Personality Change in Cat

[rm17]

Our cat is 3.5 years old and has been very social, friendly, and well behaved up until ~5 days ago.

The cat had a sudden change in personality and has become very fearful, aggressive, and on edge. The cat's behavior includes moaning, hissing, loud 'screams' and on a couple of occasions urinating at the site of people. On a couple of occasions, she has also bit our hands when she was acting scared (proximity to people has put her on edge over the last few days). After 5 to 10 minutes of being in a room, she will come to visit and is very friendly again, wants to be patted, and purrs and acts normal. A vet has inspected the cat and no physical issues were found. It seems like the cat has been scared/spooked by something and is having a hard time calming down back to her old self. Possible triggers include an 8 month old baby in the house, a recent 1 week long trip where the family was gone, and possibly mats in her fur around her hind legs (which were mostly trimmed by the vet).

What are some things we can try to help the cat calm down more quickly? She is improving each day but we are concerned about whether she is safe to have around with a small baby. Does the cat need to be rehomed for the safety of the baby or will they typically return to their old personality with time and be trustable again? How long can it take for a cat to calm down in this state? Is it probable that she will act this way again in the future?

Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kev1949]

Hi rm17. Me too in rm17, so perhaps neighbors? I've had the same with one of my four cats. Best thing to do is ignore it. Let the cat do its own thing. Feed it as normal, but don't try to pet it or touch it. Act as if its not there. You will find the cat will find its own space.
For whatever reason, its changed personality is for the worst. So just let it do its own thing without interference. Slowly try to encourage it to be more friendly as was before. Takes time, bit by bit. My cat with the one eye on my profile, was anti social when first came to my house. Slowly gained trust enough to allow me to touch it. Give it a bit more time to see if changes? If not, then more expert help needed.

[Lilith]

Hi there and welcome

Sorry to hear of your girl's problems. I'm not sure if this is any help but I've seen this sort of reaction once and it was terrifying. I was married then and we were arguing. We're neither of us violent people (and we're still close friends) and so we were talking quietly, but the subject (false alarm re pregnancy, he for, me against) was emotive and one of my cats started to howl for no reason. I went to her, puzzled, and picked her up; she was usually soppy but she struggled violently, clawing holes in my T shirt, fell on to the floor, crouched and weed everywhere. She was demented, poor lass.

Eventually she calmed, and never behaved like that again, but poor poor girl, something in our argument must have disturbed her deeply. You can imagine how guilty I felt.

As I say, it never happened again, and I do hope your cat gets over her problems soon. I can't see that she'd be a threat to the baby if supervised normally, as all cats and babies should be anyway. When she's her normal self I'd be inclined to 'special' her a bit, cuddles, titbits, that sort of thing. I know worst case scenario can be a brain tumour but you've had her checked out so hoping this isn't the case; it certainly wasn't with my girl.

All the very very best with her

[fjm]

If the vet has ruled out a physical cause it sounds like stress. Have the changes in your routine been sudden and recent? A baby is a major disruption from a cat's point of view - all that fussing going to a human instead of her, and probably being turfed off laps and kept away from grabbing hands. Something may have happened while you were away, or a new cat may have moved in close by - even watching one through the window can be stressful.

I would work on providing her with a safe, stress free space. Make sure she has comfortable places to hide undisturbed, and easy to reach high places where she can watch the world while feeling safe. Put her food where she can eat undisturbed, and the same with her litter tray if she uses one, and make her life as predictable as possible with a daily routine. Then, as Lilith says, give her time to relax, welcoming any overtures but not forcing interaction. I would never leave a baby or young child unsupervised with any cat or dog - children are unpredictable, and the potential for tragedy is too great

[Janey]

Hi and welcome. This link may be helpful:

https://www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-b ... aggression