my cat is not friendly?

Question

I have a three yr old tabby male, he greets me in the morning will allow me to pet him late at night, rest of the time especially to strangers he hides, hisses and growls when he goes to the cattery, any suggestions, gets the best food and is loved regardless of his odd ways.

Answer 1

Thats just his personality.

Maybe you need to get someone to come and stay with him at home, next time you go away. He will after a day or so, come round to being nice to whoever is feeding him!

Cattery's are lonely places . If i go on holiday, so does my cat.. to my mothers where he knows and can run around in the garden playing and being petted and brushed whilst I am sunning myself on a beach somewhere. He loves his little holidays to his "grandma's"

Answer 2

Firstly, is he neutered? Is the cattery part of your set up or do you mean when he has to board there during holdays? The hissing and growling reaction at the cattery is common and is the result of stress and fear. (Strange smells and sounds of other strange cats.) His reaction to strangers is also common. He's obviously quite timid and that could well be the result of maltreatment by someone else when he was young, or it may be that it's just his personality! He obviously trusts you, so I'd just go with the flow and love him regardless as you obviously are doing already.

Answer 3

Cats do not like change very much and strangers equal change to them.

I don't blame him that he is hissing and growling if he goes to a cattery often. The whole idea behind having a pet is to be at home with them.

If he's not neutered which you don't mention it could be he needs to get outside more often to explore.

Answer 4

We have a 3 year old, Gracie. I'm her "person". I get all her love and attention. She "tolerates" my husband:-) When a "stranger"(anyone who doesn't live here)comes through the door, she will sniff them, MAYBE allow them one rub, then the hissing starts. I don't' know what a "cattery" is. Cats are wonderfully, moody creatures and just like humans, we love them for all their oddities. Your, baby, is honoring you with the morning greeting and the evening "good-night". There are ways to socialize your cat, but it can take a long time.

Answer 5

He hates been apart from you I think, my dog is amazing but she woofs at the kennel staff when she goes into kennels, most kennel staff are fine about cats hissing at them or dogs woofing at them, they have looked after so many they get used to it, unless its a problem for the kennel staff I wouldn't stress too much, maybe he will get used to strangers, my friends cat, Daisy is pretty much the same but we just make allowances for her, she comes round eventually, maybe you could pick up some tips from a pet behaviourist site somewhere on line that may help.

Answer 6

What are you doing during the other times when you want to pet him? My cat reacts to loud noises and scared of strangers.. the best you can do is introduce him to people one at a time, give him time to warm up to them. How long has been like that?

Answer 7

is it a previously stray cat? i had a cat that i picked up, it was pretty much like that, but eventually grew to like me and others just by being loved as you've stated. i had it for about 3 months and it somewhat changed it's ways. whenever it was outside, it acted completely different (would even try to bite me often).

if you've only had the cat a short time, just being nice to it should work. it may not like anything else in the house like another cat or dogs, or children perhaps?

Answer 8

My six year old male cat is the same, however the way i look at it is that he is much more likley Not to get into any trouble from people who (how can i put it) dont like cats for whatever reason, cause he always runs away from people he does,nt know.

Answer 9

Get him neutered as this calms them down alot

Also you can from Vets buy pheromone spray (or plug in air freshner) that simulates the smell of a nursing cat that de-stresses them. This sounds bizarre but is true

Buy some catnip pump spray as he'll love it & if necessary spray on your friends ; )

He'll like you when he's hungry in the morning and evening, try getting visitors to feed him as he'll learn to like them for a reason

Answer 10

maybe as a kitty he did not have enough human contact which left him "half wild". But he loves you. As far as he is healthy, just have patience. I got my kitty from the pet´s pond when she was one year old. She was more or less wild too, especially she had very bad experience with men. Today, she is 15 and the most docile sweet thing ever.