Cat is suddenly scared of everything

[juliek1975]

This is actually a question for my sister's cat.  Apparently the other day her husband was in the bathroom when he heard a loud sound and went into the living room and saw nothing out of place, but the cat was crouched in the middle of the room looking terrified.  This cat is about 1 year old and is usually very social and playful.  My sister is worried because ever since that incident he's been acting scared all the time.  Here's one of her facebook posts she made:

 Well...I don't know what is going on...Jerry said he was in the bathroom yesterday when we weren't home and heard a loud noise in the living room and when he went out there was nothing out of place...but poor Simba was cowered in the middle of the living room  When I came home at noon to change and get ready to go to Jesse and Amanda's he was in the computer room on the window sill. We put a kitty litter box in there last night and he peed, and peed and peed and peed...that poor kitty held it in that long rather than going into the laundry room where we keep the kitty litter box. And then he laid in the litter box...ewww...he wouldn't get out of it. Heather put the food up to him to eat and the whole time he was eating he just kept looking around like somehting bad was going to happen...poor little guy. He is not the same kitty.

 He spent the night on Heather's bed and that never happens...he is usually into everything and she has to boot him out. so yeah, we are handling him with kid gloves so to speak.

Just wondering if anyone on here has any advice for them how to get their kitty back to his normal mischievous self? 

 

[rooneyandmuldoo]

Hi, Juliek1975. The first thing I need to say is that the photo of your kitty is so cute! Made me laugh. As far as the situation with the scared boy, I really don't have much knowledgeable advice. It does seem really strange. Something must be scaring him. If it's not something in the immediate environment it must be something else. Like maybe a health problem that is freaking him out, or something outside, perhaps, or something that is beyond our ability to sense. Cats certainly have better sense perception than we do in a lot of ways.

But all of that aside, whatever scared him may still be happening, or it may have just been a momentary thing that has left lasting anxiety. My boys are scaredy cats (can't wait for the Fourth) and if something scares them, even if it seems insignificant, it can keep them on guard for days. I don't know how long it has been since your guy first had this strange behavior, but maybe it is residual anxiety from when he was scared?

I got some Feliway (I found the best price on Amazon) and it really seems to help calm my guys down. Also there are homeopathic calming aids for cats such as Rescue Remedy for pets. I have had good luck with that as well. Personally, I would take him to the vet first if he doesn't buck up pretty soon and make sure there is nothing biological going on. After that, there are animal behaviorists, but I would guess that would be pretty spendy. Maybe just lots of love and peace and quiet for a time will help. Wish I could give better insight. Feel so sorry for the little guy.

 

[juliek1975]

Thanks for the advice, I will pass it on to my sister.  

And in regards to the picture, that's my silly boy Nestle, he is always doing things like that to make me laugh...lol

 

[higgscat]

I had this with my cat - one minute he was cheery and excited, the other minute he was hiding under the bed and refusing to come out. I tempted him out with some treats to check him over in case he was hurt and he let me pet him while he was eating his chicken, so I thought that he'd probably fallen off the chest of drawers or pulled a throw on himself while playing, and spooked himself.

I moved the litter tray and his food bowl further and further away over the course of a day, and he was back to normal in a few days.

A couple of days later, I spotted the outline of a bird's wings on the window, we're the top floor flat so a lot of them nest on our roof, and I realised that a bird must have flown into the window and freaked the cat out!

He's fine now but does get terrified whenever birds land on our windowsill!

 

[lamiatron]

please tell your sister to keep Simba in one room for now. with all his food, his litter, water and toys. the whole family should frequently visit simba in this designated room to spend time with him. have a feliway plug in in that room, and do invest in some calming treats. they really help. they help me a lot with my skittish kitty

something really spooked simba. its best to keep in one room for now, so that he can slowly get used to his surroundings and his home again...once he starts to feel comfortable in that one room, let him slowly have reign to the complete house...but only if he wants to venture out of the room. don't lure him out, or force him. ask your sister to either keep him in their bedroom, or a room where simba feels the most at ease.

I hope that helps.

You've already gotten great advice from @rooneyandmuldoo  & @Higgscat  

 

[juliek1975]

Thanks everyone for the great advice.  I talked to my sister over the 4th and she said Simba is slowly getting back to himself, still not sure was spurred the scaredy cat act though.