Freya suddenly became aggressive

[Antonio65]

Hi all,

Last night it happened something that I had never seen before, and only heard of once.

I was lying on the sofa, watching the TV, it was 10:30 pm.
My older cat Giada (1 year 7 months) was lying on my legs, half sleeping, quiet, silent. The younger cat Freya (5 months) was on my chest, not sleeping, but was receiving my cuddles on her head, and was quietly purring, not her usual, she always purrs very loud, last night she was much more silent.
A second later Freya thought to move from my chest and walk to the other end of the sofa, she walked past the armrest and stepped on a small and low kind of table I have on the sofa side. I looked at her, while I was still watching the TV. She was exploring the table, then she approached the edge of it and looked down, as she was going to jump down. The piece of furniture is less than 60 cm high (2 feet).
Rather than jumping down, she let her slide of the side of this piece of furniture, I was still looking at her, and it seemed to me she was getting floppier, then I saw her kind of softly falling on the ground. Well, I said, now she will emerge around the sofa. But she didn't. So I moved Giada from my legs and laid her on the sofa, and went to inspect what Freya was doing on the other side of the sofa.
She was on the floor, in a rather unnatural position, she was on her back, one hind leg up, the front legs resting on her belly. The look in her eyes wasn't natural either, it was like she was stoned.
I asked her "Freya, what are you doing that way? Let me help you, I pick you up".

And it was then that Freya fiercely hissed at me and started shaking her claws in front of her trying to keep me away. I said "Hey freya, it's me", but she started growling and hissed again. Then, in a jump, she was on the sofa where she has her bed. I softly and calmly went towards her and tried to calm her down, but she hissed, roared (yes, roared) and bit my hand as hard as she could. Then she ran away across the room, then to the corridor, and when she was at the end of it, where a closed door is, she started screaming, roaring, hissing, and she was jumping and crashing against the closed door several times, and started bouncing from wall to wall, from door to wall, up and down!
The other cat Giada went to see what was going on, Freya started attacking her violently, with all her hair bristled, and while she was jumping, she was pooping all over. Then she ran back towards me, and started bouncing against the wall and the furniture of the room where we were watching the TV. She was running up and down, non stop, jumping up to 3 feet high, still growling, roaring, screaming, hissing, a pooping and pissing all over.

There was no way to calm her down.
We moved the other cat to the next room. It was then that I saw Giada covered in blood, and I thought Freya had injured Giada, then I realized it was my blood. When Freya bit me, I had started bleeding all over the house, floors, furniture, sofa, my clothes. I had blood on my clothes, along with a large stain of yellowish mucus that she had lost during the fight and the jumping.

Well, it took at least 20 minutes for me to be able to grab her by throwing a blanket on her and shoving her in the carrier, where she continued to growl and hissing. She bit me through the thick blanket too, while she was still spraying pee and pooping.
I swear to you, it was like she was possessed, I was sure I had to call an exorcist!
She was looking at us through the mesh of the carrier, and the look in her eyes was of deep hate, it was like Linda Blair in the horror movie! We could hear that continuous rumbling echoing all over the house.

I and my wife tried to clean the mess, then I changed my clothes, took the carrier and drove to the 24h clinic, where I arrived 20 minutes later. It was 11:30 pm already. There was another emergency in, and I had to wait, and in the meantime I saw that Freya had changed her attitude, she was calmer and was nearly purring. I put my hand in the carrier, she rubbed her head against it.
The waiting was getting longer than expected, so 50 minutes later I went away and drove to another 24h clinic, 10 minutes away.
We were luckier, the vet allowed us in straight away.
The vet found nothing, all was clear and fine, and Freya was behaving normally. An hour later we were discharged.

At 3 am we were back home. This morning at 6 am (yes, I slept 3 hours only) I saw that the two cats weren't next to each other as usual, it was like they didn't know each other, and Freya acted as she didn't know us or the house either. Everything was new to her, it was like when I first took her home last November. She was moving suspiciously and every noise had her startled.
Then she ate her breakfast and let me pet her, but she isn't herself yet.
This morning I cleaned everything and everywhere, to remove any possible stain or smell of what happened last night. I don' t know if I have missed something.

Last night the vet said that Freya likely had abdominal crampings all of a sudden while she was on my lap, and because she felt strong pains all of a sudden, they started attacking everyone around her. Her poop on the floor was fine, not hard, not soft, but that mucus might reveal something?
If this is the correct diagnosis, then why isn't she herself yet? Will she ever be herself again? She was one of the loveliest and sweetes cats I had ever seen, and all of a sudden she was the devil itself. And now I fear I won't have her back...

I also called her vet this morning, she said that it is possible that Freya might have had some neurological symptoms, and if it happens again, they will run al the necessary tests promptly, including an MRI.
Freya isn't in heat yet, but in the last three days she performed some trilling sounds, so we were thinking to have her spayed right after Easter. Now, everything is in doubt...

Any idea?
Thanks!

 

[di and bob]

I'm so sorry, how frightening! The only time I had a cat act like that, it was either extremely frightened by something, or hurting from something like cramps from diarrhea.
Either way, it drove her out of her mind for a while. Since she is still not back to herself, and the fact she seemed to be 'out of it', or dazed and confused, almost unconscious at the beginning of it all, really points to the fact of a small stroke or some other neurological problem occurred. Something like this could possibly happen from some kind of poisoning too, any plants, bug/rodent poisons, or possibly any kind of human food she could have gotten hold of? Any new foods? Cow milk products that could cause severe cramping from lactose intolerance that older cats often develop? If it was me, I would start out with an inexpensive x-ray, and then if that doesn't show anything progress to an MRI. She was obviously in extreme pain and very confused, just trying to survive, I had a cat that acted just like this right after coming home from surgery, and it was blamed on the pain, confusion. and the lingering effects of the anesthesia. So when you do have her spayed, (which may help too, if it is hormonal) make sure the vet knows about this episode and can be prepared, or perhaps not put her under as deeply. what a mess, I feel sorry for you, and salute you for understanding it really wasn't her that night, she was crazed. I will pray that you find out what it is, or that she only has one episode in her life.......

 

[rubysmama]

Oh, how frightening that must have been for all of you. I have no idea what could have caused it, but your description does make me think of something like a stroke or seizure. Hopefully it never happens again, and she gets back to herself soon.

 

[Antonio65]

really points to the fact of a small stroke or some other neurological problem occurred. Something like this could possibly happen from some kind of poisoning too, any plants, bug/rodent poisons, or possibly any kind of human food she could have gotten hold of? Any new foods? Cow milk products that could cause severe cramping from lactose intolerance that older cats often develop?

I can't deny I was frightened to death that something worse was going to happen, like her dying while driving to the vet!
My first thought was a neurological issue, like an ictus or something like that. But the vet at the clinic performed all kind of tests to assess if the basic neurological processes were fine. And they were.
We have no poison at home, and because she would eat just anything, we are careful not to leave anything dangerous around.
We have no house plants, and Freya is not allowed out at all.
The only human food she might have had access to was, maybe, a tiny bit of mozzarella cheese, the size of less than a quarter of the little finger nail, if ever. Could the lactose in that tiny little bit of that cheese cause that havoc?
What she really likes to eat from our table is the green salad, but it didn't happen yesterday. The last time she had it was Saturday.
She's eating always the same food, everyday.

If it was me, I would start out with an inexpensive x-ray, and then if that doesn't show anything progress to an MRI. She was obviously in extreme pain and very confused, just trying to survive

I asked the vet to run an x-ray, but she said that she didn't see the need for it.

So when you do have her spayed, (which may help too, if it is hormonal) make sure the vet knows about this episode and can be prepared, or perhaps not put her under as deeply. what a mess, I feel sorry for you, and salute you for understanding it really wasn't her that night, she was crazed. I will pray that you find out what it is, or that she only has one episode in her life.......

I already let the vet know this morning, when she told me that before the spaying they will run the most thorough exams ever.

I went home during the lunch break (it's 2:15 pm here) and she was fine, though not herself yet. She ate her lunch, laid in the sun on window sill, didn't play, didn't purr, didn't follow me around.
I gave her a dry foam bath because she was still dirty from the last night, and then brushed her and she liked that. But she wasn't what she used to be.

 

[Antonio65]

Oh, how frightening that must have been for all of you. I have no idea what could have caused it, but your description does make me think of something like a stroke or seizure. Hopefully it never happens again, and she gets back to herself soon.

The vet on the phone this morning thought something like that, but she didn't lose consciousness, she was very awake and alert when she was trying to kill us all. I had seen several cats, even feral cats in the trap cage, but none of them had never acted that way.

 

[di and bob]

I'm so sorry....no, the cheese would have been fine, as is butter. There is almost no lactose in either. I'm beginning to wonder if it could have been a small seizure.Her acting kinda spacey and falling off the table kind of points to that. That or a small stroke. Both maybe scared her enough to causeher to go crazy, and either could disappear without almost no trace. My husband had A fib for a year before they finally caught it on an EKG! Some things just take a long time to diagnose.

 

[Antonio65]

I'm back home from work now.
I just did what I usually do when I come back home. After a few minutes I sit down on the couch.
Both kitties would come on my lap, and purr.
Right now I have Giada on my lap.
Freya is in her bed at the corner of the couch, and nothing entices her to come closer.
Well, actually she has just jumped down. Like she wanted to have nothing to do with me. My impression is that she doesn't know who I am.
This is so sad, and I can hardly believe that this depends on some abdominal cramps occurred 20 hours ago.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. So sorry to hear about this incident with Freya. Don't you think it is possible that whatever happened she somehow blames you for it? She took a tumble and the first person 'on the scene' is you. There are just some cats that it takes longer to get over strange occurrences like that. It is good that she is eating, but it would seem she is still feeling the effects of her mystery bout and because she doesn't feel totally back to normal she correlates it all with you.

I know you have had issues with her eating and what looks like constant hunger, but what I don't remember is if the vet ever ran any tests looking for chemical/hormonal/enzyme imbalances. Perhaps, any of those tests that haven't yet been run might explain both issues? And, this tumbling accident is just as escalation? Sorry if I forgot that you have had all these extra tests done already.

 

[di and bob]

It takes some cats days to recover from something like this. Cats do not forget easily, her pain or whatever she experienced scared her so badly it will take a while. She'll come around, you'll see!

 

[Antonio65]

Hi. So sorry to hear about this incident with Freya. Don't you think it is possible that whatever happened she somehow blames you for it? She took a tumble and the first person 'on the scene' is you. There are just some cats that it takes longer to get over strange occurrences like that. It is good that she is eating, but it would seem she is still feeling the effects of her mystery bout and because she doesn't feel totally back to normal she correlates it all with you.

Yes, I also thought of this. She was scared of something bad that happened to her, and the first person to show up in front of her eyes, seconds later, was me. She was still scared and I was trying to "attack" her. Though my intentions were good, because initially I had thought she was just in difficulty after a bad jump down.
After that, she migh thave thought that the whole world was evil and she was just trying to survive.

I know you have had issues with her eating and what looks like constant hunger, but what I don't remember is if the vet ever ran any tests looking for chemical/hormonal/enzyme imbalances. Perhaps, any of those tests that haven't yet been run might explain both issues? And, this tumbling accident is just as escalation? Sorry if I forgot that you have had all these extra tests done already.

Yes, you remember it well, she is having issues with her constant hunger. I discussed this matter with a couple of vets in the past weeks, but they just didn't listen to me, like it was something that they didn't want to talk about, or maybe they just thought I was talking nonsense.
No test has been run so far, apart from a FIV and FeLV snap test when I first found her mid-November 2020. She was 6 weeks old, and this test said she is positive to FIV and negative to FeLV. Her mother, that I rescued a month later, tested positive to FIV too. Anyway the vet said we should have run another test when she is a bit older, during the spaying surgery.
Freya is going to be 6 months old in a week.
Over here in Italy vets tend to wait till past 6 months of age, even 7 months, before fixing a cat. So the idea was to have her spayed in May, but I was thinking to have her done past Easter.
Before the surgery I always want a full blood panel done, even more thorough that the usual test they run before a surgery. This time I will ask to test everything that exists, no matter the cost. The blood panel will be done at least a week prior to the surgery, so that if anything comes up, we'll have the time to know that and fix it if possible, or take more precautions or further actions if the spaying can't be done right after that.

 

[Antonio65]

It takes some cats days to recover from something like this. Cats do not forget easily, her pain or whatever she experienced scared her so badly it will take a while. She'll come around, you'll see!

Last night she came and curled on my lap when we were watching the TV. She acted almost like her normal, I'd say 90% of it.
We also played a lot her favorite game, catch the bouncing ball. We have a few of those soft foam little balls, I throw them against the wall, the ball bounces back and she likes to jump and catch it before it touches the floor again. She never misses it
Last night we played this game for a long time, to restore her trust and her feeling of home again.

This morning she did what she usually does in the morning, she gives me a kiss on my nose and purrs loudly, so this morning she was herself again.
Needless to say that I will have to keep an eye on her for the rest of her (my) life. When something this bad happens, you can live like it hadn't ever happened.

 

[rubysmama]

That's wonderful that she's back to her normal self. Hopefully it was a one time thing, maybe an extreme case of Re-directed Aggression In Cats – TheCatSite Articles. And I understand how you'll be watching for something like it to happen again, but hopefully it won't, and after some time, you'll be able to relax and not always be on high alert.

BTW, I did want to say congratulations on being a cat parent again.

 

[Antonio65]

That's wonderful that she's back to her normal self. Hopefully it was a one time thing, maybe an extreme case of Re-directed Aggression In Cats – TheCatSite Articles. And I understand how you'll be watching for something like it to happen again, but hopefully it won't, and after some time, you'll be able to relax and not always be on high alert.

Thanks for the link rubysmama , I have read it and here and there I ahve found something that might look like what I have experienced. But I'm sure that in no way Freya had been under threat, and nothing had happened shortly before she got crazy. She was just lying in my arms on the sofa, she moved, stepped on that nearby piece of furniture, kind of slided down from it, I heard a soft thud on the floor, I stood up and checked and she was what the article calls it "a cat from hell".

Your words of comfort sounds like the closing words of that article
Remember, just because your cat attacked you does not mean she’s going to do it again. Address potential threats in her environment and know what to do if your cat feels threatened, and you won’t have to deal with another attack ever again.
but I can't be that positive. I know that I will remember this episode forever and I will never feel the same with her, I will always watch her and consider her a potential cat from hell.

BTW, I did want to say congratulations on being a cat parent again.

Thanks, it was a sign of fate. I knew I was going to have a tortie kitten a week before I actually rescued her, a voice in my head led me to have her

 

[rubysmama]

Just looking at your signature, and see you got Freya in Oct, but that before that you got Giada in Aug. I wasn't aware of either kitty. I'm sure you posted about them, but with so many threads here at TCS, it's impossible to read all of them. I'm happy you have kitties in your home again. Fingers crossed they both stay healthy for a long, long time.

 

[Antonio65]

Yes rubysmama , I had updated my signature with my new acquisitions as soon as I had them
But the dates you see are the estimated birth dates, not when I had them.
Giada was born (supposedly) on August 25, 2019, but I rescued her on December 11, 2019, along with her siblings and mother.
Freya was born (supposedly, but with a narrower approximation) on October 1, 2020, and I rescued her on November 14, 2020. I also rescued her siblings and mother about ten days later.
Please note, they are one year apart from each other.

You can read Freya's story HERE.
I have just realized I never introduced Giada to the Forum.

These are two recent photos of them

Giada, January 17, 2021

Freya, March 9, 2021

Giada (pronounced /ˈdʒada /) is the Italian for Jade, both a color and a gemstone. I had picked the name the day before I actually rescued her, and only later I did notice that her eyes are the color of the jade. An apt name, I'd say.
Freya was named after the Norse goddess. I had always dreamed of a cat with this name.

In the photo with Giada, you see her on the same piece of furniture where Freya kind of fell from two nights ago.

 

[rubysmama]

Oh, they're both beautiful.

You can read Freya's story HERE.

Will check it out.

 

[Antonio65]

This morning I was telling a person what happened to me a few nights ago, and she told me that this is the fourth case of this kind she had heard of in the past couple of weeks!
That's scaring!

 

[Antonio65]

Update.
Yesterday was the first day Freya was acting like the old herself (99%) since that terrible night.
I called her vet to book an appointment for the first part of a course of tests and visits. We'll have a complete blood test done next Tuesday. Next step will be a visit with a neurologist, I think we'll book him as soon as all the results are in.
The vet would also like to run an MRI scan, the neurologist will confirm this. She suggested me two different facilities for this scan, I don't like any of them, and I think I have found two other places where this scan can be done, I wonder why she didn't mention them, I will ask her on Tuesday.
Anyway, nothing weird has happened so far, at least that I'm aware of.

I gathered some bits of info about the other cases I talked about in my previous post.
One is a female adult cat that suddenly went crazy after the spaying, getting aggressive and dangerous.
Another one is an adult boy who attacked his owner out of the blue (the owner had to go to the hospital ER for treatments!).
Both these cats had to be surrendered to two different shelters, their families didn't want them in the house anymore. Cats of different ages, not related, were eating different foods and drinking different waters. My cats drink bottled water only.

I will keep you posted.

 

[rubysmama]

Hopefully those other cases are not connected to each other, or to Freya. Sending vibes that all Freya's tests go well.

 

[artiemom]

OMG, Antonio... sounds like a nightmare..
I am not an expert... but, to me, it kind of sounds like a seizure... at least that is the first thing that popped into my mind, as I was reading your first post....

How is the bite? Are you ok?

Congratulations of finding kitty love! Giada is gorgeous! how white her fur is! and her eyes!! beautiful..

Freya looks so sweet...
I hope you get some answers soon.... ((hugs))