Why Do Cats Hiss At Their Kittens

A cat might be scared of a newcomer and will turn to hissing and growling at the new cat as a warning to get out of their space.

Why do cats hiss at their kittens. A hiss may be the precursor to a fight or flight another way of saying your cat might be having a bit of an anxiety attack. Once a mother cat has kittens these tiny furbabies become her world for the first few months. Bottom line cat growling is a natural way that cats communicate.

This is a natural instinct and it derives from Natural Selection. Primarily mothers hiss so that kittens can learn to mimic the sound. Your old cat the one that already lives there is rarely going to welcome them with open arms.

Although a hiss sometimes indicates that your kitty is about to attack the newcomer its usually just a warning for him to back off before she runs off. The momcat runs the kittens off of her after they are weaned usually unless she is just into being a mom for the rest of her days. In actuality a hiss is made by cats forcing air through their mouth during exhalation.

Your cat is likely to be hissing at her kittens because she is either scalding them for being naughty stressed out anxious or had a separation from them for a long period resulting in her not recognizing them. It is how the species survives in the wild. Like most mammals mother cats are extremely protective of their babies.

Theyre warning them to not get near. Territorial Aggression When a cat hisses at a new cat or kitten she is expressing a form of territorial aggression. If you introduce them slowly they get used to each other.

Kittens often hiss softly at each other to signal their play has become too rough and if you move to touch your kitten in this moment you may find yourself on the receiving end of the reaction. Your Cat Is Afraid. In my experience cats hiss at kittens simply because theyre a new cat in their territory.