Kittens suddenly scared for not reason

[ZsadistRaven]

So, I have two kittens, almost 5 months old, one male and one female. I adopted them when they were almost 2 months. At the time they were friendly to everyone they met and would curl up in any available lap. They loved playing with my dad, who does not live with me, whenever he came over. This was about once a week or so. About a month ago, they suddenly started acting afraid of my dad, hissing and everything. Especially my male kitten who is usually extremely friendly. I can't figure out what caused this sudden change because my dad hasn't done anything to them except play with them. This really hurts my dad and me because they loved playing together for the first 2-3 months I've had them. Can anyone help me with this? I would also like to add that neither of them have hissed at me or my brother (who does live with me).

 

[ArtNJ]

Did he get a new pet (dog especially, but even a cat potentially) that the kittens might be smelling?

You said he comes like once a week. If you aren't getting a lot of visitors, and your dad doesn't come too often, then this could also be a natural change where as they got a bit older, they became skittish of visitors. Kittens change really fast at this age, so if he is coming like once a week, that doesn't really count as a constant from their perspective -- he might be just another visitor to them (sorry!) This doesn't have to be a permanent change -- if you get more visitors generally that are nice to the kittens, or your dad comes more often, their attitude could change.

Any other changes with your dad? Just for example, my cats were afraid of my mom's walker for years.

Conclusion: Could be several things, but you probably just aren't getting a ton of visitors (who is these days) and with your dad coming once a week, he is just a vistor to the kittens, and at this stage they are skittish of visitors. Post pandemic when you get more visitors you may be able to work to change this!

 

[ZsadistRaven]

Did he get a new pet (dog especially, but even a cat potentially) that the kittens might be smelling?

How often does he come over? If you aren't getting a lot of visitors, and your dad doesn't come too often, then this could also be a natural change where as they got a bit older, they became skittish of visitors. Kittens change really fast at this age, so if he is coming like once a week, that doesn't really count as a constant from their perspective -- he might be just another visitor to them (sorry!)

No, my dad doesn't have any pets. He says his grand-kitties are enough. I figured his occasional visits might be the problem, but it's the hissing that worries me. That tells me they are really scared and/or feel threatened. Is it possible they might out grow this?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. As A ArtNJ mentioned, it could be other changes going on with your dad - for example, new cologne/soap/lotion, new shoes, different job, new medicines - anything that might have changed about his scent could make a cat react differently to him. Ask him about these kinds of aspects.

He could also try rubbing a towel or blanket on himself that has their scent on it. Or, even put on a T-shirt that they have laid on. You can also take a look at this TCS article to see if your dad might want to try some of the tips in it to re-establish his friendship with them.
14 Cat Experts Reveal: How To Get A Cat To Like Me – TheCatSite Articles

 

[ArtNJ]

Attitude towards visitors is something that can vary over a cats life with heavy influence from how many visitors you have and how nice they are to the kitties + or - from the cat's natural disposition. When my kids were youger and had a lot of people over, my daughters friends, in particular, were really nice to the cats and one and a half of them really warmed up to visitors. As my kids got older and started doing stuf out of the house, we had less visitors and the cats were less friendly/more scared of them.

During the pandemic, if your dad is at once a week and you don't have a lot of other visitors, it may be tough, but you can try FeebysOwner 's idea above. And of course, it is still possible that the cause is something more exotic. I think, however, that this is just a routine cat thing that a lot of people are going through with fewer visitors to their homes due to the pandemic.