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Our 8 year old feral Smokey has had an abrupt personality change. She has been growling, hissing, screaming, is very picky about being picked up, but allows brushing, no obvious belly pain, no signs of a UTI, eating and drinking normally, normal litter box behavior, hates direct eye contact, won't return the soft blink, we know cats don't like direct eye contact because it can be a sign of aggression, she seems afraid and won't have anything to do with her "sister" feline. So the vet said ferals can react this way if they sense other cats are intruding and we have noticed a small family of outdoor unclaimed cats hanging around the house and sunning on our back bank, we've been chasing them off even though we want to adopt them but 2 is enough for our small house. The other event was Smokey trashed our computer desk, knocked pictures over, put major gouges in the wood, and broke our computer screen, she got yelled at big time and so not sure if that made her this way, maybe she has PTSD. Prior to this personality change, we noticed both cats were acting wild, running all over the house, leaping over chairs, playing hide and seek with each other and thought maybe it was the weather change to fall or the fact that our indoor remodeling is done and they were relieved. Anyone else have this issue? Any suggestions for how to handle it? Any behavioralists out there? The vet wants to see her back Monday if we have any issues over the weekend.
I am not a behaviorist, but I have a few thoughts. It's possible she saw or smelled something outside that set her off. Do you have any Feliway diffusers? Or Rescue Remedy?
The other thought was a medical problem. Cats are so stoic by nature that it could a number of things. IMO I'd bring her in for a check up.
I agree she might be upset about the outside cats. Don't yell at her; she's objecting to an invasion of her territory.
There was an outdoor cat in my neighborhood that used to make my male cat go absolutely nuts. Other strays don't faze him in the least, but this one just set him off.
Could be a combination of things, new cats in the area, change in the weather and the work done in the house changing her environment as well as an emergent medical issue. In humans a UTI can cause psychosis, particuarly in older females but I've seen it in middle aged males as well. They act exactly as you've described, major personality and behavior change, I don't know if cats respond the same way but if they do it'd be worth considering. It's astounding to families when a patient has antibiotics for a few days and returns to the person they know and love. I'd call the vet and ask if that might be the problem, human doctors are kind of dim about it for some reason and just send the patients to the psych ward without taking a urine sample. Makes us say 'duh.'
Thanks for the feedback. We normally don't yell and certainly don't physically abuse, spray, etc whatever they do. The computer desk fiasco was a series of events ending in a complete diaster with broken glass everywhere and it was a reflex to yell at her to get down but it was probably pretty traumatic for her because I know she didn't mean to do it, it just happened. We'll see how the weekend goes, the vet did see her, doesn't think it's a UTI, wants her back Monday if any of those behaviors continue. I guess in the meantime we just won't look at her. We do have Feliway diffusers, have never had much success with them and they leave greasy stains on the walls [that we just had painted].
Hope she's ok and glad the vet thought about a UTI. I understand about yelling, it was a knee jerk reaction, most people would have done the same thing. I've heard that cats are easily traumatized so she may be very upset. I had a cat that went nuts because we had a phone repair man come in with all sorts of equipment on his belt. The guy ran down the stairs and we didn't see the cat for two days. It was the dead of winter and we thought the cat got out. There we were in the middle of the night outside in our pj's in the freezing cold calling the cat.
We finally gave up and went to bed. In the morning we found dusty footprints on the sheets. Hmm. Where was the cat? We lived in a duplex and were repairing the ceiling in the attic. Apparently the cat went visiting. Our neighbor suddenly had a 'ghost' in her home. The cat was walking on HER ceiling and coming home only for necessities. He apparently was THAT traumatized. He was usually a friendly, placid cat but for some reason the repairman scared him. Once he got over it he returned to baseline and never exhibited that behavior again. I hope your story has a similar ending =)
Thanks for the feedback. We normally don't yell and certainly don't physically abuse, spray, etc whatever they do. The computer desk fiasco was a series of events ending in a complete diaster with broken glass everywhere and it was a reflex to yell at her to get down but it was probably pretty traumatic for her because I know she didn't mean to do it, it just happened. We'll see how the weekend goes, the vet did see her, doesn't think it's a UTI, wants her back Monday if any of those behaviors continue. I guess in the meantime we just won't look at her. We do have Feliway diffusers, have never had much success with them and they leave greasy stains on the walls [that we just had painted].
How do you define yelling? (Cat's name) NO! (clap of the hands) or was it more than that? You certainly could have contributed to your cat's stress, if it is not used to being yelled at. It is in some pain either physical or mental and doesn't deserve to be hit or yelled at as punishment. I would strongly recommend getting one of those Feliway diffusers because it can help to calm down the cat. It is expensive but worth it. The vet can also prescribe a tranquilizer.
Sometimes they start acting weird if they have a thyroid condition. It just happened with my 10 year old cat. I now have her on a pill a day.
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