Cat hissing and growling

[amyshizzle]

My cat recently started hissing and growling at our dog (who she use to be best friends with), and our other cat. We do not what is causing this but she seems to be in fear of them or something. Why would she all of the sudden start hissing and growling, with the ears flat to her head, at our other pets??

 

[momofmany]

I've seen cats do that for a couple of reasons. One, there may be a stray hanging around your place and she is showing displaced aggression towards your other resident pets. Secondly, she might have been hurt in the presence of one of your other pets - she might have fallen off something, been stepped on by the dog - and she now relates her discomfort to the other pets.

You may need to separate her from the others for a bit and start the introduction process all over again in a few days.

 

[amyshizzle]

ah, yes we have a bunch of feral and stray cats. One cat keeps coming into our house and attacking our other cat. Some times he just comes in when my mom is feeding the feral cats and wanders the house. My cat (the one thats been hissing and growling) has always been kind of a skittish cat. She's afraid of everything. Maybe having this strange stray cat come in has pushed her to her limits. I don't want her to be scared into hiding though. I'll have to make sure that cat doesn't come into my house anymore.

I hope that is the reason for her acting like this and not some thing else more serious. She is only 3 years old.