Cat freaked out

[whethergirl]

My cat has been acting strangely since I've seen him this morning.

He keeps walking around in slow motion, sniffing everything and being on edge. He has been getting freaked out by things left lying around the house that have always been there. For example, ds' plastic sword and does that paw tapping thing with it. He is acting like he is completely paranoid.

He is an indoor cat and nothing different has happened since last night, when he was completely normal! It's almost as if he can sense another cat in the house - which is not the case.

Any ideas? He was so edge he didn't have his usual morning naps, but is now fast asleep.

[Meowmama]

IN CASE ANYONE READS THIS Blindness can occur due to heart or blood pressure issues and is temporary but also urgent. See pupils. If dark, seek assistance, and keep kitty out of danger by way of unfamiliar territory- no jumping or mirrors or long scary blurry objects.☝🤓

[Sandrav2i17]

Hello everyone,
I found this thread as my cat is acting the same way as described here, sniffing floor obsessively, very edgy, does not want to spend time with me. She is 6 yrs old. Does anyone have any answers?
Thank you.
Sandra

[pumpkinandSpice]

Hi everyone, my cat has been acting the same. It's been two weeks now. walking in slow motions, smelling everything and not even entering in to my bedroom or her favourite place my daughters bed. It is upsetting me a lot seeing her like this. Vet did blood test and they came clear. Still no answer why all of a sudden she acts like this. Just wondering how your cats are now?Have you found out any answers , are they back to normal selves. Please reply as although many of us experiencing this vets are not. Thanks in advance.

[Ceslothy]

I know this is a long shot, but my cat just started doing this today out of the blue. Same paranoid/sniffing behavior. He’s normally playful and cuddly. Anyways, did you ever find out what was going on??? Desperate for some answers. Took him to the vet and they did some tests, haven’t heard back yet. Help please!

[MeowMeow3]

My cat is acting similarly, with being on edge and smelling everything. I took her to the vet almost a week ago because she had started throwing up clear liquid,phlegm, and not eating well. Turns out her small intestine is inflammed and has slowed down the movement of the intestine... probably from eating something that didn't agree with her. She wasn't on edge before and smelling everything like she is now. She is extremely difficult to medicate,I've only been able to get a dose out of 14 doses to help with the inflammation and nausea as well as stomach acid...this thread has given me hope that she will pull through without medication. If she isn't better by Monday she may have to go back to vet but that requires sedation to even look at her ☹I did get a new kitten recently,hope this didn't stress her out so bad it made her sick.

[WhiskeyJune]

UPDATE on WhiskeyJune: The vet had no answers after a visit and blood check. Finally 4 months later, she is getting back to almost complete normalcy. Something had to have scared her so bad, I am thinking an extremely loud noise when we weren’t in the house one night. I bought a plug in that had pheromones in it and it seemed to help a bit. She still slinks around one of the back rooms but is almost completely back to her usual self!

[WhiskeyJune]

QCKSLMJ and Whethergirl...You have just described almost in detail what has been happening with my cat! She is 2 years old and strictly indoors. All if a sudden in Tuesday she is afraid of everything and acting like she hasn't seen anything in the house before, constantly sniffing as if there is something in the house. She won't greet me at the door when I get home and refuses to come into the bedroom and bathroom areas. She seems most comfortable in the living room. My main concern today is she hasn't pooped and doesn't look like she is drinking any water. I am taking her to vet tomorrow as I am concerned she will get dehydrated. There was just a little improvement this morning as she was starting to bite my hand in a playful way but will not chase toys and is still petrified of everything. I will update after vet visit.

[HappyHammy]

How is kitty? I hope its something simple like your dd might have something on her shoes that smells.

[QCKSLMJ]

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats I don’t think that’s it I’ve never seen a mouse or any animal in all my years living in my apartment. I find it very odd because Fourth of July was a about a week ago and my kitten didn’t get scared even though the fireworks were pretty loud so I wouldn’t say she has a skittish personality. It started when she was biting my hand on my bed and her bite has gotten stronger so I decided to put a sock on my hand so it wouldn’t hurt as much, this was a fresh clean sock from the laundry basket btw. As soon as her face made contact with the sock she freaked out and jumped from a laying position and ran out the room. I’m 100 percent sure she didn’t hurt any part of her face with the sock because it she barely made any contact with it looked like she only sniffed it. From then on she’s been sniffing everything in the house as if she’s never been here before and she’s constantly on guard and will get startled by any sudden movement or noise. She’s become more vocal which isn’t like her because she would rarely meow. I’m not sure if she’s in pain because I petted her on her back stomach legs and doesn’t seem to mind. It been two days and she’s not as scared as the night it happened but it really worries me to see my kitty like this

[HelloJackieYouLookNice]

I wound go to the vet QCKSLMJ. My cat has something called hyperesthesia. Basically the nerves on her back are over sensitive. It’s related to epilepsy and can also cause hallucinations. Before she was effectively medicated she used to run around the house like something was chasing her, it was distressing to watch. She’s fine now on the medication. Does your cat’s back ever look like it’s ‘rippling’? That’s another symptom. There are videos on YouTube that show what it looks like.

[Grumpyoldpersonwithcats]

Bugger - zombie thread.

[Grumpyoldpersonwithcats]

Just a thought but is it possible that you have an intruder you haven't spotted? (a mouse or even a rat perhaps?).

My cats go ballistic when they bring a mouse in and it escapes.

[QCKSLMJ]

Does anybody know what was going on with these cats? My poor kitty is suddenly acting exactly the same and I don’t know what I should do

[Snittlebug]

Does anyone know how Whethergirls cat is doing & if he got a diagnosis?
My cat Bubba. 1.5 years old, neutered is behaving very similarly & I’m so concerened.
My suggestions about what to do for my “out of it“ cat?

[whethergirl]

Oh sorry, just seen this, thanks for asking.

No I don't have patio doors happystory but I do have window sills where he sits and looks outside, so he could have seen something I guess.

There was a slight improvement even before I got the Feliway, which has been on for two days now...but no real big improvement to be honest. I think it's probably not as effective in this weather as all the windows in the house tend to be open most of the day if we're in.

There has been some break throughs - for example, he came onto my bed for the first time yesterday to wake me up, like he used to every morning. But this morning, he was reluctant again, even though I tried to coax him.

He is definitely a lot better than he was, but still not his normal self. Still patting at normal every day objects to check if they're safe. He will flop on to his back for a belly rub at least but not purring and playing as much as he used to.

Does anyone know if the Feliway becomes more effective the longer it's used, or has it hit it's maximum level of effectiveness?

[happystory]

Do you have patio doors, op? My cousins cat was freaked out by another cat sitting outside and staring in at her ( or a fox could do it I guess)

[cozietoesie]

How's the boy doing?

[crazynanna]

How are things. OP?

[cozietoesie]

Might be a good idea to make a little list of what's been happening before you go (if you do) so that you can give it to them. It's very easy, once you get there, to just come out with - 'Oh he's not himself' rather that telling all the circumstances.

Let us know how things go anyway.

[whethergirl]

Still no improvement today. Was holding off going to the vets because he is already so unsettled. I'll go pop into the vets without him today and see what they say.

It's so upsetting to see .

[cozietoesie]

I'm not altogether comfortable with what's been happening. I'd see how things go over the weekend (trying to keep strictly to his routine where possible and checking the place out again as you suggested) but if no improvement by, say, Sunday, I think I'd have him up to the vet for a check up.

Best of luck.

[whethergirl]

He keeps doing that weird thing of staring into the distance as if he can see something!

[whethergirl]

cozietozie he last saw the vet about 5 months ago.

Oh really gamerchick, how strange, I will look that thread up. My friend is a bit woo and is convinced my cat is picking up some other presence!

crazynanna - I will have a wander around the outside of the house tomorrow to see if I can spot anything. He is quite jumpy generally with noises, but we've had building works going on for ages outside and also my neighbour fixes motorbikes so he is kind of used to it.

[crazynanna]

She also gets like your cat,OP, if neighbours are drilling, or roadworks outside or a day when lots of rumble loud lorries are going by

[crazynanna]

My housecat one day last week was miaowing madly at me and walking around on circles near the back door. She was going on for about an hour, and I thought it was the pelting rain. Turned out it was a baby fox sheltering from the rain under an old chest of drawers right in front of the back door . Poppy must have felt a bit threatened it being do close to her door