My cat hisses at my 2 year old granddaughter

Question
My cat is 4 years old and a pleasure to have. We rescued him from the local shelter when he was born. Smokey is a great cat other than his attitude with my granddaughter. He has been hissing at her since she was able to crawl. I understand that when she was younger she was a little rough trying to pet and play with him, but now that she is 2 she is a lot more gentle when petting and playing with him. Now if she just walks by or if he believes that my husband and I are not paying attention he will hiss and arch his back. Then once he knows he is in trouble he will go wherever she is and just stare at her. Obviously I do not like the hissing, but my biggest fear of course is that he may bite or attack her. What advice might you have. I just don't understand and I love my cat, he is part of the family.

Answer
Your cat must see your granddaughter as a threat on many levels. One, she is on his level a lot, so he feels crowded with her around and he is jealous of her as well. Her being rough on him hasn't left his mind either so he is trying to show her he is bigger than her by hissing and arching his back.

This can become a very serious problem very fast Liane. Cat bites on 2 year olds are a serious problem so you really need to nip this in the bud.

I am not a behaviorist so I am not very good with advice on this but my suggestion is to try and show him a lot of love and pets when she is there but remove him from the area if he continues to hiss. If so, you might want to talk to a pet behaviorist about this and get some ideas and possibly some drug therapy temporarily.

Even if he has to be on them for a while it's much safer then her being hurt.