Cat suddenly acting weird

[LoudPlasticFrog]

I have a 2 year old cat that i adopted from the shelter and i’ve had her almost a year now. she’s super chill but doesn’t really like to leave my room unless i’m with her. about two weeks ago she has started to run around meowing like crazy while looking at the ceiling, almost like she’s chasing something? And now she has torn open my box spring and is hiding in there and tearing the stuffing out of the sides. I cant get her to stop and even after blocking underneath the bed she still is getting under there. Any ideas on why she’s suddenly acting like this? Also I play with her everyday, she has plenty of toys and shelves and other stuff to keep her stimulated through the day.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
Are you in an apartment complex, or a house with an attic that something might have gotten into?

Try some cat music and alternate with a fan for white noise, and try a calming product or two. Something, a sound or smell, or even vibration from nearby construction, but something is really scaring her.

 

[mxphs]

Hi, I had a pretty similar experience just three days ago and I found out why.

My cat humphrey usually has a super clear routine that he never strays from,so when he started going absolutely insane on friday night and staying past his bed time, i knew something was up.
At first i couldn't identify why he was so scared, but then I realised it was because there were possums running across our roof and making a racket. I couldnt' really hear them that clearly because i had ear plugs in as i was going to bed, but when i took them out they really were noisy. Sounded like people were running across our roof.

Your cat might be sensing some kind of animal near by, even if you can't. I've never seen humphrey get so stressed out like this before but it makes total sense becaus ethe next day, the possums were gone and he was back to normal again

 

[OopsyDaisy]

The only time I've seen cats act like this is if there is a mouse or an insect around. I don't mean to freak you out but is that possible?

 

[LoudPlasticFrog]

I have a 2 year old cat that i adopted from the shelter and i’ve had her almost a year now. she’s super chill but doesn’t really like to leave my room unless i’m with her. about two weeks ago she has started to run around meowing like crazy while looking at the ceiling, almost like she’s chasing something? And now she has torn open my box spring and is hiding in there and tearing the stuffing out of the sides. I cant get her to stop and even after blocking underneath the bed she still is getting under there. Any ideas on why she’s suddenly acting like this? Also I play with her everyday, she has plenty of toys and shelves and other stuff to keep her stimulated through the day.

Hi
Are you in an apartment complex, or a house with an attic that something might have gotten into?

Try some cat music and alternate with a fan for white noise, and try a calming product or two. Something, a sound or smell, or even vibration from nearby construction, but something is really scaring her.

I live in a house, no attic. i also live in the middle of nowhere so there’s no construction or anything outside. even at night when there is a noise machine on she still does it. she’ll do it for like 10 mins then just snap out of it and go to sleep on my bed. really weird. thanks for the suggestions

 

[Furballsmom]

Living where you do, there could be any number of animals outside, on the roof etc, passing through which could be mean she'd sense them and then they're gone a short time later. Can you set up a camera?
Try a calming product, it may help

 

[treeclimber]

about two weeks ago she has started to run around meowing like crazy while looking at the ceiling, almost like she’s chasing something?

What you are describing might be Frenetic Random Activity Periods (FRAPs), also known as “the zoomies”.

For some cats this is normal. My boy has been doing it since he was young, and in multiple different apartments/houses - I think he’s chasing flying ghost mice. He runs around like he’s really hyper, meows a lot (sometimes at the ceiling), scratches on the scratching post or sometimes the carpet, and chews on things, all in a very frantic/energetic way. If I’m asleep, he will run across my bed like he’s trying to wake me up to join him. He seems to be enjoying himself, not in distress. He rarely does it for more than 5-10 minutes, I think he tires himself out!

Since it sounds like your cat does not normally do this, I’d suggest a trip to the vet to make sure there’s nothing medically wrong.

Pay special attention to whether these episodes happen after using the litter box. Many cats get the zoomies when they’ve just pooped (just like some humans feel cheerful and might whistle/sing), but for a cat that doesn’t normally do it it could also be a sign that using the box is causing them pain.

If there’s no underlying medical problem, FRAPs/the zoomies can be normal and harmless. Not much is known about why some cats do this, but it’s fairly common and most cats that do it have normal healthy lives.

But for cats that chew, things ingested during the zoomies are NOT harmless - I have to keep an eye on my cat to make sure he doesn’t ingest any pieces of carpet or string that come loose from chewing/scratching. In your case, stuffing from a mattress or stuffed toy can cause intestinal blockages, so I would strongly recommend keeping your bedroom door closed until you can find a way to reliably keep your cat out of your mattress.

 

[treeclimber]

Some ideas for keeping her out of your mattress/box spring:

A sheet of plywood or a bunkie board might stop her coming at it from underneath, and a bedsheet or mattress protector on the box spring might help stop her from going for the side. Avoid covers that will billow down loosely from the underside of the box spring, they may attract attention instead of deterring it.

Keep an eye out to make sure she doesn’t transfer her attention to some other piece of furniture she can get underneath like a couch or stuffed chair.

If she’s going for something hard to block, covering the underside of her chosen target in tape might help. Painters’ tape is designed to come off cleanly without leaving adhesive behind. If that’s not enough then try a tougher tape like duct tape, packing tape, or gaffer tape, which you can layer on top of painters’ tape if you want to protect a surface from the other tape. If she goes for something you don’t want to cover in tape, some cats dislike the feel/sound of aluminum foil so it might be worth trying that.