Cat Defending Her Territory Please Help

[typhons]

Hi,
I have a 1 and 1/2 year old cat named Luna. I love her so much. But lately I have been concerned about some of her behaviors. When someone else than me comes home (like my bf, a friend, petsitter ect..) she would hiss and attack the "intruder". I have never seen it happening because as soon as I am there she is relaxed and greets the new comers. But many different people have told me about it. Including my bf who lives with me for 6 month now. I do know that she loves him so this is not the problem (always on his lap, running to greet him when he comes home ect..). It really feels like she is defending her territory. She sometimes growl when someone is in front of the building for too long ect... I want to understand what goes on in her mind and help her relax. I hate the feeling that I did not raise her correctly and that something is stressing her out
The "attacks" would be of the sort: she would look wary of the person but as long as they did not come inside she is fine and friendly. As soon as the person comes inside Luna would frantically rub against everything marking her territory. And if the person moves too quickly and enter too fast she would hiss and swat sometimes going as far as jumping to go for the hand on the doornob. This happens only if the person comes home later than 5 pm and is not me.
Do you have any understanding of the situation? I am quite desperate. I am leaving for vacation soon and terrified that the petsitter would quit because of this.
For context: she is spayed, eat twice a day wet food, she has 2 cat trees, leaves in a one bedroom appartment with huge windows (screened), and gets played with daily (morning and evening).
Thank you very much

 

[ArtNJ]

Jackson Galaxy covered this in one of his shows. The strategy he used was to enlist a friend to come into the home a bunch of times, and the cat got rewarded with treats. Apart from that, you could try calming products like a feliway dispenser. Or, to keep it simple and since your really concerned about the cat sitter, ask her to come over the day before and spend some time with the cat.

 

[KarenKat]

I hate the feeling that I did not raise her correctly and that something is stressing her out

First of all, you should not feel guilty about this at all. To me it sounds more like her innate kitty nature than bad purrenting. When we moved to a house from a series of 1-bedroom apartments, it was the first time our cats had a large ground-level window that looked on the entrance. For about 2-3 months, Gohan would watch me leave me car and walk up to the door and he would hiss and run away (and he never hisses). It took some time, but now there is no reaction at all to people coming to the door. He tends to choose "flight" during a fight or flight situation, but he could just as easily chose to fight like Luna.

The strategy he used was to enlist a friend to come into the home a bunch of times, and the cat got rewarded with treats.

I agree with A ArtNJ , this sounds like a great idea, especially if you do this after 5pm and have your boyfriend go in first. Make sure he speaks softly, slowblinks and provides treats/positive reinforcement. Then maybe you come in for additional reinforcement and guests are associated with you. Hopefully in time Luna kitty will realize that her castle is not under attack.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I can't add a thing to this! You've been given the best advice in the world already by A ArtNJ and KarenKat . Just remind people to speak quietly and move gently to avoid startling her.

 

[jen]

When my cat was younger she would attack anyone who came over, including myself for the longest time. I just always flipped the lights on (she would wait in the dark and launch herself from the back of a chair when I walked in). Until a couple years ago she would revert back to this behavior whenever I moved. But she always hated intruders and would growl at the door or window. I even hung up a "Beware of Attack Cat" sign hahaha. She grew out of it, but she was a really nasty older feral kitten when she came to me. I rarely even pick her up now at 15 years old.