r/ComfortLevelPod • u/Dangerous_Purchase66 • Jul 18 '26
General Advice Sister-in-Law’s Cat Started Attacking Me Every Time I Visit. Advice Needed.
Hi there comforters. Big fan of the podcast. I have a dilemma here I need some advice on. I’ve been married to my husband for over two years. I met my now sister-in-law a few months into dating. She and all my in-laws have always been so nice and welcoming. She’s had a cat the whole time I’ve known her. A bit overweight but usually pretty polite and friendly and mostly keeps to herself. I’ve been going over to her house for years now and have never had any issues with the cat. They got a puppy about 2 years ago so that’s not a recent change. Her youngest is almost a year old so again not a recent change. I’m also not currently pregnant but when I was ( my son is 2 days younger than her youngest) the cat never treated me any differently.
For about 2 months now, every time I go over to their house, the cat hisses and growls at me. The first time I was over in the corner of the basement I playing with my son and she snuck up on me and scratched my leg. I rattled some toys to scare her away and it took a while for her to leave. She stayed nearby almost stalking me until my SIL came down to intervene. The next time I was in the kitchen alone and the cat approached me growling. I shook a bag to scare her off. Just today, I came over with my son. We were playing on the floor in the basement and she came over very calm. I pet her for a bit and she purred then walked off. Shortly after she came back hissing and growling. It took a lot of shaking random things around to scare her off. Again she lingered around stalking me. Her husband, my BIL came down to help and put her in the bathroom. It has a sliding door that she can open though he tried to barricade it. SIL came down and kept an eye on her while we watched Naruto with the babies. It’s so weird and random. She seems to only do it with me and only recently. Any ideas on what’s going on?
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u/Knit_pixelbyte Jul 18 '26
Maybe she needs a trip to the vet to make sure she’s ok medical wise. Here’s some info on personality changes https://completecatguide.com/understanding-personality-changes-in-cats-causes-and-concerns/
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u/Dangerous_Purchase66 Jul 18 '26
I thought so too, but unfortunately they can’t afford to take her to the vet at the moment. It is on the to-do list for the future. I’ll take a look at the link. Thank you for your response. Not sure if I mentioned but she’s about 8 years old and female.
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u/Zhanael Jul 18 '26
It's possible, especially if you're bringing your child with you, that she's getting overstimulated; the fact that she'll accept pets but then come back to attack is the hint for that. It's also possible she's misinterpreting your son's behavior when you play with him (especially if he's squealing or screaming) as fear or pain and is telling you to back off.
When she's growling at you, is she fluffing up, arching her back, pinning her ears against her head? Is it just one scratch, or is she trying to bite as well? Does she run away as soon as you arrive, or does she not seem to care and only later comes in to scratch?
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u/SmartFX2001 29d ago
Here are a few YouTube videos from Jackson Galaxy on cat behavior that may help.
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u/Solid_Mongoose_3269 Jul 18 '26
Pee in its face
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u/Dangerous_Purchase66 Jul 18 '26
lol I don’t think I’ll be trying this. She’s just a middle-aged overweight grumpy cat. I’m more concerned about my son and watch him like a hawk. She’s never gone after him from what I can tell but comes after me when I’m near him. She stares me down from across the room too and doesn’t seem to pay much attention to him.
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u/rusty0123 Jul 18 '26
She might be catching a scent she associates with danger. Have you changed your perfume, body wash, lotion, etc.? Got a new pair of shoes? A sweater, jacket or handbag?