Suki doesn’t like our son

[SukiSuki]

My poor son. He is the one that wanted a cat the most, and Suki does not like her. We got her when she was 6 weeks old. Her and her siblings were abandoned when they were about 3 weeks old.
She will be very loving towards him when he gives her food, but as soon as he picks her up, she growls and hisses at him. She will swat at him too, but she doesn't attack. She rarely likes for him to go near her or pet her. But again..sweet as ever and will take pets when he is feeding her.
Any suggestions what we can do to correct this issue?
Strangely, she was also like this with me too, but not anymore. My husband...she loves him, and always sits in his lap, but when I go to bed, she follows me and gets under the covers.
She is a tortoiseshell/tabby mix. A rare silver torbie pattern. I understand tortoiseshell can be moodiness, Sassy, attitude. That's definitely her. Despite her seriously disliking my son, he still loves her and wants her to love him back. He does hiss back at her when she hisses at him. Probably not a good idea. Oh and he is 16.
I am wondering if sprays or something would help.
Or if I could hang out in his room and bed a lot while he is at school and see if that helps.
I'm wondering if feliway would help.
I did have a feliway plug in, and we did notice that she seems happier and relaxed and actually she didn't mind my son when we had the feliway. Not sure if that is coincidence.
Thanks for your time and patience on my long post.

 

[SukiSuki]

Oh and to add to this...she used to not be like this with him. So we don't understand why she changed!!!!
And she used to be this way with me, and now she isn't. Again..don't understand why the change.
She switched on me and my son, but always remained the same with my husband.

 

[SukiSuki]

And here they are when she was sweet!!

 

[arr]

Our tortie is very similar. She wont sit in my lap but she will sit in my husband’s lap. She doesn’t like to be pet or held. If she is very sleepy we can gently pet her face and belly, but she hates her back being touched. She is very energetic and loves to play, playing is her love language. My husband plays with her a lot and I think that’s why she loves him. Does your son play with Suki? He can try fishing pole type toys, tossing springs, balls. Also, how old is Suki? If she is still quite young, she could just need some time to settle down. Our girl will be two this spring and she has slowly become more affectionate compared to a year ago.

 

[SukiSuki]

Our tortie is very similar. She wont sit in my lap but she will sit in my husband’s lap. She doesn’t like to be pet or held. If she is very sleepy we can gently pet her face and belly, but she hates her back being touched. She is very energetic and loves to play, playing is her love language. My husband plays with her a lot and I think that’s why she loves him. Does your son play with Suki? He can try fishing pole type toys, tossing springs, balls. Also, how old is Suki? If she is still quite young, she could just need some time to settle down. Our girl will be two this spring and she has slowly become more affectionate compared to a year ago.

Yes he plays with her! She gets play time every day. She likes to play fetch and she loves the go cat toys..the feather on the pole and the mouse on the stick. She doesn't mind being pet anywhere on her body, but she just absolutely cannot stand for him to pick her up or get in her space. It's so strange lol. Like just now she was in my lap, and my son was leaving and went to pet her, and she was loving it. So dang confusing!! So yeah every once in a while, that will happen.
Now she does get to a point where she's like okay that's enough petting, and we stop. And I do remember when she was younger, she did not like her back touched at all.
Yes she is not even a year yet. She is 10 months old so yes maybe like you said, that might have something to do with it. I hope!!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. How does Suki react to others when being picked up? Maybe your son tries to pick her up too much or picks her up in some manner that she finds unsettling. It sounds like she will seek out you and your husband's company for 'cuddling' when she wants it, so that would need to be the same for your son. The best thing to do is have your son stop trying to pick her up for now. Maybe your son can use some of the techniques suggested in this TCS article? I am not saying Suki doesn't like your son, that just happens to be the title of the article, but it simply contains information on how to get a cat to be more comfortable around people they seem to be hesitant with.
14 Cat Experts Reveal: How To Get A Cat To Like Me – TheCatSite Articles

 

[SukiSuki]

Hi. How does Suki react to others when being picked up? Maybe your son tries to pick her up too much or picks her up in some manner that she finds unsettling. It sounds like she will seek out you and your husband's company for 'cuddling' when she wants it, so that would need to be the same for your son. The best thing to do is have your son stop trying to pick her up for now. Maybe your son can use some of the techniques suggested in this TCS article? I am not saying Suki doesn't like your son, that just happens to be the title of the article, but it simply contains information on how to get a cat to be more comfortable around people they seem to be hesitant with.
14 Cat Experts Reveal: How To Get A Cat To Like Me – TheCatSite Articles

Thank you!! I'll check out the link. She does hiss at anyone else who picks her up too. He is not aggressive or anything like that and he picks her up the same way I do. I will say, the first time she hissed at him when he picked her up was when she got loose outdoors. Not sure if that has anything to do with it, since she hisses at anyone else. She will growl too. But she never acts on it. She's all talk lol.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I will say, the first time she hissed at him when he picked her up was when she got loose outdoors.

That certainly could have started her hissing routine with him. I have a very calm cat who thinks she should be able to try to sneak into our garage. She never hisses normally but on the few occasions she has managed to sneak into the garage she will hiss when being picked up to be carried back into the house. The fact that your cat hisses at anyone who picks her up just means that she isn't willing to make an exception for your son!!!

 

[SukiSuki]

That certainly could have started her hissing routine with him. I have a very calm cat who thinks she should be able to try to sneak into our garage. She never hisses normally but on the few occasions she has managed to sneak into the garage she will hiss when being picked up to be carried back into the house. The fact that your cat hisses at anyone who picks her up just means that she isn't willing to make an exception for your son!!!

I think I'm going to do a test and get a feliway plug in for the room she is mostly in, and also put one in my son's room and see if that does anything at all. Like I said before, she seemed better when I had one in one of the rooms. It has been a few months, so I'm gonna try this again and see if it makes a difference. Fingers crossed lol.

 

[vince]

That certainly could have started her hissing routine with him. I have a very calm cat who thinks she should be able to try to sneak into our garage. She never hisses normally but on the few occasions she has managed to sneak into the garage she will hiss when being picked up to be carried back into the house. The fact that your cat hisses at anyone who picks her up just means that she isn't willing to make an exception for your son!!!

If she found out hissing would work, why should she stop doing so? She's just telling you she doesn't want to be picked up. I've had cats that did that. You just have to work on them slowly over a period of time to get them to realize being picked up isn't a bad thing. Just a little at a time--pick them up only enough for their feet to leave the ground and put them down, then give 'em a treat if they don't hiss. There has to be at least something positive for them in the process.

 

[SukiSuki]

She let's my husband and I pick her up no problems. I'm going to have my son try that with the treats.