastic bottle or a cardboard box in which we will make different holes through which the prizes can come out depending on the cat. keep moving them.
Recommendations for cats alone
We have already seen in previous sections why a cat cries when we leave. Now we will expose some recommendations to avoid it. They are as follows:
- If we can choose our departure time, it is better to be absent in the period in which we know that our cat is most likely to be sleeping.
- Before leaving, it's worth spending a few minutes playing or cuddling. A calm, tired cat is more likely to spend the next few hours sleeping than crying.
- Offering food before we leave also increases the chances that our cat will go to sleep with a full stomach, as we have mentioned.
- We can also reserve new toys for him just before we leave. If we manage to arouse his interest, he will not be so aware of our absence. We don't have to buy something new every day, but we can put toys away and take them out again or make them in a simple way, like a ball with aluminum foil or simply a box.
- We can try leaving music, radio or even television. Some animals like this "company".
- We need to make sure we leave him water, food and clean sand, as well as his favorite toys accessible.
- We must ensure that the doors inside the house remain open to prevent our cat from getting frustrated and crying when wanting to enter or leave somewhere. We also have to leave the cupboards well closed to prevent them from entering and being locked up.
