Said It Here

Why is my roommate's cat hissing and following me?

Unfamiliar cats may show teeth and follow you when they feel stressed by a person they do not know well. This uncertainty prevents people who are already uncomfortable around cats from feeling safe in their own living space.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Feeding the cat
  2. 2
    Petting the cat
  3. 3
    Checking the cat's tail posture to gauge mood
  4. 4
    testing a standard cat carrier first
  5. 5
    using a pet stroller instead of a backpack
  6. 6
    leaving the cat inside to look out the window
  7. 7
    Never letting the cat outside again even with supervision
  8. 8
    Ushering the cat inside quickly
  9. 9
    Asking online community members for clarification
  10. 10
    Observing the intensity and speed of the tail movement
  11. 11
    Looking at overall cat behavior like purring and making biscuits
  12. 12
    consulting veterinarians
  13. 13
    asking online communities
  14. 14
    researching cat behavior online
  15. 15
    Waiting for the cat to decompress
  16. 16
    Giving the cat space and a box with a blanket
  17. 17
    Observing if the cat is drooling or has a hairball
  18. 18
    Saying hello back to the cat
  19. 19
    Praising the cat and acknowledging its "kill"
  20. 20
    checking for ear infections or ear mites to rule out equilibrium issues
  21. 21
    Assuming the cat is simply having a dream
  22. 22
    Accepting minor scratches and scars as part of the interaction
  23. 23
    separating them
  24. 24
    looking for signs like self grooming or tails indicating they are cool
  25. 25
    monitoring urination to check for urinary blockages
  26. 26
    accepting the behavior as a self-soothing comfort habit
  27. 27
    sending a video to the vet
  28. 28
    taking the kitten to the vet for a checkup
  29. 29
    observing context and posture
  30. 30
    closing the window
  31. 31
    Booking a veterinary appointment to check the cat

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

My cat (male, less than 1 year old) has been doing this for like 5 minutes everyday where he looks somewhere random mostly the ceiling and just meows like this.source ↗

Is this normal or should I be concerned?source ↗

ESMAIL_BADRAN · r/cats · 48 upvotes

This kitten is doing something strange where she’s kneading into everything and I mean everything she walks and she kneads. I assume this is normal for a kitten but I never seen it before and wanted to double check.source ↗

OtterPretzel · r/cats · 20 upvotes

I wanted to make sure she isn’t annoyed or stressed. Does anyone know what the small little tail swishes mean?source ↗

HitmanStickman · r/cats · 12 upvotes

He always does this when he turns his headsource ↗

Omidlol12 · r/cats · 10 upvotes

He started charging toward ME and attacked the hell out of me.source ↗

now that he’s inside he’s still making those deep guttural meows at me and puffing his tail like I’m still a threat.source ↗

I’m so scared that he hates me now.source ↗

Ass soon as I stood back up though, he started hissing and growling at me again.source ↗

LimeVegetable7296 · r/cats · 9 upvotes

first time cat owners & adopted like 3 weeks ago. is he annoyed? is he chillin? is he just weird?source ↗

shambalooney · r/cats · 8 upvotes

I like to piss off my cat a little bit by petting his belly and he often gets excited and grabs by hand. I was wondering if instead he wants to make me stop doing itsource ↗

I wanted to make sure it was healthy for him and he is happy.source ↗

Xavier598 · r/cats · 7 upvotes

Anyone else's do.. whatever this is?source ↗

Have never known what it is or why he does it so thought I'd see if anyone has any insightsource ↗

demontosome · r/cats · 7 upvotes

he started doing this after i introduced my kitten but as the months go on he starts to scream at me while humping me? i’m scared it’s a urinary blockagesource ↗

Holiday-Ad-6471 · r/cats · 7 upvotes

Any idea what she is doing when she makes this noise with her mouth?source ↗

Quick_Speech_2044 · r/cats · 6 upvotes

This happens randomly, idk what it is since I've never had a cat before and I've got him recently, he seemed fine, he's not behaving any different from when he didn't have it.source ↗

Electrical_Drink1422 · r/cats · 5 upvotes

Thank you! She didn’t seem annoyed or stressed but I remember someone telling me when a cat swishes their tail it means they’re annoyed or upset. I figured this might be more like a human tapping their foot casually sorta thing, but I wanted to be sure!source ↗

HitmanStickman · r/cats · 4 upvotes

is this him being adorable and having kitty dreams, OR is he in some kind of distress?source ↗

andeleven · r/cats · 4 upvotes

ive had her for about 5 months and shes undoubtedly happy all the time but is also always wagging like shes pissed offsource ↗

Crazy-Plastic3133 · r/cats · 4 upvotes

It is my roomate's cats and it has seen me few times before though I have never played with him/her. I am usually not comfortable with cats(including this one).source ↗

He/She seems mad if that changes anything, teeth showing.source ↗

Salty_Palpitation298 · r/cats · 3 upvotes

I have one that too.source ↗

Tough-Pudding-4668 · r/cats · 3 upvotes

Confused as bellies are showing and they’re willingly laying close but my older cat is growling.source ↗

jennnn123 · r/cats · 3 upvotes

my 3m old f kitten sometimes does this with her head when she purrs, like pulses it? is it a burp or what do you think it could be?source ↗

Icy_Reference961 · r/cats · 3 upvotes

Thought it was a great idea... turns out it's just a sure fire way to make my cat vomitsource ↗

King_K_24 · r/cats · 2 upvotes

when i asked for advice everyone said this was due to stress from the new kitten. now him and the kitten are best friends and he still does this except if it’s not on me he cries :/source ↗

Holiday-Ad-6471 · r/cats · 2 upvotes

I got one just like the one pictured, turns out both my average sized cats are a little big for it.source ↗

Neither of my cats tolerate a harness well, and the few times I've taken them out on my back porch, they've mostly reacted really scared like I'm about to abandon them. ☹️source ↗

My boy cat cries non stop whenever he goes outside, no matter what method. My girl cat is quiet, but clearly not happy.source ↗

Additional-Leg-4680 · r/cats · 1 upvotes

My cat does this exact same "hello?!" I always say hello back.source ↗

Useful-Plankton8205 · r/cats · 1 upvotes

My 2 siblings do this - they want to show you their "kill"source ↗

cateatingturtle · r/cats · 1 upvotes

does he does this when hes not looking up? My cat does this looking up basically , anyway maybe hes trying to hyper focus on ur face or somethingsource ↗

TangeloThick2780 · r/cats · 1 upvotes

No idea why but she still does it all these years later.source ↗

FeeNecessary3467 · r/cats · 1 upvotes

He screams like that daily, usually when/after he's playingsource ↗

jonicho99 · r/cats

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised