Apologies in advance for the novel below, but any advice is appreciated!
I adopted a new 6 year old male just two days ago from a loving home who had him for his entire 6 years. I had cats all growing up and figured he would be shy, hiss if I tried to be near him, etc. I have a small apartment and live alone with no other pets, so I did not set up a singular room for him to be kept in at first (which may be the root of this problem?) but here's where the issue is:
He only hid about half of the time the first day I brought him back, but if he is sitting on a chair in the living room and I walk by to grab my phone (still maintaining about a 4-foot distance) he starts hissing and growling at me. Makes sense -- he is scared. But then yesterday I come home and he is rubbing on my legs, meowing and doesnt seem threatened. I did what all the advice said and talked softly to him and did not look him in the eye. Just let him do his thing. But the confusing part is throughout the night he would come up to me and I would hold out my hand to let him sniff and he would rub and even purr some, then flip and start hissing and batting at me. He also was standing not too far from my bedroom entrance while I was on the bed (where he likes to be if I am not in the room) and did a little call for him to come forward and he ran towards the bed AND onto it hissing at me the whole time then hops off and ran to the other room.
My biggest question is this: how do I react to the hissing? Like I said, my place is small. And once he gets upset and starts hissing, he stands his ground and will lurch at me if I dont leave. Thing is he has started doing this to major areas like the entrance to my kitchen, and will not let me go by or around him. I dont want to upset him and make him come after me by proceeding with my path and ignoring him, but also cannot have him thinking he can stand guard in random areas I need to access to and suddenly make my entire apartment "his territory". Am I on the right track with the cat or am I doing something wrong?
I adopted a new 6 year old male just two days ago from a loving home who had him for his entire 6 years. I had cats all growing up and figured he would be shy, hiss if I tried to be near him, etc. I have a small apartment and live alone with no other pets, so I did not set up a singular room for him to be kept in at first (which may be the root of this problem?) but here's where the issue is:
He only hid about half of the time the first day I brought him back, but if he is sitting on a chair in the living room and I walk by to grab my phone (still maintaining about a 4-foot distance) he starts hissing and growling at me. Makes sense -- he is scared. But then yesterday I come home and he is rubbing on my legs, meowing and doesnt seem threatened. I did what all the advice said and talked softly to him and did not look him in the eye. Just let him do his thing. But the confusing part is throughout the night he would come up to me and I would hold out my hand to let him sniff and he would rub and even purr some, then flip and start hissing and batting at me. He also was standing not too far from my bedroom entrance while I was on the bed (where he likes to be if I am not in the room) and did a little call for him to come forward and he ran towards the bed AND onto it hissing at me the whole time then hops off and ran to the other room.
My biggest question is this: how do I react to the hissing? Like I said, my place is small. And once he gets upset and starts hissing, he stands his ground and will lurch at me if I dont leave. Thing is he has started doing this to major areas like the entrance to my kitchen, and will not let me go by or around him. I dont want to upset him and make him come after me by proceeding with my path and ignoring him, but also cannot have him thinking he can stand guard in random areas I need to access to and suddenly make my entire apartment "his territory". Am I on the right track with the cat or am I doing something wrong?
