Freya suddenly became aggressive

requin

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This morning we had a follow up visit to try to see if more signs can be found.

The visit was ok, lungs and heart are fine, eyes, coat, lymph nodes, abdomen, all is clear.
The ultrasound scan is clear too, all is normal in there. The neurologist had asked to have an US scan done to rule out any suspect of a dry/wet FIP or other inner issues, like a portosystemic shunt.
The vet also took a sample of blood for a new electrophoresis, the result of which I will receive on Friday. This was to compare a new test with the old one we did in March when the globulines were slightly moved to the right in the graph.

Freya had been fasting since 10:45 pm last night, but when we came back home she didn't want to eat. Very unusual of her. Probably she was still scared and stressed by the visit. Tonight I will check if she eats her dinner.

Yesterday her sister (living with another family) was spayed and tested positive to FIV. Her mother is positive to FIV as well, but Freya tested negative two months ago. I know we were in a fuzzy period of her life, so I'm aware we should run a new test in the next weeks.

Antonio, how is Freya? Is there any update?

I realized when I wrote my response above that I hadn't read the entire thread.

When I saw the pictures you took of Freya in vicious mode, my heart was pounding and I started to cry, because that's similar to how Robinson gets when he has his fits.
 
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Antonio65

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I registered on this site so I could reply to this post.
Hi R requin , and welcome to TCS, though for such a terrible situation with your cat Robinson.

he took a large slimy crap under the kitchen table (it turns out, this is them releasing their anal sacs out of fear)
That sounds like that slimy substance that I found on my clothes that first night in March, when Freya became suddenly crazy and devilish.

This behavior is not due to stomach cramps or some stupid thing that vet told you!! The reason your cat was crapping was due to stress and fear, anal gland dumping. It was a symptom of the fear/anger/stress, NOT the cause of it.
As a matter of fact, I hardly believed their words that night. I listened to what they were saying to me, but I didn't believe all words.

Why your cat attacked you that day is as mysterious as why mine has attacked me esp today. The only thing I can think of today was maybe he got a whiff of his own pee or something (I tried to clean it up when it happened, obviously, but maybe didn't get it all). But it couldnt' have been on me as I wasn't touching anything.
In fact, I doubt that a smell was the trigger condition for these attacks.
My Freya was snuggling on my chest that night. I had just told her off loudly a few minutes earlier because she was misbehaving and doing weird things. In a hindsight, it is likely that her weird behavior was a prelude of what was going to happen.
So, after telling her off loudly, she hid for a few minutes at the bottom of the corridor, then she came to me on my chest, but two minutes later she moved to the small table of the sofa side, and happened what I described in the first post.
Was my yell at her the trigger for her issue?

Then about 18 days later she acted weird again, but this time she was just scared of everything, it lasted a few minutes, but it took her a week to go back to her old self. And again 20 days later, when I took the photo I posted, again about a week to recover.
The last episode was in May, when she stopped recognizing her name for two weeks. This happened after a heavy thunderstorm, with loud thunders.

Now, two months later, she's still fine, fingers crossed.
We were going to have her spayed in early April, but the vet said she wanted to see how this issue would progress. Now, two months since the last episode, we could proceed with the spaying, but she had a few days with a strange fever, then she recovered, and she ate a string, which she expelled two days later.
Then my other cat got sick with a weird issue and stayed at the clinic for two days, and Freya suffered a lot being alone, so I would like to wait a couple of weeks to have all things back to normal before checking with the vet if she can spayed at last.

The moral of the story is this could happen again at ANY TIME w/ your cat just like it has happened with mine.
Yes, this is what scared me a lot. This can happen any time, and I'm keeping a close eye on Freya since then. Every single action out of the normality frightens me.

Normally Robinson is the cutest gentlest little guy, although he is somewhat nervous and skittish. But I cannot and will not live w/ a cat who out of nowhere decides to become ferocious and hate me.
This is what was scaring us the first time it happened. Should we have surrendered her to a shelter? I couldn't even think of that!

I actually wonder if I have some underlying health condition that I'm unaware of, that my cat can smell which makes him do this. But if that was the case wouldn't it be pretty much all the time? Not just once in a while. So maybe this incident was due to him smelling his own piss or something ....I don't know but it has to stop.
Have you considered talking with a neurologist and see what they will tel you?
My neurologist would have like to send Freya to a facility for a MRI, but things went better and we thought it was much better not to stress her out with unnecessary scans.

I hope your sweet Robinson finds a balance and you find out what the cause of this dangerous behavior is, for your and his well-being.
 

requin

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Hi Antonio,
Thank you so much for your fast reply. It helps to talk w/ someone who's dealing with this. I'm very happy to hear that Freya has been doing well for a few months. That's encouraging but it's good you're keeping things calm for her for a bit. I think it's a good idea to wait on the MRI and spraying. Please keep us posted.

Robinson stayed in the garage all night and just came up about 15 mins ago. He's back to normal, mostly, although he's sniffing around at everything and skittish. I put a tiny sprinkle of gabapentin in his food. He has sometimes had to have gabapentin before vet visits (or else they can't handle him) and I've found just a tiny bit is enough to calm him, and he tolerates it well. So I opened the capsule and put just a few grains in his food hoping it'll keep him from losing his sanity as he sniffs around the house. I am nervous because he is acting quite 'stealthy', like he's looking for something to take offense at. Praying and hoping he won't.

The vet hopefully will call soon but hasn't yet. I will see what she suggests. She's not that great; just a sort of country vet who treats dogs, cats, etc. Not a cat specialist. I do not have confidence in her. Robinson has allergies and a few months ago had an injection of a steroid (depo) and it made him miserable (sick and off) the entire time it was in his system. (I've got to ask her if this behavior problem could be a side effect of that shot, even though it's been out of his system for several weeks now).

I don't even know if there's a neurologist for cats around here. I doubt I could afford it or want to pay thousands to find out what's wrong w/ him only to find there's prob nothing they can do. I don't know, we will see.

Have you tried Feliway (or something like it)? I haven't, and am wondering if it would help or make him worse. Will ask vet (but I know she'll just say, "It's worth a try.")

Honestly my stomach is in knots and I know that's not good as they can sense our fear, etc. I'm trying to calm down. I'm going to leave the house in a little while (go into the office, as I have been mostly working from home) to give him more time alone to acclimate (and to get myself to relax!)

I will keep you posted on what the vet says and how things are going.

(Right now he's finally stopped sniffing and is playing a little bit, which is good...)
 

requin

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In fact, I doubt that a smell was the trigger condition for these attacks.
My Freya was snuggling on my chest that night. I had just told her off loudly a few minutes earlier because she was misbehaving and doing weird things. In a hindsight, it is likely that her weird behavior was a prelude of what was going to happen.
So, after telling her off loudly, she hid for a few minutes at the bottom of the corridor, then she came to me on my chest, but two minutes later she moved to the small table of the sofa side, and happened what I described in the first post.
Was my yell at her the trigger for her issue?
I forgot to comment on this. I was awake most of the night thinking and thinking about the episode yesterday and what could have triggered him. I was on the phone w/ my sister discussing my mother (who is getting dementia) and it was a somewhat 'lively' conversation. Robinson was playing on a chair next to me, very gently w/ my fingers. Then just like THAT he went insane. Like you, I wonder if it was my tone of voice or something, maybe at that moment..I can't remember exactly what was being said. I wasn't looking at him at the precise moment it happened. So maybe somehow he thought I was reacting negatively to something and responded to that? I don't know, it seems far fetched. He's heard me on the phone many times and never did that before. In fact that is one of his favorite times to come over and play or tussle w/ me.

In the case of Freya, if it was your yelling at her, you'd think she'd react right then, not later on, don't you think?

I don't know. It is maddening not understanding this. Hoping we both get answers.
 
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Antonio65

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Hi Antonio,
Thank you so much for your fast reply. It helps to talk w/ someone who's dealing with this. I'm very happy to hear that Freya has been doing well for a few months. That's encouraging but it's good you're keeping things calm for her for a bit. I think it's a good idea to wait on the MRI and spraying. Please keep us posted.
Hi requin, thanks to you for bearing with me ;)

Robinson stayed in the garage all night and just came up about 15 mins ago. He's back to normal, mostly, although he's sniffing around at everything and skittish. I put a tiny sprinkle of gabapentin in his food. He has sometimes had to have gabapentin before vet visits (or else they can't handle him) and I've found just a tiny bit is enough to calm him, and he tolerates it well. So I opened the capsule and put just a few grains in his food hoping it'll keep him from losing his sanity as he sniffs around the house. I am nervous because he is acting quite 'stealthy', like he's looking for something to take offense at. Praying and hoping he won't.
Wasn't he angry or offended for being kept lock in the garage for so long?
Yes, this is what I was talking about, us (you/me) keeping an eye on them fearing a new attack or a new fit, and watching every weird behavior with suspicion. It's an unhealthy life with a cat. In my case, it is possible that I will never look at my Freya with the same eyes as before that night.

The vet hopefully will call soon but hasn't yet. I will see what she suggests. She's not that great; just a sort of country vet who treats dogs, cats, etc. Not a cat specialist.
I don't know where you're based, but isn't there a largest town or city where you can go to? A place with a vet clinic?
I live in Italy, and luckily we have different choices with practices and vets, and many specialists can be called in when necessary. And luckily again, vet fees, even for specialists and scans, are quite affordable.

I don't even know if there's a neurologist for cats around here. I doubt I could afford it or want to pay thousands to find out what's wrong w/ him only to find there's prob nothing they can do. I don't know, we will see.
As I said earlier, fees over here are affordable. The neurologist was about € 120.00, and the proposed MRI would have been € 800.00, though I would have travelled about 80 miles to the facility.

Have you tried Feliway (or something like it)? I haven't, and am wondering if it would help or make him worse. Will ask vet (but I know she'll just say, "It's worth a try.")
I haven't tried in this particular case, but I had in the past for different issues, and never saw visible improvements or effects.

I would suggest you to start a thread of your own for the problem with Robinson, because it could have a better visibility in the forum. Users that follow the forum might think I'm just updating my situation here and might not read it and, hence, might not see your post ;)
 
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