Cat Behaving Skittish Suddenly

Mitch46

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I have a 2.5 year old cat that I adopted last year from a local animal shelter. In this last one year, he became real friendly and talkative. About two weeks back, he suddenly started acting strange. He has become fearful of everything, including me, my wife and my daughter. I took him to the vet thinking he was probably sick. Vet did a complete checkup and said that cat was fine. The problem is my cat doesn't even want to go to his room. It seems he has forgotten everything. I have been putting food bowl near his mouth so he could eat. He has forgotten how to climb up and down the stairs or chair near window. This morning he sought my help in putting him down from his chair by meowing. He used to run like a puppy chasing ping pong balls. Everything has stopped. I thought it was a temporary phase but now I don't know what to do. Has anyone experienced this kinda behavior? Any help or advise would be really appreciated.
 

GoldyCat

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Has anything changed in your house recently? It could be something as simple as changing the scent of air fresheners or changing laundry soap. New piece of furniture moved in?

Have you noticed any strange animals coming around outside the house?
 
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Mitch46

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Has anything changed in your house recently? It could be something as simple as changing the scent of air fresheners or changing laundry soap. New piece of furniture moved in?

Have you noticed any strange animals coming around outside the house?
His favorite place is chair near the window where he sits hours and hours and watched birds, squirrels, and bunnies. Sometimes deers do come to our property and he has seen them before. We haven't changed anything inside. He is behaving as if somebody has turned off his switch. He is completely lost and just sits in one place for hours and hours.
 

fionasmom

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Do you think he witnessed something that really spooked him, such as an animal being killed by another one? I don't know if that is even possible where you are, but I have seen complete personality changes in surviving colony members after a dog or coyote attack.

Are you suspecting that this still might be medical....some neurological issue? Which I certainly hope it is not.
 
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Mitch46

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Do you think he witnessed something that really spooked him, such as an animal being killed by another one? I don't know if that is even possible where you are, but I have seen complete personality changes in surviving colony members after a dog or coyote attack.

Are you suspecting that this still might be medical....some neurological issue? Which I certainly hope it is not.
We don't have so called predatory animals in our backyard. It is a residential neighborhood with kids playing outside all the time. He is such a nice cat and now, whenever I see his sad fearful face, I feel so helpless. We bonded in last year or so and I really miss his meowing and running around in the house. I am not sure if it is a medical condition since he has already been examined by a vet.
 

susanm9006

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It just doesn’t sound like normal behavior to me. I wouldn’t wait much longer before at least calling your vet and discussing whether there are additional tests that could or should be done.
 

fionasmom

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I agree with that and while we are all hoping that this is a phase that will pass, sometimes a routine vet exam does not reveal underlying issues. Even rudimentary blood work will not necessarily do that.
 

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Does he have trouble seeing? Some of his symptoms sound familiar. Our old man lost his sight suddenly, and it has made him very skittish. He is very sensitive to sound, so he jumps at the house settling. He does sit in random places and seems to be starting at the wall, but he is just listening to the room.

He also barely talks to us anymore. We do miss our chatty Siamese, but he seems to be doing better now that we talk to him all the time so he knows where we are.
 
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Mitch46

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It doesn't appear that he has any vision problem. Other day only he was sitting near the window and saw a cardinal near the bird feeder and started making that chirping sound. His vet has prescribed him anti depression medication. We have started. Also I am going to take him for blood work. Vet suggested that I should wait for a week or so. We really don't want to poke needles when he is already traumatized.
 

Show Me Your Kitties

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Do you think he had a seizure? When my cat started having seizures he became very skittish and jumped at everything, swatted at things that weren't there, and would cautiously walk around like he had lost confidence in his surroundings.

He also became terrified of the corner where his food and water was, more so at night than in the day. At night when he'd wake up, I would put him near it so he could get a drink and eat something before going back to bed like he always did, and he flinched and quickly backed away like it was going to attack him.

He seemed afraid of his water bowl the most.

He wasn't afraid of me or my mom, though he did flinch away from me right after his first seizure, but after a minute or two he let me pet him and pick him up.

He spent a good two hours after that with huge pupils, looking scared before finally falling asleep.

He acted a little more like himself after about two days. It pretty much went downhill from there though since he most likely started having mini seizures, and his brain and body never had time to recover before the next one hit.

Your cat seems to be way more fearful than mine, and there are probably many other reasons for behavior changes, so could very well not be the same thing, just thought I'd put my two cents in.
 
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Mitch46

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He doesn't have seizure. He has started eating on his own. He is still afraid of his toys, his post, and his surrounding. He would jump down from his chair, but wouldn't jump up to sit. He doesn't roam around and just sits either on the floor or in his chair. He likes to hide himself under the couch or behind sofa.
I am going to get his blood work done after his medication is over.
 

Show Me Your Kitties

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He doesn't have seizure. He has started eating on his own. He is still afraid of his toys, his post, and his surrounding. He would jump down from his chair, but wouldn't jump up to sit. He doesn't roam around and just sits either on the floor or in his chair. He likes to hide himself under the couch or behind sofa.
I am going to get his blood work done after his medication is over.
I really hope he starts feeling better and you figure out what happened. I have no idea what else it could be.
 
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