My cat hisses...at men and other cats. Help!!!

Question

My cat hisses and growls at men. All men, only men. I have tried positive reinforcement and desensitization. Still won't stop this behavior. The vet told me to bet her a playmate, so I got a kitten almost 2 weeks ago. Well she is hissing and growling at him too. It has decreased quite a bit, but it is still happening and is very upsetting to me. Could someone please help me?

Answer 1

Cats are very weird. I know because I have two sets, a male and female about 5 years old, and a male and female around 13-14 years old. I got both sets around the same time and they like cats of the same age they were raised with. I don't know why your cat dislikes men. I'd just let her be. Some cats even really don't want feline company, they are happy with humans. Maybe another female would work? My bf took in a homeless cat a few years ago and she's very happy with just him. He spoils her rotten.

Answer 2

your cat is being Territorial. she is very frightened of new things.  if it is upsetting to you, it must be horrible for the new kitten to deal with. he probably doesn't have a clue what is going on. if your cat is harming the kitten, find it another home immediately. you don't want to come home some day and find it injured or worse.

it doesn't sound like a case of dominance, but then again you don,t say how old your cat is.

some animals seem to prefer one human s*x better that the other. i had a doberman who loved all men. i could have been a rock in the corner for all she cared, and she was my dog.  some animals are like that.

Answer 3

For the two cats, they need quite a bit to get used to each other, which should happen after a few months. The cat is showing her dominance. Be sure to supervise all interaction between them until they are COMPLETELY used to each other. For the men issue... that is quite interesting. Do you know your cat's history? If you adopted her or picked her up off the streets, her previous owner might have been a man who didn't treat her right, possibly abusing her. She might associate men with pain or discomfort. Hopefully, she will grow out of this in time. If it's decreasing, that is very promising. It's not going to stop all at one time, but be happy it's decreasing! That means she will probably get used to her in a bit. Good luck!

Answer 4

The decreased hissing at the new addition means she is getting used to him - give that time.  As for the man-hater - not much you can do except to use behavior modification by using a water pistol when she does hiss (at either the men or the new addition).  

My Russian Blue actually attacks any strange man that comes into our apartment and does serious damage.  I don't discourage this any longer since I had a break-in and the burglar learned quickly that a mad cat is worse than a dog in some cases.  My neighbor heard a loud screech (still don't know if it was the cat or the burglar) and running seconds later.  When the police got there, they found a trail of blood leading to a neighboring building.  Yes, they caught the guy - the cat had the intruder's blood on him - and the intruder had major claw marks.

Answer 5

well your cat has probably spent all it's life spending time with you, a woman, if your single and you don't have a boyfriend living with you then she has never really experienced seeing a man before, they are new creatures to her and she obviously doesn't like them, and she is hissing at the kitten because she has never experienced having another cat in the house besides her, she may also think that guys are intruders and maybe she can sense they guys don't have that strong of an instinct to love and care like a woman,  

Answer 6

For the hissing at men prob, I can't rlly help you.

But for the kitten prob, they just need time to get used to each other. You can't just put them together and expect them to get along, they need time. It used to be only your other cat's territory, and now he has to share it. Just give them time and they will get used to each other.