Should You Hiss at Your Cat?

Sometimes I think my cats love being naughty. They seem to delight in scratching up the sofa, eating the flowers I just brought home and carefully arranged, fighting over the treats I pass out to them in equal portions, and headbutting me when I’m trying to sip a mug of tea and read my book in peace. (Dangerous to both me and to my book.) 

When this happens, my usual method of discipline is to give them a stern look and say their name in a way that I hope conveys my deep disappointment in their actions. Occasionally, I’ll clap my hands and tell them to knock it off. But the other day, when one of them was being especially persistent about demanding my attention (it was the hot tea and book thing again), my boyfriend had a suggestion. “You should hiss at him,” he said. “That’ll make him stop.”

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Hiss at him? My beloved baby? I would never! But apparently, this is a thing that some people do; I found a whole thread about it on Reddit, my go-to source for researching strange human behavior. I suppose in theory, it makes sense: Cats hiss at each other to enforce boundaries, so maybe they’d understand, and even appreciate it, if we started speaking their language. I still wasn’t sure, though. Does it work? More importantly, is it kind? (Also, can I hiss? I don’t think I’ve even got the right anatomy for it.)

The experts I consulted were unequivocal in their answer: it’s a hard no. Here’s why hissing at your cat is not only unlikely to work, but could actually backfire. (Sorry, sexy cat daddy.)

Why people think hissing works

It’s not hard to see why someone might believe it’s a good idea to hiss at your cat to curb their bad behavior. Cats hiss at other cats when they’re annoyed, or when they need some space. So why shouldn’t we do it to them? “This is an old myth that still gets floated around,” says cat behaviorist Joey Lusvardi. “The thought process is that because a cat hisses at another cat to set a boundary, we should do it to our cats to tell them to stop doing something.” 

However, Lusvardi says, this theory doesn’t hold water. (Something your cat does actually hate— that one isn’t a myth.) While logically it makes sense, it rarely works as well as people claim it does,” Lusvardi says. Here’s why.

Why hissing at your cat doesn’t work

While you might think there’s nothing wrong with getting on your cat’s wavelength and hissing up a storm when they’re naughty, it doesn’t get at the root cause of the naughtiness. "All behavior has a purpose,” Lusvardi explains. “Hissing at your cat to try to stop something doesn't teach the cat what to do instead, and it doesn't address the underlying reason for the behavior." 

In the case of my hot tea and the headbutting, my cat might be trying to tell me that I haven’t been playing with him enough lately. (Fair!) If I hissed at him, he might get the wrong message, Lusvardi tells me. “It's up to the learner (read: your cat) to decide how to interpret something like being hissed at.” This could result in him headbutting me more, he says. “Your cat may like the attention they get, so you could accidentally encourage the unwanted behavior."

How hissing can hurt your relationship

“Hissing is a defensive communication between cats and, out of context, would be very confusing or even scary for your cat,” says cat expert Heather Alvey, owner of Felidae Behavior Consulting. She says that even if an emphatic hiss surprises or scares a cat enough to stop the unwanted behavior in the moment, it won’t stop it for good. Furthermore, it can damage the human/feline relationship. “If the hissing scares your cat, long-term you’ll be weakening the bond you and your cat have,” Alvey says.

All of that lines up with my initial anti-hissing instinct, but I wondered if a veterinarian might offer a more tough-love take. I reached out to Dr. Victoria Carmella, a veterinary advisor at Pet Honesty, who told me the same thing. "When a human hisses at a cat, it can cause the cat to feel threatened or become defensive,” she explained. “Rather than resolving the behavior, this could cause increased tension and potentially damage your bond with them." Case closed. 

What to do instead

So what should I do when one of my little rascals gets up to no good? Alvey says the key is getting to the bottom of the behavior. “If your cat is exhibiting unwanted behaviors, instead of hissing at your cat, try understanding why your cat is doing the behavior, and look for fear-free methods to resolve or manage it.” 

Redirection works too, all the experts reminded me. That could mean a toy to play with and get their energy out, or a high perch near a window that lets them gaze at birds. “See if you can figure out why the cat is doing the behavior so you can address whatever it is they need instead of hissing at them,” Lusvardi says. “If it's something that happens repeatedly, figure out a way to make sure that need gets met before the behavior happens, or your cat has an acceptable outlet for it."

The bottom line? "If you want to build trust with your cat, avoid hissing at them,” Dr. Carmella says. In the case of scratching the sofa, perhaps I need to invest in more, and sturdier, cat scratchers to scatter around my apartment. The flower-eating and competing for treats might be a sign that my cats aren’t getting the right nutrition; it’s been a minute since they had a routine vet checkup, so maybe it’s time I took them in and asked about their nutritional needs. And yes, I know I should be playing with them more if I want them to curl up and nap beside me while I read my book and sip my tea. (OK, I admit it — sometimes I’m doomscrolling, not reading my book. My cats aren’t the only ones who behave badly around here.)