Why does a neighbor's cat meow at my door and hiss?
A neighbor's cat frequently meows, scratches, and rattles the door in the early morning hours, yet hisses aggressively the moment the door is opened. This prevents any friendly interaction and creates a stressful situation right outside your 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.
- 1Moving slowly, letting the cat approach first, and being patient
- 2Leaving the door open for a while and walking away to let the cat enter on its own
- 3Placing spike mats in front of the door
- 4Using an automatic feeder
- 5Feeding late around 11pm before bed
- 6Never opening the door or reacting
- 7Using an adhesive door draft stopper
- 8Providing a flopping fish toy for daytime distraction
- 9Letting the cat into the bedroom
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“basically, ever since i moved into my apartment, my neighbor's cat keeps meowing outside my door. however, when i open my door, it starts hissing at me and looks really angry”source ↗
“Every night around 5am he comes to my bedroom door, trills/yowls, and scratches it. It happens in rounds, several times in the early morning”source ↗
“He also slides his paw under the door and *pulls* on it, so the door rattles in its frame and makes a huge racket”source ↗
“i try 🥹 even if i open my door really slowly, the moment the kitty sees me it starts hissing”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 9Older cat still hissing at new kitten after months
- 13Why is my cat suddenly attacking my other cat?
- 3Why won't my kitten stop playing too rough with my older cat?
- 2Why does my cat bite my legs when I walk away?
- 11Are my cats playing or fighting?
- 42Why does my anxious cat scream and panic over closed doors?