Why Do Cats Hide When They Know They are Going to Die

Jakarta – Cats have a reputation for being solitary creatures, and it’s not uncommon for them to seek out privacy when they’re not feeling well. 

However, when it comes to the end of their life, it’s not always clear whether they want to be alone.  Reasons have been suggested for this behavior, mostly in attempts to understand it and comfort owners. 

Evidence to support what cats think might not exist, but there are reasons cats do this. They are trying to conserve energy and be in a safe space. Keep reading as we explain in detail why cats try to go away to die and what it means.

Wild animals retreat to hiding places when they are sick or injured to keep themselves safe. Predators will quickly overtake a weak member of the pack, so when animals separate themselves from others, they do so to avoid being attacked. This instinct remains in domesticated animals. 

When cats hide due to illness or injury, they recognize their weakness and hide to avoid becoming easy prey. Hiding doesn’t always mean your cat is dying. An illness or injury could clear up in a few days, and your cat could return to normal.

If the hiding persists and is combined with food refusal, avoiding the litter box, lack of interest in normal routines, or any other obvious sign of injury, the situation is serious, and a veterinarian should be consulted.

Cats are more intuitive than humans and can detect things we cannot. Their enhanced senses of smell, sight, and sound enable them to detect changes in body language and temperature that are not noticeable to people. 

Animal experts agree that a cat’s ability to detect impending death in a person, another animal, or themselves is due to a particular smell released by those close to death.

There’s no scientific evidence that supports that this smell exists, but cats seem to know when death is near. 

Your Cat Just Got Lost

Since the myth exists that cats leave to avoid causing their owners any heartbreak as they die, people believe that if their cat flees the house, it must be because they’re sick. Sometimes, cats just get lost. 

When cats are in unfamiliar territory, they choose hiding places that will enable them to remain out of sight while they figure out what to do.

Cats often don’t act the same outside as they do inside. Calling your cat and not getting a response doesn’t mean your cat isn’t right in front of you under a bush. If they don’t come out or make any noise, it’s not because they’re dying. It’s because their instincts kick in to keep them safe.

When an outdoor cat doesn’t come home, it means something happened to prevent them from doing so. 

When an indoor cat escapes the house and gets lost, they may not know how to come home. Searching for a sick, injured, or terrified cat is even more difficult because they can and will hide for days.

They won’t let you know if you walk right by their hiding spot. Hiding in silence and refusing to meow is nature’s way of keeping a vulnerable animal safe from predators.

Moreover, some speculate that amid the family’s grief of watching their pet slowly suffer, the cat decides to leave to spare the family from further pain. They’ll go off and die alone, out of sight, and not put their grief-stricken family through any more sadness.

This is a nice idea, but it’s unlikely to be the case. This myth was probably invented to comfort sad families who didn’t know why their cats wandered off at the end of their lives. If cats can’t truly sense that they’re dying, they can at least determine that something isn’t right. They know if they’re in pain, sick, or weak. 

Some cats might succumb to their illness while hiding, leading people to believe that they knew that they were going to die. The isolation that they’re seeking is to protect themselves and endure their illness in peace without any interruptions. 

They also want to preserve any energy they have left, and finding a quiet spot to hide in will prevent them from constantly relocating.

The instinct to run away and hide when dying doesn’t mean your cat doesn’t like you. It means solitary behavior is hard-wired in them, and they prefer to be alone to deal with whatever is happening inside them.

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21 September 2024