If you have a cat around your home, you must have seen some weird or downright disturbing behavior from them at some point or severally before.
Our adorable furry friends know how to put up a great show at times, and even the most experienced cat owners may find it difficult to get the hang of their feline quirks, one of which is lifting their bum and crying.
Why is my cat lifting her bum and crying
In most cases, she may have gone into heat and, as such, is creating her hormone-inspired gait to draw the attention of potential mating partners.
In other cases, she may be courting your attention for a bit of playtime or to let you in on a pain or discomfort she is experiencing.
To know in which case it is for your cat, you’ll need to closely observe and engage her to know what actions to take next.
Chances are that she is in heat, and you can curb her enthusiasm by spaying her, or she might be aging, ill, or distressed and need medical care.
You may need to take her to a vet to make a more exhaustive check if you notice her increasingly uncomfortable or hostile.
If you still want to know more about why your cat is raising her bum and crying, here are a few reasons she may be doing so.
Reasons your cat lifted her bum and crying
Your cuddly little cat will not always be the cozy, adorable pet you know and love. Like humans, cats have their issues to deal with, and they cope or show it by crying or acting out very often.
Thankfully, there are many known reasons your cat lifted her bum and crying, and we’ll walk you through some of the common ones.
1. Your cat is in heat
Female Cats go into heat every three weeks during a specific time of the year, mainly from February to October.
Once they reach between 6-10 months of age, or four in some cases, your unspayed female cat attains sexual maturity and experiences a surge in her hormones.
This surge is usually followed by exaggerated feline behavior such as crying intensely, rolling on the ground, raising her bum, tapping on the doors, all in a bid to go outside and meet with a mating partner.
During this period, you’ll witness several overly dramatic mannerisms from your furry friend, and that raised bum gait is her way of showing that she is ready to mate.
If you’re tired of the constant meowing, the odd posturing, the occasional urine spraying all over your furniture, and the possibility of a litter of kittens all around the house, you can spay your cat.
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2. She is courting Your attention
Cats are notorious attention seekers, and they can put on quite the show to get you to look their way.
If your cat only displays this pose while you’re within sight, you can oblige her by giving her some of your time.
In return, you can expect all the tail-wagging, cuddly, frenzied shifts you can draw from her while she’s still in the mood.
If you ignore all her gimmicks, your cat may step things up and raise her voice even higher.
Your best bet is to wait it out to dissuade her from making a habit of crying. Alternatively, you can pick her up for some playtime, just enough to calm her frayed nerves and set her at ease.
3. She is getting old
As cats grow older, they lose some of their cognitive abilities and start displaying erratic behavior unprovoked.
Your senior cat will experience profound difficulty processing some of her emotions, and her coping mechanism most of the time is to resort to crying, rolling around the place, kneading and purring intensely, raising her bum, and other intense behaviors.
If your cat is showing any of these acts and she’s been around for a long time, you can put it down to the inevitable quirks of aging.
To seek further clarity on the issue and dismiss any medical causes, take her to a vet.
4. She is experiencing pain or discomfort
While cats are not the most expressive pets around, they take to crying to tell us what they are going through or to point us to what we can do for them.
If your cat starts crying suddenly for a sustained period and raises her bum while at it, she may be trying to show you that she is in pain and is also pointing you to where the pain is coming from.
The intensity of the pain your cat feels may equally increase the power of her cries and the firmness with which she maintains her raised bum pose.
While you can be tempted to dismiss her exertions for lack of merit or her history of performative acts, it is always best to give your cat a second look.
A visit to the vet is your best bet at seeing things out nicely, and you can get your cat buddy back to normalcy.
5. She is feeling threatened
Your cat’s body language during her most vulnerable moments may involve crying and lifting her bum.
If you notice this action with her around other animals in your home and she doubles up by curling around your legs, she may be feeling threatened and will need some protection or assurance.
You can help her get respite by picking her up or pushing away the perceived threat.
If she raises her bum in the face of the perceived threat and does not cry out, she may be putting up a defense for herself, and you’ll still see her arched back follow swiftly.
This is her instinctive scary profile, and it is nothing to be worried about unless the threat is real and dangerous.
How to stop a cat in heat from meowing
Cats tend to meow more frequently and intensely when they are in heat, and this behavior can prove disturbing for even the most cat lover or “fur parent.”
If you get this at home with your cat, here’s how to stop a cat in heat from meowing and calm it.
1. Spay your cat
The one-stop shop for all problems of incessant cat meowing during their heat is to spay your cat. Spaying your cats means sterilizing them and effectively making them unable to go into heat.
This spaying act precludes them from building up the heat hormones that inspire their bouts of high-pitched cries and erratic behavior.
After spaying your cat, you can rule out sexual arousal and mating needs as the reason for their frequent crying and raised bums.
2. Keep her comfortable
Your cat can get very agitated and uncomfortable while she’s in heat due to the burst of hormones batting her out, and you can try to make her as comfortable as possible during this period.
Try placing a heat pack under the blanket she mostly snuggles up to, and you’ll give her some much-needed respite. The heat pack can help in soothing her and setting her at ease.
3. Give her your attention
Cats tend to become overly affectionate, energetic, and clingy during heat.
If they are not purring, kneading, or clawing away intensely at their litter box or your furniture, they’ll be all over your face, looking to engage you in feline frolicking.
You can calm your cat during this time by picking her up for a bit of fun and games, especially those interactive games that involve her “hunting,” during which she can use up all of her pent-up energy.
4. Keep her from going out
If you have a lot of male cat neighbors lurking visibly around your balconies or doors, your unspayed cat will meow loudly in a bid to draw their attention.
One way to put your cat off this scent is to stop her from seeing these potential mating partners.
Start by shutting your doors, pulling your blinds over low windows, and cutting your anxious cat from any view of what lies outside.
The cries may intensify shortly, followed by the urine spaying and the odd posturings, but she’ll likely tire out if she finds that her suitors are nowhere in sight.
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5. Help her to relax
Your cat might need a little help to calm her nerves at the peak of her heat-inspired agitation, and this is where you come in.
Try giving her a vet-recommended anti-anxiety drug to give her temporary relief, and this might do the trick.
Another trick is to spray calmness-inducing pheromones like Feliway near her litter box or favorite spot so she can get cozy and stop meowing.
Why do female cat walk low to the ground and meowing
When the question of why do female cat walk low to the ground and meowing is being asked, You can put it down to the fact that they are in heat and are stressed, anxious, or excited, or are in pain and need medical help.
When cats are in heat, their bodies experience a drastic change that may leave them very energetic one moment and stressed out or anxious the next.
Their coping style may lead them to walk low to recondition their body.
Other than this, sicknesses like arthritis, abdominal pains, Urinary tract infections, and other illnesses can cause them to behave this way.
FAQs
How can you tell if a cat is in pain?
There are many signs that show your cat is in pain, and they mainly vary according to the cause of the pain.
Most times, they may be meowing and yowling loudly, drooling, arching their backs, tucking their bellies, and sleeping frequently.
Other times, your cat may reduce grooming and socializing, experience decreased appetite, and become more aggressive.
If you observe your cat displaying any of these symptoms, you’ll need to take them to see a vet to diagnose the cause of the sickness.
If you see your cat trembling or showing terseness, she may suffer from abdominal weakness, and if she limps or lays on the ground frequently, it may be down to arthritis.
Why do cats arch their backs?
Cats arch their backs for different reasons, mostly due to their natural response to the events in their environment or a conditioning of their bodies.
You can find your cat arching its back after waking up from a nap to stretch its “sleepy muscle.” This stretching posture extends their back upwards, with their tail end raised to an arch.
If this arching of their back is quickly followed by their body and tail hairs standing unanimously, your cat may be reacting to a perceived threat and is trying to put up a good show.
Your cat will take this pose while presenting an imposing front that will hopefully scare away the danger.
Another reason your cat might be stretching its back may be that it is making its best effort to stretch out a limp or a weakness in its joints.
Why does my cat lift her bum up
Cats lift their bums for several reasons, depending on who they are showing it to.
If they are showing their raised bums to a fellow male cat, chances are that she is in heat and is trying to entice a potential mating partner or that they are just exchanging feline pleasantries.
If she raises her bum at you, you can narrow the cause down to a few reasons.
For starters, she might be greeting you after a long time out and is luring you to play with her. Other times, she expects you to help her scratch an itch or take out fleas on her skin.
It could also be her means to mark you with her scent to tell other cats that she is in charge and that you are her only buddy around the house.