I think 'Growl' should also be OK for noise when ready to attack, our cats make a low throated growl and with a tail-wag then........ attack!.... they make the hiss if something suddenly fronts up to them, they arch their back, tail goes down, mouth opens showing teeth and they hiss, but it seems more defensive than attacking.
Hissing is the main one. the one that is most common. The surest way to tell a cat is thoroughly pissed off is if it hisses. Sure, growling is something they also do, but a lot of predatory animals growl, whereas not very many predatory animals at all hiss. When you think of an angry cat you think of hissing. At least, most people do.
I do love technicalities, but I have to agree that keeping it as just hiss is reasonable. I guessed growl too and then immediately knew the answer was hiss. It is somewhat unlikely that you've heard a cat growl and also never heard one hiss.
Though, cats actually aren't that unique in hissing! Most reptiles, including birds, hiss PROLIFICALLY. I've had pet lizards and birds that hissed like a sailor curses. Some amphibians can hiss too, and even some insects stridulate in a way that mimics hissing!!!
Purely trivia (not disagreeing with the angry noise answer) but my cat made an angry purring noise- very deep and throaty- when she thought she heard a snake.
"Hit Cat" was a very minor character in The Aristocats. The clue would probably work better with a different cat's name, such as Thomas O'Malley, Berlioz, Marie, or Scat Cat.
Is melanism not correct for black panther? I thought panther was not a scientific term, but I know little of taxonomy- from what I remember it seemed like a pretty soft subject.
Has anyone else never heard of the 'M' thing for tabby?
Tabby refers to the stripes across the whole body and tail, not specifically the head. Seeing as it's the lowest answer by some distance, could you check this?
Though, cats actually aren't that unique in hissing! Most reptiles, including birds, hiss PROLIFICALLY. I've had pet lizards and birds that hissed like a sailor curses. Some amphibians can hiss too, and even some insects stridulate in a way that mimics hissing!!!
Japanese tourists took the idea back to Japan which now has the largest number of cafes
Please accept catmint for catnip, that's the usual name in the UK
Tabby refers to the stripes across the whole body and tail, not specifically the head. Seeing as it's the lowest answer by some distance, could you check this?
This ↑ is the first part of the first sentence from the Wikipedia article on tabby cats: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby_cat
To be honest, I also didn't know about this, but now it makes even more sense that Minerva McGonagall is a tabby cat specifically.