I have two little girls that I babysit and my cat is always hissing at them. They call her Miss Hissy Pants. I keep telling them to leave her alone, they may end up getting swatted if they bug her. I am not going to lock her up while they are here, it is her house too, besides I have 3 other cats. She doesn't like little people!! She is not used to kids, they are the only kids that come here. She is great as long as they are not around!
2007-07-18 04:34:19 · 16 answers · asked by Lori F 6 in Pets ➔ Cats
The girls are 4 and 8. They are old enough to understand not to bug her, and their parents do know. They have been here often enough and have seen it for themselves! Once in awhile she will come up to them and let them pet her, but then they do something stupid, like chase her or throw things at her. Brats!!
2007-07-18 05:39:44 · update #1
The girls are 4 and 8. They are old enough to understand not to bug her, and their parents do know. They have been here often enough and have seen it for themselves! Once in awhile she will come up to them and let them pet her, but then they do something stupid, like chase her or throw things at her. Brats!! She has no problem at all with adults being here, of course they don't scare or abuse her!
2007-07-18 05:40:51 · update #2
Sorrry!! That came up twice, my mistake!!
2007-07-18 05:41:55 · update #3
From a cat's perspective, these are huge giants that are trying to capture me and who knows what they are going to do to me! She is hissing to protect herself from these potential giant "threats" as she sees them.
I would recommend the girls keep their distance from the cat and gradually be introduced at the cat's comfort level. Perhaps the girls can roll a ball to the kitty or play with it using a feather wand at a distance. They could even give food and water to the kitty. Then kitty will associate them with food and play.
They should NEVER try to hold a spissy Hissy that will only the kitty fear them more. Further they should NEVER chase her that only would scare her.
Also when they see kitty then have them stand at a far distance and speak softly to the kitty and no yelling or screaming or whining or anything like that...only soft gentle tones.
When kitty starts to approach them, when and if she does, they are not to grab her but hold out their hands. If she accepts, then pet her and say Good girl! If she backs away, then she is getting used to them but she still needs more time.
It also depends on her temperment and age. If she is just a spissy Hissy at heart and independent she might not warm up or might take a long time.
Also it depends on when she was socialized. If she was socialized to humans at a young age, then there is a good chance she will warm up. If she was only socialized to one human, than only one human will she accept. If she was hurt by anyone (not saying she was or wasnt I dont know), then she will see all humans as dangerous.
Cats also accept by scent. If kitty does not recognize a scent, then it will be a spissy. Another thing is the girls can take something that has their scent on it (something not important) and put it in a room or area the kitty likes to be. The kitty will smell their scent and there is a chance she might get used to the scent.
Above all else they must not chase her nor try to grab at her nor speak loud. Instead let her come at her time not force it to come sooner.
If she comes, she comes. If not, then not.
I have had kitty's that were wild barn cats become tame. Others do not.
2007-07-18 04:48:08 · answer #1 · answered by kickindevilbutt 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
talk to the girls parents and tell then that their little girls may come home with some scratches - kids need to learn boundaries with animals. An animal isn't able to say "leave me alone" so they hiss or bark or leave the room..... kids that continue to bug an animal after given a "warning" have a scratch or bite coming..... i am guessing the girls are old enough to know to leave the cat alone if they are old enough to come up with a nickname for her. If the girls are under 4 they may not be able to understand why the cats are hissing but they will learn real quick when the cat bites them!!!
2007-07-18 11:44:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Talk to the parents as suggested and trim the cats claws. There are also acrylic nail caps that you can get to put over nails just in case there is a scratch. How old are the girls? Do they understand that the cat will hurt them if they keep bugging it? Try to keep them busy with other activities to keep their mind off the cat. Also maybe start out with small supervised visits with the cat - maybe have the girls give the cat a treat so that the cat starts to associate good things with the little people.
2007-07-18 11:50:12 · answer #3 · answered by Gerri D 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Teach the kids that you keep some of the things on how to care for animals and definitely don't try to force a relationship between the kids and the cat. Also if one of the kids do end up getting scratched, make sure to tell the parents of the kids, so that they know what happened.
If the cat starts to get curious about the kids, let her come to them when she feels like, right on on her territory she feels threatened by little munchkins. Which is normal, my biggest thing to do would to teach each child on what not to do to aggravate the cat
2007-07-18 11:44:22 · answer #4 · answered by kitten ~ 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Personally I'd ask the parents of them if they could be babysat at their house since they've continued to torment your pets and you're not happy with how your cat is getting upset.
If you can't stop them from doing what they shouldn't (what if they broke the tv or smashed windows?) then they shouldn't be in your place to make things worse.
2007-07-18 19:47:27 · answer #5 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i have a cat like that too all you have to do is find activities for the little girls to do then when they are so wound up in activities they will forget all about your cat .Or you could tell the little girls that the cat might attack them and that they should leave the cat alone .If this doesnt work please e-mail me and i'll have more suggestions
2007-07-18 11:41:02 · answer #6 · answered by celine.harrison 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
let them all work it out, there maybe more hissing and a couple of tears from getting scratched but in the end they will either learn to steer clear of each other or be the best of friends.
2007-07-18 11:37:29 · answer #7 · answered by ?! 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Could you put them in another room or something awat from the kids ? If they get scratched you'll have to pay the doctor bills.
2007-07-18 13:59:00 · answer #8 · answered by less 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
These kids sound kind of obnoxious, they need to leave her alone. Make them keep away from her and she won't hiss.
2007-07-18 12:21:45 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
mz hissy pants needs to teach those children of the corn a lesson and maybe then they won't bug her!!!!
2007-07-18 12:53:11 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋