Hissing at the other cat?

[Ritascornershop]

We’ve had a cat for years. He’s mellow, kind of shy, good rat catcher (in the garden). He’s not a needy boy, very polite.

My adult daughter’s cat has come to live with us. Mostly this is great; he’s affectionate, friendly, mostly good with other cats. They are both males, roughly the same age. Newby has been with us for 3 months now.

The problem (as I see it) is that the Newby, when startled, hisses at the original cat. Original Cat looks sad about this and I feel it’s unfair as it was his home first. This happens if I’ve put down food for the newby and OC appears in the kitchen (to politely wait for dinner), and also if Newby is on the bed and OC jumps up on the bed to see me.

Can anything be done about this or is this less of a big deal to the cats than it is to me?

Btw, this amounts to less than one hiss a week at present as OC has always spent as much time outside as possible in the summer, but as soon as it gets cool he’s very much back to being an indoor cat.

I think it's just cats tbh 🤷🏽‍♀️

You mean it’s not as rude to OC as it seems to me. Newby is normally so polite, I’ve been a bit shocked at him. I’m hoping he’s just missing his humans and will settle in in time.

Hissing is fear. They need plenty of space and no resources that can be blocked off. So you’d need three trays for two cats and space around feeding areas, water away from food so one cat can’t block the other.

They like to be high up so a bed on a raised surface is ideal like a climbing tower.

The water is in a different room, so that’s sorted. I do always have 3 bowls out, it’s just Newby is convinced everyone wants his food. I used to have to help him guard his bowl while he ate, even when we were alone in the house, but he’s gotten over that.

Loads of high places to sit, it’s just when OC appears when Newby doesn’t expect it that he hisses.

Good to know it’s fear though, I thought maybe it was aggression or annoyance. Maybe OC understands that it’s fear.