Cat Growling And Hissing

[ultranerdcat]

My cat Little Miss was a bottle baby. She is almost a year old now.

I am 'fostering' a mama cat and her 6 kittens in my back room. She's never seen kittens before and I've done pretty good at keeping them separate the last 2 weeks. Today I went in to check on them and give mom food and water and play with her. I must not have shut the door completely and I turned around and Little Miss was standing there.

One of the kittens were next to her and she sniffed him and immediately started hissing and growling and trying to get out of the room. I quickly opened the door and she ran out. I finished in the room and didn't have time to wash my hands before she was on me rubbing and stuff. She smelled the kittens on my hands and ever since has been hissing and growling and running away. I can't go near her and neither can either of my other cats or my dogs all of which she is very close with.

This has been going on for 2 hours and I don't know how to calm her down. Right now I'm just leaving her be but I'm worried one of us is going to go near her and she is going to attack.

 

[lacy2000]

The hissing and growling is a normal reaction to new cat smells in her "territory". I think you just need to give her some time to clam down. I also foster and my older cat hadn't seen a kitten in years when I got my first foster. She reacted the same way when they first met, hissing and growling every time I tried to touch her, but she eventually stopped the next day. I didn't feel the hissing was directed towards me, but more of an uneasy warning to any cats nearby, so I doubt your cat is actually angry with you.

 

[ultranerdcat]

The hissing and growling is a normal reaction to new cat smells in her "territory". I think you just need to give her some time to clam down. I also foster and my older cat hadn't seen a kitten in years when I got my first foster. She reacted the same way when they first met, hissing and growling every time I tried to touch her, but she eventually stopped the next day. I didn't feel the hissing was directed towards me, but more of an uneasy warning to any cats nearby, so I doubt your cat is actually angry with you.

She seems to be calming down a little bit. She's on my loveseat low growling but falling asleep. My main thing is keeping her separate from my other two cats. She hates my bedroom so I can't put her in there and my bathroom is way too small to put her in. So my two older cats are in my bedroom and I'm just letting her do whatever she needs to do out in the house.

 

[rubysmama]

How are things today?

 

[ultranerdcat]

How are things today?

At 8:30 this morning she was acting like her usual self. But not even an hour later she was hissing and growling again. She'll seem fine and like normal for a second then she starts hissing and growling. I kept her in a room alone last night. But I'm not sure if I should still keep her isolated or let her calm down in the house.

 

[rubysmama]

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you. If you were keeping the foster cat, I'd post the links to the cat introduction articles and recommend a re-introduction. But since you probably never intended for them to meet, they probably wouldn't be helpful.

Here's a few other articles that might have some ideas for you. Also, maybe look into Feliway or calming treats. And definitely make sure you wash your hands after handling the kittens.

Re-directed Aggression In Cats
Cat Aggression Toward People
Is Your Cat Stressed Out?

 

[ultranerdcat]

She seems okay for now. She's hanging out in an open window. The re-directed article seems helpful. I'm just keeping my distance and letting her do what she needs to do.

 

[rubysmama]

Sounds good. Hope it works.
Thanks for fostering, BTW.
And you know, "no good deed goes unpunished".