Carlos explains five signs that your cat is in pain: changes in behavior, hiding, loss of appetite, limping, and excessive grooming of one area. Learn when to call the vet.
Welcome to this Animal Expert video. I'm Carlos from the Happy Pets and Families Channel, and today I'm here to talk to you about signs of pain in cats and how to tell if something hurts. Cats are experts at hiding what's wrong with them. This has allowed them to survive throughout their evolution, which is why it's so hard to know if a cat is in pain or not. However, there are some clues that your cat may be giving you about whether or not something hurts that you may be overlooking. That's why it's so important for you to know your cat's behavior so that you can recognize them more easily. But to help you out, I'm here today to tell you about five signs that cats usually express when something hurts. Number one, Changes in their personality. When something hurts, it's normal for cats to become a little more elusive, spend more time hiding, or even start to show more aggression. It is also possible that your cat who used to be used to being picked up from the floor and placed on your lap, no longer wants you to do that, because when you pick them up from the floor, you are touching the area that hurts them. 2. Some cats become a little less appetizing and do not go to their food bowl or drink from their water bowl as much. This is somewhat related to the above. These are cats that spend more time hidden in the house and therefore do not go to eat as much. They are much quieter, even tucked away in their blanket in their resting area, so they are not as interested in what you have put in their food bowl. This happens, if possible, in a much more intense way in those cats that have a sore mouth or problems with their teeth or gums, for example. These cats also tend to show increased salivation, meaning that you can see saliva coming out of their mouths in the form of droplets or much tighter threads. 3. When something hurts, cats tend to make sounds. They can meow for no apparent reason. In other words, they can be around the house and suddenly let out a meow as if to say, hey, I'm here. Of course, that meow can be much more serious, much more intense, if you touch the area that hurts. For example, if they've heard a paw and you're going to touch it there, it's normal for the cat to let out a very intense purring sound and even try to bite you. It's logical and normal. But it's also very possible that when cats feel unwell, when something hurts them, or also, for example, when they're feeling unwell, they start purring, it's not because they feel extremely comfortable, but rather that purring helps them calm down. 4. Changes in their routines I've already told you that when a cat is in pain, they may want to move around a lot less and spend a lot more time lying down on their blanket or bed. You'll also notice that in these cases, cats breathe a little faster than they normally do because that's how they're expressing the pain they're feeling. Another change in their routines could be that they groom themselves a lot less than they normally do. You'll notice this not only because you'll notice that your cat licks themselves less, but also because their fur starts to look greasy, like matted. And be very careful because they don't always stop grooming their entire body, but it can happen in certain areas. This is very common in older kittens. Well, because their joints hurt and they can't lick themselves with their tongues areas like here on their back, for example. But just as I said that cats who are in pain stop licking their fur. It is also very possible that when something hurts, they lick themselves much more. This usually happens especially in the case of blows, fractures or injuries that have gone unnoticed by our eyes. In that case, the cat will lick that area much more frequently until it even loses its hair. And 5 its body language and the way it moves can also change. You can observe in cats that are in pain, for example, their ears a little more droopy, their eyes half closed, or even their head lowered when they move or even when they are lying down. Cats that are in pain may also show a somewhat strange way of moving that is either very close to the ground or hunched over, adopting postures that are called anti pain, that is postures that they adopt to avoid having so much discomfort and related a little bit to this movement thing. You can also suspect that your cat is in pain. If, for example, they used to climb to a certain height and now they can't, that probably means that, for example, their joints are bothering them and that's why they can't jump as high anymore. Well, that's it. Although pain is already a problem in itself, it's often a sign that they have some type of illness. Therefore, if you notice with all these signs that I've mentioned that your cat is in pain or maybe uncomfortable for some reason, what you have to do is take them to the vet to have them checked out because you may have noticed small, very subtle changes that other people haven't. Don't let them go unnoticed. If you see anything strange call the clinic and take them in as soon as possible. I hope these tips have helped you. And if you want to get to know your feline companion better, I invite you to visit our YouTube channel, Happy Pets and Families and subscribe. And well, if you want, you can also visit our social networks, for example Instagram, where we are also Happy Pets and Families. See you later.
