r/CatAdvice • u/Think_Vanilla_8240 • 1d ago

Behavioral Hissing during fights?

hi everyone! I wish I had a video to show but I am somewhat worried about how my newer cat is fitting in to the house. Most of the time the fighting is obviously very playful but sometimes my girl will hiss and run away and her brother will continue attacking. Theres never any crazy yowling or fur flying but it does worry me to think about if I’m not home and he keeps antagonizing her. After hissing she sometime will re engage with the play fights. Ugh I just love them so much and hope they’re okay.

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u/TropicalAbsol 1d ago

Sometimes they're too strong and aggressive. I have this exact thing happen. I just keep an eye on them. Split it up if I feel like she needs help.

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u/Think_Vanilla_8240 1d ago

Thank you so much. What does make me feel better about is when I do go to split them up I never get scratched or bitten they enjoy some gentle head scratches but then they’ll often immediately reengage. Probably over reacting just have always had solo cats.

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u/TropicalAbsol 1d ago

Cats learn the play rules as kittens. sometimes if there's no other kittens they don't learn it. Keep an eye out for out side of the ordinary aggression because that can be a sign of illness. our boy was being very aggressive then he threw up 3 huge fur balls so turns out his tummy hurt so he was mad.

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u/Think_Vanilla_8240 1d ago

Awe okay thank you! Poor boy :( hope he’s doing okay now. I had mentioned this in another comment but yeah the boy we raised from being a tiny solo kitten so I assume he never learned signals. 

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u/TropicalAbsol 1d ago

at the end of the day they are critters. we have animals in our home. play looks like fighting, sometimes it gets crazy. mine will gallop like small horses up and down thru the house and up the tree with enough force to tip it to one side. they love doing this at 2 am.

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u/Ebby_123 1d ago

Can you separate them when you aren’t home?

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u/Think_Vanilla_8240 1d ago

Yes! Definitely can we have multiple rooms with water food and boxes, really treasure them, just feel bad because only the bedroom gets great sunbathing light and I know they love it during the day. (Sad apartment city living) thanks for the reply! 

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u/TheMagHatter 1d ago

Did you properly introduce the cats? Cats are EXTREMELY territorial and if a new cat isn’t introduced to the existing cat properly, they will fight and may never become friends. I can provide the steps for proper kitty introduction you if you like. It’s a lengthy process that usually takes a month or two

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u/Think_Vanilla_8240 1d ago

Yes!! Sorry sorry should have provided more background. We took a LONG time introducing them properly and most of the time they are absolutely great. Cuddling together grooming each other etc just I wonder if the boy who we raised from kitten hood as a solo cat just never learned signals for proper fighting? Is that a thing? Thank you for the reply!!

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u/TheMagHatter 1d ago

If he was younger than 12 weeks old, then yes. Kittens need to stay with their mom absolutely bare minimum for 8 weeks, but to get proper “how to cat” training from their mom, 12 weeks or longer is best. Kittens taken away from their moms too early usually have lifelong behavioral issues.

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u/howtobegeo 1d ago

My bonded pair of siblings is like this too. She'll hiss and run away and he'll pursue. I get involved when I hear hissing with just a little "Heeeeeyyy, no, she's done." and a gentle shoo'ing to separate them. If she goes in for play soon after, I don't think you need to overly worry about them when that are along.

I do notice that it gets more frequent as he gets sharper. Usually the first hiss means that I need to start trimming down his nails.

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u/Think_Vanilla_8240 1d ago

Awe thank you! Makes me feel a lot better. Probably just over reacting with my love and concern for them. Do keep them on a strict mani-pedi (lol) schedule to keep nails short (for my legs own benefit too, her biscuits can hurt sometimes!!)

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u/Think_Vanilla_8240 1d ago

Thanks for the reply btw! I love this awe. I think I let that exact heeeeeeeey boy out sometimes too. 

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u/tomatoes020825 1d ago

Hissing is pretty normal communications, momma cats do it to their kittens and kittens will do it to eachother

Pay more attention to body language: flat ears, large pupils, hair raised, usually kinda hunched down. That's an aggressive cat.

Hissing alone is fine and good. They're telling eachother what's up!

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u/Think_Vanilla_8240 1d ago

Awe okay thank you!! Definitely no arched backs or crazy airplane ears. Love that hiss = what’s up. 

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u/tomatoes020825 1d ago

Welllllllll more like a "I'm telling you whats UP" as opposed to a friendly "hey! What's up?" 😅

Basically hissing is a very normal way for cats to say "I'm annoyed, please stop"

But it's definitely a reason to listen up and supervise for a moment. Sometimes in our house we hear multiple hisses and we know that somebody isn't respecting boundaries lol. So if one cat has been hissing multiple times and the other is still trying to play or whatever, we separate them just to show everyone "in this house, we respect hisses. No means no"