Does any of your cats think they are guard kitties

My Tavia is one of the most wonderful cats I have ever known. But she has a funny quirk its not harmful I am just curious why she does it. If she sees someone like my dad or company walking around outside especially if I am near her she will start growling at them. We live out in the woods so she mainly sees my dad or my uncle outside doing stuff and if the dogs begin barking she will growl and then run up the hallway like she is checking the place out and then she will hide under my bed or in the laundry room. And if I am in bed she will growl at anyone that comes near me besides the dogs. She loves her dogs. And I have never seen a cat do this before. The funny thing is when I first got her I had a pitbull and she was very protective of me especially when I was sleeping if I was asleep she wouldn't allow anyone near me and I am wondering if maybe Tavia developped this from her. Because for a long time it was just the two of them.

Yes! We call Noel our "guard kitty". He is an apparent Japanese Bobtail rescue, who will sit on the padded cat perch we have on our den window that looks over our deck, and if he sees another cat wander through the yard or onto the deck he goes nuts...he growls, he tries to wedge his head into the partially opened window (and now you know why I never have him near a fully opened window, I don't want to test our screen strength!).

I've seen him, at night, push aside the blinds, put his paws on the backdoor doorknob...he will actually scan the back deck with his head between the slats of the blinds!

Too funny, he's very gentle and gets along with our other kitties, so it's not an "I'm the only cat" aggressive issue at all.

Mister growls when the doorbell rings and runs to the door, then to me, to the dog, back to the door.
He also growls when the Hydro man walks around the side of the house to check the meter.

Hope and Autumn will guard me from all the dangerous birds out!

Originally Posted by Tavia'smom

The funny thing is when I first got her I had a pitbull and she was very protective of me especially when I was sleeping if I was asleep she wouldn't allow anyone near me and I am wondering if maybe Tavia developped this from her. Because for a long time it was just the two of them.

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Kittens learn from observation, and my folks have a "dog-raised" cat who will drop & roll in horse manure to mask his scent, and who would follow the dogs running along the fence when strangers walked by. My disabled daughter, Nat's cat, Christy, will guard Nat when she's asleep. Christy is not a fighter, but once when we were staying at my sister's, my sister's cat C.C. (who spend much time terrorizing poor Christy, forcing her to hide under beds & couches) jumped on Nat's pillow & Christy went BALLISTIC - Christy screeched like a banshee & really attacked C.C. She got him from one room to another & we couldn't break it up. He finally ran hissing under my sis's bed & Christy, with tail held proud, calmly walked back to Nat's bed, jumped up & gave Nat a good sniffing to make sure all was well, then lay down on her mat at Nat's feet. C.C. politely ignored Christy after that!

Chichi is my protector she'll give charge to anything threatening

Hi, cats cannot really recognize people as individuals outside, nor other cats or dogs, so anyone out there is automatically going to look like an intruder to them. It's only when they're indoors and they can smell everyone that they know who's who.

Originally Posted by Larke

Hi, cats cannot really recognize people as individuals outside, nor other cats or dogs, so anyone out there is automatically going to look like an intruder to them. It's only when they're indoors and they can smell everyone that they know who's who.

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Can't say I agree. My experience with a semi-feral I tamed and adopted was by the end of a year, he was in our yard waiting until I'd get home...he would run across the lawn to me. He however, avoided anyone but myself or my dh.

I've had other stray cat experiences outside, including our latest rescue...this cat watched me from way afar for many months...she certainly knew my voice, and when she was being attacked one day, "understood" I was chasing the other cat away from her, and came back when I called to eat and let me touch her for only the second time. She was starving to death, so believe me, she'd not been approaching other folks, and had only seen me outside, and usually at a distance or with me on the other side of a door.

I think cats use other senses - certainly sound - besides their acute sense of smell to "recognize" us.

Well Tavia will growl at anyone that is inside the house that comes near my room which is unavoidable as my room is next to the bathroom. And she does that when I am asleep. but she growls at anyone (not sure about me) when they are outside.

I wish Molly and Penelope were guard cats. When anyone knocks on the door, they both bolt and hide under the bed!

Occasionally one of mine will not like something about someone who has rang the doorbell, and will look and growl and sneak off to hide, but mostly they keep and eye out for other neighborhood cats who come on our front porch. One starts growling and screeching and slapping the window , then all four : of them end up growling and screeching at the window and finally someone touches someone else and the fur starts flying (literally!) as they proceed to beat up each other . Then they calm down and start in on the cat outside again (if it is dumb enough to stick around ) and I go in and holler at them to break it up and open the door to run the neighbor's cat off. Little nut cases !

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Can't say I agree. My experience with a semi-feral I tamed and adopted was by the end of a year, he was in our yard waiting until I'd get home...he would run across the lawn to me. He however, avoided anyone but myself or my dh.


I think cats use other senses - certainly sound - besides their acute sense of smell to "recognize" us.

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I have to agree with you, too. My Corgi started losing his sight (cataracts) when he got old, and he would tear across the backyard after any cat (including his own) since he couldn't see well. Our cats would just calmly sit and wait for him to get 2-3 ft away and come to a grinding halt when he recognized that it was one of his cats . If any other dog even looks at them outside, they're gone! And our cats will go part way with us on walks in our neighborhood, but they certainly don't like for anyone else to get near them outside !