My lovely cat has had a personality transplant

[stugtank]

She's a one year old Tortie

She's never liked close contact e.g being held or on your laptop but she's always been near and affectionate in her own way.

Recently she's been much more aloof, hardly ever in the same room and actually aggressive - biting and clawing at the kids.

I have three children, well four including the cat! I've always been vigilant about them being gentle with her and as we got her as a tiny kitten, she's been used to noise and a bit of chaos.

I'm not sure what's wrong but she has changed. When I go to stroke her, she cowers away

She just looks less happy if you know what I mean?

Is she neutered?.

Have you had a good check over her for any fighting injuries etc? Do you know of any new cats that might have come into the neighbourhood? My cat went very strange for a few weeks when a big old Tom cat moved in next door.

Also check for ticks - they can be quite hard to spot sometimes but make cats feel really poorly.

You could perhaps try one of those plug in relaxers and see if that makes a difference. If not I would take her to the vet to get checked out.

She is neutered yes. There was a cat bothering her but I haven't seen him/her in the garden for ages.

I'm going to phone the vet in the morning. She's eating and drinking fine and energetic but yes maybe worth a check over.

I really recommend a Feliway plug in- £17 is thr cheapest I could find but it's really settled my cat who was getting spooked by neighbourhood cats.

This happened recently to my cat and we discovered she has been bitten by another cat to the base of her tail after 24 hours of antibiotics and painkiller from vet she was back to her normal self. I'd definitely get her checked out

Have you gently felt her all over to see if there are any sore places? (Watch yourself if you do!) This has happened to two cats of mine in 40 years of cat ownership, and one had a horrible access from a fight and the other a broken bone that I just hadn't noticed. They were both eating and drinking and looking perfectly normal apart from the standoffishness.

Hmm - ours did become gradually more aloof after 1-2 years, so being just less cuddly wouldn't necessarily be a problem.
But it does sound as though she may be ill/stressed. I would also recommend a vet check, and keep an eye for any unusual behaviours other than agression. (In case the cause isn't immediately identifiable by a vet).
It could be stress rather than illness/injury, too, so keep an eye out for anything that may have caused this.

Hi, the telling thing is that she is cowering away from you (her "Mum") which leads me to believe someone/some cat/dog/child has, she believes, "threatened" her or even "attacked" her maybe around the face. I've seen this a few times with my pals cats and as per the above posts, there is either something genuinely physically wrong, or she is now scared to be petted in case the same thing happens again. One of my pals cats had an ulcerated bite to the face but for days you couldnt see anything as the fur hid it. Another pal said when she mentioned her cat's personality change to a neighbour, they said yes come to think of it I saw your cat scurrying away from a group of boys (neighbour didnt see any thing, but had just walked around the corner.........)

Yes I would get her checked out. Hidden injury, abscess or toothache will send them round the bend.

She may also be stressed, if she's chipped think about a microchip cat door. We found that other cats were eating fro m her bowl and that sent her potty.