Random hissing

[cg33]

Hi everyone!
Our small orange tabby, Howie, is a VERY friendly, yet somewhat skittish little boy. He's a rescue cat who spent his first 6 months living under someone's porch, but I think there must be siamese in his gene pool because he is extremely talkative. Howie can't even hide because as soon as he hears you, he starts meowing and gives up his location.

Anyways, Howie has started adding a new sound into his friendly greetings. He's hissing. I've had cats my whole life, and I'm familiar with their body language. Howie will be showing all the signs of being a relaxed and happy cat (tail high, slow blinking, stretching and exposing his belly, purring) and then randomly hiss at us. After the hiss, he doesn't act like he is bothered by anything either. It's not a sore spot, we won't even be touching him. He does it when he's walking up to us...like greeting

Why would he do this? Could it be that he just doesn't know what hissing means? Is this just another sound he can make....so he does?

Like I said, he can be skittish and is afraid of new people. However he never hisses when I know that he is frightened. I don't get it!

 

[shadowsrescue]

I have a forum feral who I brought to live in the house last spring.  He is now doing so well and has come so far.  After he had been living in the house for about 6 months, he started making a strange hissing like sound when it was time to eat.  He would run up to his room, tail up in the air and stand right inside the door and make this strange hissing sound.  At first we were startled by it, but we have come to recognize it is just a sound he makes when he is excited.  He has a very quiet meow and makes a "meeping" sound too when he jumps up on to furniture or is excited to see you.  As long as the body language of the cat shows happy and content I wouldn't worry.  Have you noticed if his ears go back or start to flatten?  If he hisses does he want attention or affection? 

 

[cg33]

Thank you for responding! No, his posture is very friendly when he does it. His ears don't flatten, no arched back, no tail flipping. He is kindof needy and is ALWAYS looking for attention. I joke that if I had a baby sling, he would be perfectly happy to ride around in it all day! :-D I'm happy to hear that he's not the only one who does this. We were also startled when he began doing this, but now we just look at each other and shake our heads....

 

[cocheezie]

I took in a neighbour's cat whom I'd known for 10 years. He was a talker but I'd never seen him hiss. He was an only cat. During introductions, our old girl hissed at him often. The newcomer began hissing at everything for about a week and then he stopped. It was a novelty. (He wasn't very good at it.)