Help, cat has had a breakdown!

[Swearwolf]

Of course, we will be calling the vet as soon as they open. But last night she fully attacked my 9-year-old, yowling and hissing and ran at her claws out. She spent the whole evening like that, hiding and wild and hissing and yowling. This morning she was normal for a minute when I first got up, but attacked me at the bottom of the stairs and is all wild again.

she’s a recent rescue, we got her mid-November, and she’s been lovely so far. She’s playful and has moments where my youngest hasn’t read her signs well enough and been scratched, but mostly she’s been quite affectionate.

as I said, I’m calling the vet as soon as they open, but wondered if anyone had experienced this or had any advice.

Hi op . Im wondering if maybe shes in pain ? Animals can go aggressive when they are hurt ? Or maybe your little one has accidentally hurt her and no shes in the defence . I hope your cat will be ok ❤️

She swears she hasn’t done anything, I did wonder if it was pain. Hopefully the vet can help.

ha ha cats can be pretty mentally unstable 😂. It could have been something as simple as her tail being accidentally stepped on . Now shes out for revenge. Please update agter the vets . And I hope it’s not going to be too expensive for you

The vets don’t know, they asked me to bring her in this afternoon. No idea how I’m going to get her into the carrier.

Dreamies? Put the carrier down this morning with a fluffy blanket in it and the cat might even go in by herself. My cats hated being put in it but when I left it out after vet visits suddenly it became their favourite sleeping spot! I hope they can find out what’s wrong. It would be odd for an otherwise settled and happy cat to suddenly lash out for no reason. That’s probably why she was in rescue. But it may be something like eg thyroid disease that can be treated. Fingers crossed for your kitty (and your credit card!) that it’s nothing serious.

If the cat won’t get in by herself, put the carrier with the open door facing up so that you can drop her into it rather than trying to push her from behind! That’s sometimes easier.

If she isn't ill then something has freaked her out, usually another cat.
If you are in the storm area that might be enough given she is a recent rescue and not 100% confident in her environment.

Things that have freaked out my cat - pyjamas, her shadow, pretty much anything.

Some cats just havemental health problems like humans. Mine has antidepressants now which have made a massive difference.

The vet told me, animals have just as many mental health problems as people.

She’s currently shut in the spare room, I’m going to have to go in there as it’s also my office and I need my laptop! I’ll definitely lay out the carrier with a blanket in. It’s a top-loading one so I was planning to bundle her in that way.

i am wondering if I should bring up some food or if it’s better to do that before I need to catch her.

I’ve had to cancel the vet appointment, we can’t get near her. I called the shelter and they were surprised, no hidden history that they knew of, but are helping to try and get a behavioural specialist out asap. I’m hopeful she can get to us today but we’re still waiting for word.

I’m really not doing well with it, I can’t eat and I don’t know what to do with myself, I’m so stressed and anxious.

Have you got gauntlets? If not, borrow some and you’ll be able to get her in the carrier.

Can the rescue loan you a trap? If you can disguise it with blankets and load it with tuna, maybe she'll go in?

Hope you get to the bottom of it and can sort it. Poor cat. And poor you. It must be distressing for all concerned.

Can you get a vet to come out to you? It sounds like she’s in pain. If a vet can get some Loxicam (painkiller) and Gabapentin (relaxant) into her it should relax her enough for someone to get near her!

Feeling for her and you!

I’ve missed my chance for the appointment but the vet said they might be able to prescribe some gabapentin so I’m just waiting on a call back about that.

If you do get the Gabapentin from the vet, shut her in one room (ideally one with few hiding places) and add the Gabapentin to her food, you can crush the pills with a pair of spoons so it mixes well with the food or something like Lik E Lix. Same in the morning, and try to feed her at least an hour preferably 2 before you're due to catch her.

When you go in, shut the door behind yourself to prevent escaping! Wear something thick & if you don't have gauntlets then thick gardening gloves can help. A towel can help too. As a pp said, top entry if your carrier has it otherwise put it on it's end so your feeding the cat in from above.

Good luck!

Does she go outside at all? We have 2 cats and one of them can get very angry about cats in 'his' territory and he'll come back in after a stand off (that he would never win as he has no teeth and is a weedy little thing) and take it out on his sister, attacking her seemingly out of the blue.

Oh I hope you have managed to get the gabapentin from the vet and also into the cat

Look up mobile vets locally. If she can be isolated to one room theyll be able to see her at home without the trauma/difficulty of getting her into the carrier. Can be cheaper than you'd think.

So for now, nothing is happening, she’s in the room with food and water and the vet can’t see her until Monday. We’ll crush up the gabapentin and mix with food on Sunday and Monday and hope she’ll let us near her.

She’s only been with us since late November and I’m worried we can’t come back from this. I’ve never seen this kind of reaction from a cat and everyone is terrified, but nobody more than my youngest. Looking back, this is more like an escalation of a dislike towards her and I wonder whether this is a cat that shouldn’t be around children. I don’t know what to do long term, I don’t want for us all to be living on eggshells forever, including the cat.

Op can you call the rescue centre and ask for advice.
I would say that if your all scared including your youngest the best solution might be to give the cat back to them and perhaps they can rehome her to an adult only home.
I can understand where you are coming from I love cats have three myself but if at any point any of them harmed any of my children or us when there was no cause for it I.e making sure there wasn’t any medical reason or accidental stepping on tail and kept wanting to attack us then I too would consider rehoming for everyone’s happiness the cats included.

This sounds so hard, OP. I really hope the vet can help.

PP have mentioned things like stepping on a tail, but in my experience that tends to be a short-term bad vibe, rather than prolonged aggression. My DP properly stepped on our cat in the summer - cat was lying across the doorway and DP was looking down at his phone as he came into the room. Cat yowled and hissed, ran away, but once we’d checked him over and he’d had some pets and snacks he was fine, if (rightly!) a little wary of DP for a short time.

It sounds like pain, or perhaps seizure type neurological issue. Although cats can and are aggressive at times, it’s still unusual for them to provoke, usually it’s more when they feel cornered. Does she go outside, could she have made contact with poisons? Are there any Lilly’s in the house?

Op Im so sorry. I didn’t expect updates like this I honestly thought it would have been all sorted now . Are you feeling ok or still anxious ? I had a severe anxious time with my dog . Me and my ex had him from what we didn’t know was a puppy farm and obviously I was never ever going to leave him there . He was still feeding from the mother which I thought could be normal as puppy’s will try for as long as they can . When we left the man give me a carton of milk and said he can’t eat and that was that.
when we got him home he was covered in fleas full of worms , had never been inside a house . Was petrified and didnt know how to walk on a wood floor . Had never been touched let alone handled . I gave and still give my boy nothing but love . But that didn’t stop him from no word of a lie having a complete breakdown a few times . He hated men, would attack my partner . Not playfully but I think wanted him dead ha ha . I can laugh now . He would attacked dogs on every single walk and hes over 8 stone and would just rag me around . Then one day he attacked he attacked me really bad had me on the floor outside and bit my arm and chest . Iv worked with vets and behaviourists . All said it was my fault because I needed to realise hes a dog not a child . I took offence to this but I understand totally now what they meant . Right now hes awsome but I know how far to go with him . I 100 percent think it stems back to what he went through before I had him and I honestly think the same goes for your cat . If you think the cat doesnt like your daughter . I would say rehome to someone who doesn’t have children . This cat might of been hurt by children in a previous home . Im sorry your feeling the way you are . I know how horrible it is . Im here if you fancy a talk . Also I would like to add my dog is a dog portrayed on films , and a family dog . That woundt hurt a fly .

How did you get on at the vet?