This will be a long post, but I want to include all important details so bare with me. I have two female sibling cats who are about 1 year old now. I've had them since they were born, and they're close as can be and are really sweet cats.
When we had guests come over when they were kittens, everything was fine. One day when they were about 3 months old, however, we took them to the vet to get their second round of vaccines. That night, we had some friends over and all went well until one of them picked up one of the kittens from behind and she freaked out and hissed at her. After that she intermittently hissed at the guests all night, and even hissed at me as redirected aggression.
I think it was a combination of 1) being scared 2)possible pain in her side from the shot and 3) being taken by surprise.
Fast forward a few months and we take the kittens to get spayed. The same cat who had hissed previously is now scared of the vet and hissing at her, which I don't really blame her for. The whole spaying process was very traumatic for her, and the poor little thing even peed on herself.
Then she came home and did not recognize her sister, and spent a day or so hissing at her so we separated them until they recognized each other again. A day later, we realize she's having symptoms of a UTI so we have to go to the emergency vet twice in two days and she gets stuck by needles repeatedly, thus increasing her fear of vets/ people.
Since then, we have had people over briefly and she walks right up to them and doesn't act scared at all, but smells them and then hisses. Honestly I don't have people over much so it's only happened once or twice in the last 6 months.
Fast forward to today, when I have a house guest staying over for a few nights. She knows about my cat's hissing and is a cat person herself so she has been doing everything to make it easy. My cat has a safe room to go in to be alone if she wants to, but she never acts scared.
I kept the cat in another room while she got settled in and sat on the couch. Then we opened the door, and it's like my cat didn't even notice the new person for a while. She smelled her suitcase, and then eventually made it over to her and smelled her. I rewarded her with treats repeatedly for being calm around her. All was going pretty well, she did open her mouth once like she was going to hiss when the guest moved her head suddenly but stopped.
My cat spent some time staring at our guest (lol) and then played for a bit and fell asleep. Later she came out again and smelled the guest's hair (in which she uses gel) and hissed at the back of her head from about an inch away. She then walked away and acted a little skeptical but quickly resumed her normal activities.
I have a few things to bring up. I'm naturally an anxious person especially when it comes to my cats because I just want the best for them. It stresses me out/ scares me when my cat hisses. I want to be able to have guests come over and see both of my cats play because they're such great cats and I want other people to see that. But, if it's best for my cat I could keep her in another room when people come over. I just don't know if that would stress her out being alone...I could keep the other cat in there with her but I don't want to have to do that if the other cat wants to socialize. Then again, it's not that big of a deal if it will make my cat less stressed and happy.
On the other hand, I'm wondering if I'm overreacting and I should just have people over occasionally and let her get used to them and if she hisses she hisses. But then again, it's kind of scary being a guest and having someone's cat hiss at you. I don't want to put my cat or my friends/family in danger. Also, my current apartment is really really small so there's really no way to ignore guests. I will be moving soon, though.
Long story short, should I just say "oh well" and put my cat in another room when guests come over? I just feel bad because it's not like she's running away or hiding; she comes right up to them and smells them and hisses. And how big of a deal is it if she hisses but acts relatively normal? Should I just have more people over and get her uses to them? I also don't want to stress her out and cause another UTI, because I just successfully switched her off of a prescription food and onto a regular food.
My guest is here for 2 more days...anything I should work on until then? Thanks in advance!
When we had guests come over when they were kittens, everything was fine. One day when they were about 3 months old, however, we took them to the vet to get their second round of vaccines. That night, we had some friends over and all went well until one of them picked up one of the kittens from behind and she freaked out and hissed at her. After that she intermittently hissed at the guests all night, and even hissed at me as redirected aggression.
I think it was a combination of 1) being scared 2)possible pain in her side from the shot and 3) being taken by surprise.
Fast forward a few months and we take the kittens to get spayed. The same cat who had hissed previously is now scared of the vet and hissing at her, which I don't really blame her for. The whole spaying process was very traumatic for her, and the poor little thing even peed on herself.
Then she came home and did not recognize her sister, and spent a day or so hissing at her so we separated them until they recognized each other again. A day later, we realize she's having symptoms of a UTI so we have to go to the emergency vet twice in two days and she gets stuck by needles repeatedly, thus increasing her fear of vets/ people.Since then, we have had people over briefly and she walks right up to them and doesn't act scared at all, but smells them and then hisses. Honestly I don't have people over much so it's only happened once or twice in the last 6 months.
Fast forward to today, when I have a house guest staying over for a few nights. She knows about my cat's hissing and is a cat person herself so she has been doing everything to make it easy. My cat has a safe room to go in to be alone if she wants to, but she never acts scared.
I kept the cat in another room while she got settled in and sat on the couch. Then we opened the door, and it's like my cat didn't even notice the new person for a while. She smelled her suitcase, and then eventually made it over to her and smelled her. I rewarded her with treats repeatedly for being calm around her. All was going pretty well, she did open her mouth once like she was going to hiss when the guest moved her head suddenly but stopped.
My cat spent some time staring at our guest (lol) and then played for a bit and fell asleep. Later she came out again and smelled the guest's hair (in which she uses gel) and hissed at the back of her head from about an inch away. She then walked away and acted a little skeptical but quickly resumed her normal activities.
I have a few things to bring up. I'm naturally an anxious person especially when it comes to my cats because I just want the best for them. It stresses me out/ scares me when my cat hisses. I want to be able to have guests come over and see both of my cats play because they're such great cats and I want other people to see that. But, if it's best for my cat I could keep her in another room when people come over. I just don't know if that would stress her out being alone...I could keep the other cat in there with her but I don't want to have to do that if the other cat wants to socialize. Then again, it's not that big of a deal if it will make my cat less stressed and happy.
On the other hand, I'm wondering if I'm overreacting and I should just have people over occasionally and let her get used to them and if she hisses she hisses. But then again, it's kind of scary being a guest and having someone's cat hiss at you. I don't want to put my cat or my friends/family in danger. Also, my current apartment is really really small so there's really no way to ignore guests. I will be moving soon, though.
Long story short, should I just say "oh well" and put my cat in another room when guests come over? I just feel bad because it's not like she's running away or hiding; she comes right up to them and smells them and hisses. And how big of a deal is it if she hisses but acts relatively normal? Should I just have more people over and get her uses to them? I also don't want to stress her out and cause another UTI, because I just successfully switched her off of a prescription food and onto a regular food.
My guest is here for 2 more days...anything I should work on until then? Thanks in advance!
