Why do cats hiss at dying cats even if they are their feline friend?

Question

My cat recently died from heat stress i believe, and as it lay there my other cat wouldn't even look at it and hissed at it, when normally they would lick eachother. Then a neighbours cat hissed at it and they were good companions.

I'd like to add that it wasn't until my neighbour knocked at 11pm at night to say that my cat was in her garden for 12 hours without moving that i knew anything was wrong with my cat so it wasn't that i wasn't responsible. This only happened yesterday so i am still very upset and only found out from looking at the net that cats suffer from heat exhaustion, so please dont think i am a bad owner as i loved my cat very much.

Answer 1

The healthy cat is most likely afraid that they will get sick and die shortly after, if they have anything to do with the other cat. They can smell death. They're hissing at the idea of death, not at the other cat.

One of my cats had a stroke last year and my other cat wouldn't go anywhere near her because she knew something was seriously wrong. They were very good friends when they were both alive. I think my healthy cat just knew her friend wasn't coming home again, after that night. (My sick cat had to be put to sleep that night because she was in so much pain).

I am very sorry for your loss.

Answer 2

My cats have never hissed at each other when they are dying, but they do avoid the dying cat. They know something is wrong. Just like momma cats put one off to the side and won't feed it, she somehow knows it's not healthy enough to live.

A strange thing that I recently noticed though is that when 2 cats were enemies, if they both are dying they both become very loving to each other.

I live in the country and had a stray cat, that I think someone dropped off that would come around occassionally. The rest of my cats hated it, however it came up to me one day covered in ticks. I picked them all off and he hung around. Everyone ignored him when normally they would've run him off.

A few days later one of my cats was rubbing all over him. I knew my cat was dying because normally they would be fighting like crazy. The whole time they lived they were best buddies.

Where I live, ticks that have been on bobcats bite them and there is no cure. It's called cytauxzoan. I put frontline on all my cats, but all it takes is one bite and there's nothing anyone can do.

Also, whoever said that cats are never friends, I have two cats that you hardly ever see seperated. They are licking each other and laying on top of each other all the time. They are best buds if that I have ever seen. They are both about 8 years old and have done this forever.

Answer 3

You'll find most people who hate cats have never had a cat so actually have no idea what there like to live with. To be honest i never liked cats before i had one, i didn't hate them though because i would never have had one. Now that i have a cat i would say i prefer them over dogs, that's how drastically my views have changed. Lots of people i know say to me or when they come in my home they say i don't like cats and i think to myself, how do you know you don't like cats if you've never had one. For people to say something silly like there too independent is a bit reticules and really grasping for reasons not to like cats. Who on earth wants something clingy round them 24/7, defiantly not me that's for sure, what annoyed me about my last dog was i couldn't go on the toilet without him clawing at the door wanting to get in, if i moved he followed me everywhere and dogs do smell allot worse than a cat, he needed about 4 hours walking a day. Allot of energy is needed for a dog. Cats don't smell, they like being played with but are quite happy spending time on there own and you can let them out and they will come back on there own. I still love dogs but a cat at the moment suits my situation, i don't think you can work all day and keep a dog that's just my view anyway. I'll probably have a dog when i retire so i've got a long wait.

Answer 4

Im very sorry for your loss- its an awful way to lose a loved pet. The reason the other cat would hiss, is that she could not understand what was wrong with her friend, but knew it was something awful, and hissed to make it go away.

Answer 5

Your neighbour is unbelievable, who'd leave an animal for 12 hours like that? What would it have taken for them to alert you to the fact there was a problem, you could have saved your cat if you'd known earlier.
Your other cat was unnerved. It could tell something serious was wrong and also felt that something about your other cat had changed, and that its behaviour was different and 'wrong'. Animals don't feel the same way as we do about death. They sometomes react very badly to someone having an epileptic fit or to someone who is drunk even if they know them and like them. (Epilepsy Aware dogs have to be specially trained).

Answer 6

survival instincts makes the cat think that when the other cat dies it will decompose and attract predators to his home. Hence he tries to scare the predator magnet away from his comfy bed and food dish as he doesn't want to leave. It's the same reason why when a dwarf hamster dies it's buddy will eat it.

Answer 7

Because the cat probably smelled different. And, cats have a survival instinct - they don't want to catch what the other cat might have.


Please, get a fan and keep your cats cool. They are your responsibility.

Answer 8

Sorry to hear about your cat. As to the hissing, I've never encountered the phenomenon so I can't help you.

Answer 9

Poor you :(

Cats were unsure or smelt something diiferent.

Answer 10

Cats don't ever really like each other - naturally they are solitary animals - they might play together but they won't ever be friends. Sorry.