You shouldn’t hiss back at your cat – or hiss at your cat at all. Hissing is a defensive measure to get others to back away and leave you alone. If you hiss at your cat, you’re telling it you need some space in a rather aggressive manner.
Hissing back at your cat would be the same as yelling back to someone that’s shouting at you. It’s fighting fire with fire – and you’re bound to burn things to the ground that way.
As a human, you have the rationale to sit back and understand why your cat hissed at you. You need to use that ability to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. Hissing, while effective, isn’t the best idea out there.
Why is my cat hissing at me?
When a cat hisses at a human or another animal, it’s doing so out of fear or discomfort. Cats are rather territorial, and, from time to time, loners. If a cat hisses at you, you are either overextending your welcome or invading the cat’s personal space.
There are multiple scenarios where your cat would hiss at you. If your cat decided to take some alone time and is hiding away, you shouldn’t bother it. If you do, there’s a high chance you’ll be getting hissed at.
Other times, you may want to play when your cat is in no playing mood. If you try over and over to get your cat to engage in a game, it’ll end up hissing at you.
At the end of the day, a hissing cat is asking you to back off. What did you do to get there? That’s why your cat is hissing!
What to do when a cat hisses at me?
After your cat hissed at you, the best thing you can do is back off. Walk away, wait for a little bit, and try to interact with your cat again. If it’s tense, wait for a little longer – or, better yet, wait until the cat approaches you.
Once a cat has told you to back off by hissing, the only thing you should do is back off. Keep in mind that’s for when you’re on the wrong side of things.
If your cat is being overly territorial or acting up when hissing, you have to train your cat’s bad habits away. That’s something you’ll have to figure out on a case-by-case basis.
Never, ever punish your cat for hissing. Wait until the aggressiveness has cooled down, and approach this in an animal-friendly manner.
What can I do to stop my cat from hissing at me?
Try to understand your cat’s personality and body language. Learn to avoid bad situations instead of trying to fix them after they’ve occurred. If your cat is hissing for the wrong reasons, contact your vet or an animal trainer to see how you can fix the situation.
Hissing is a normal phenomenon for cats – but that doesn’t mean it should happen! If your cat is tensing up, back off and wait until it’s relaxed again.
On the other hand, if your cat is hissing at you because of territorial reasons, you’re going to have to reinforce good habits by training it.