Cat got out and is acting agressive?

RainMaker13

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Our cat is a male polydactl siamese cat. Hes an indoor cat, and sometimes gets mood swings, especially when being pet. Well i got a hankering for a snack in the middle of the night, and saw the front door open. Luckily he just walked around back and was waitng at the door, so i go to let him back in. He hisses at me, ears back, haunches up, growling and angrily meowing at me. He has never been this agressive before. Im writing this right after the incident, where he is still eyeballing me. Im scared to go near him, but i cant see any cuts or bites or wounds. Hes not foaming at the mouth, or exhibiting aby other rabies symptoms besides agression.

What is the cause of this? What should i do?
 

ArtNJ

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There was probably another animal out there, or at least he smelled one, and he is still stressed about it. Don't try to touch him, just give him his space to calm down and things should be fine in a bit. Hissing at you is nothing personal. Cats have some kind of flaw in their brain from domestication-related inbreeding, when they get stressed, they get upset at any human or pet that is nearby. Its called redirected aggression, and its very common. If you try to comfort your cat you may well get scratched up. Some people get attacked even minding their own business, but that is rarer.

I wonder how cat colonies function with this issue, but maybe something about living outside in a colony prevents this issue from cropping up. In any event, it can be a big problem for some indoor cats that see or smell outdoor cats, and in other situations where the cats get stressed, like if their human drops a dish or stubs their toe and shouts.
 

FeebysOwner

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It is probably is something he is reacting to when he was outside - as A ArtNJ suggested - and should settle down with a bit of time. If he continues to act aggressive, check outside - with him secured elsewhere in the house - to see if another cat or some other animal is hanging around somewhere out there.

Let us know if he has settled down yet.
 

Caspers Human

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Is your cat neutered?

It is spring time. It's the beginning of the main part of mating season for cats... Also known as "Kitten Season."
Cats can breed at any time of the year but they are most active during the period starting in March or April, running on through August or September in the Northern Hemisphere. (Or approximately six months about in the Southern Hemisphere.)

If your cat isn't neutered, he probably went out looking for a girlfriend.

Female cats in heat will prowl around, outside, and urinate in the area. Male cats will smell the pheromones in the female cats' urine and go in search of available mates. Your male cat can smell a female from a mile away. If there is a female outside your house, your cat can smell her, almost as if the walls aren't even there. That's how sensitive a cat's sense of smell is!

So... Your cat sneaked out, probably because he smelled an available female cat, and went looking for a girlfriend.

BTW: The incubation period for rabies averages from between three to eight weeks. Once an animal comes into contact with the rabies virus and gets infected, it takes at least a couple of weeks for symptoms to show up. So, unless your cat has gotten out before and has come into contact with another animal infected with rabies and that incident happened more than two weeks ago, your cat's behavior probably isn't caused by rabies.

It's more likely that your cat's seemingly aggressive behavior was caused by the fact that he's out prowling for a girlfriend and you were interrupting him. If he could talk, he probably would be saying, "Back off, human! You're cramping my style!"

If you haven't gotten your cat neutered, you need to get it done. Once your cat is neutered, this kind of behavior will stop. It will take several months but it will eventually stop.
 
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