Cat suddenly freaking out when I pick her up

[liddi]

My cat is a healthy 2-year-old, whom I've had for over a year. She is extremely affectionate and loves to be held, frequently asking to be picked up. Until recently, I carried her around often, and she purred like crazy the entire time. 

She's been a bit jumpy the past couple of weeks though, and I have no idea why. She's fine for the most part, eating and playing normally, but things that didn't used to scare her suddenly make her jump. For instance, she's suddenly scared of my shoes. Not when they're on my feet mind you; just when they're sitting on the floor in the same place I've always put them when I take them off. I haven't gotten any new shoes. Absolutely nothing has changed in the home, so my best guess is that she saw something outside (she doesn't go outside, but she looks out the windows of course) that frightened her somehow.  I have no guesses about what this could have been. Our neighborhood is not that quiet and she's never had a problem with buses, trains, sirens, fireworks, etc. 

I know a little extra jumpiness is not that big of a deal. I've had cats my whole life, and I know they sometimes go through weird spells like this. The problem is that she's still asking to be picked up, but she absolutely freaks out when I start to lift her. She will jump straight up into the air without warning, which has resulted in me being badly scratched and both of us being sad that our usual cuddle time is no longer part of our lives. I considered the possibility that she has some illness or injury that is making being held painful, but it seems unlikely. For one, she's still very energetic and playful. For two, it doesn't seem to matter how I grasp her when picking her up. For three, when she rolls around on the floor, I can rub her belly, play with her, flop her around,and so forth, and she seems perfectly happy. 

It is breaking my heart that I can't hold my cuddly cat anymore, and the fact that she still asks to be picked up tells me she misses it too. But we can't seem to get over this bizarre hurdle, and if it never gets better, I'm worried about how I'll even get her in the carrier for future vet appointments. If anyone has any advice, I would be very appreciative. I am already putting Back's Rescue Remedy in her water, as the instructions advise, although I'm a little skeptical of that stuff. Under no circumstances do I intend to declaw her.

 

[kittypa]

Will the cat come to you and crawl up on your lap while you are sitting on a couch/sofa ? Can you tempt her to do this somehow ?

I've had two semi feral cats that I could never pick up without consequences. I still have one of them. She enjoys lap time every night. She hovers around just waiting for one of us to sit so she can climb up and claim her place. It was the same with our other kitty. 

 

[liddi]

She's not a lap cat, but she will snuggle up to me when I'm lying down. She's very happy to be petted at any time and she clearly still wants to be held, but somehow she's come to associate it with something scary. This morning she allowed me to pick her up a few times and behaved normally, just purring and relaxing as she always has. But she did startle a little while in my arms earlier, didn't jump down but just seemed like something suddenly scared her a little. This is a cat who typically asks to be picked up several times throughout the day and just relaxes like a baby in my arms, so her recent behavior has been perplexing. 

 

[kittypa]

I am not an expert. This is just my opinion. 

Cats are perplexing by nature. As long as there is plenty of affection, and you are certain that there is no injury, I wouldn't worry about it much.  

 

[antisockcat]

If you live with other people or had guests right before this started, that could be the issue. Somebody (unintentionally, I hope) could've tripped over her, bumped her, or perhaps tried to pick her up and move her out of their way. Many small children don't know how to properly interact with animals.

Cats can also associate things you might not think are related. My cat panics when he is being held and thinks he is going to be set down inside a box or anything carrier-like, because he thinks he's going to the vet. Somehow his "no list" includes the toilet! I can carry him anywhere except into a bathroom. You never know with cats.

 

[detroitcatlady]

Cats get startled for all sorts of reasons. It might have nothing to do with being picked up. The shoe thing is interesting. You'd be amazed at what things can happen though. My cats have knocked things off of tables and shelves and who knows what else when they were playing intensely. It's possible that she got into it with one of your shoes, or something simply caught her by surprise one day and now she is jumpy because of it. My own cats get scared of the strangest things sometimes even their own shadow or with it being summer just having a fan on and air blowing around the room sometimes is enough to make objects move and my cats think that they are actually alive and moving

 

[liddi]

We haven't had that many visitors, so I think it's just a weird association she's made and will probably get over eventually. Right now she's letting me pick her up again as long as I hold her upright. For a long time, she preferred to be cradled like a baby and would try to roll over in my arms if I didn't hold her like that, so I just got used to putting her in that position automatically, but that clearly isn't what she wants right now! She probably will want it again at some point but at least for now we're hopefully past the point where I get clawed if I try to pick her up.