Our sweet sometimes a little skiddish cat has gone beserk, after seeing another kitty outside our co

[ragdollmama]

I have had cats all my life and have never witnessed this type of behavior. I have never adopted an adult cat either. we have had her for about 9 months, she is 6 years old. We live in a first floor condoand  she loves the screened porch , she is an indoor cat. A cat came by 3 days ago and our cat went crazy, howling so loud, hiding and hissing. She has not attacked any of us but it sure is scary. She almost sounds human when she screams. it is getting better but she is still hiding. If one person is with her she will come out and show a little affection and as soon as someone else in the family comes into the room she will hide and scream, its heartbreaking. I know she thinks her territory was threatened and I get that she doesn't understand that the world outside her porch really isn't her territory. She can see iguanas, groundhogs , ducks even dogs and has no problems. I know we have to give her time, she is not eating her normal amount of food either, we are starting to get worried. I am hoping someone else has experienced this. I miss my girl

 

[betsygee]

We experienced this for the first time a couple of years ago with an elder cat we took in.  He'd always been an indoor cat and wasn't used to seeing other cats around his territory.  He saw one of our resident cats through a screen door and seemed fine so I thought all was well.  I went over to pet him and say 'good boy' and he attacked me!  Broke the skin on my leg, even through jeans.  Scared me to death.  It got to where we had to isolate him in another room--it was impossible to know when he would freak out and attack us or another of the indoor cats.  We just didn't know what to do with him. 

The vet gave us some acepromazine to calm him down.  We had him on it for a few days and that did the trick.  It took the edge off of him enough that he wasn't in attack mode.

There are other things you can try, too (which I didn't know about at the time)--plugging in a Feliway diffuser, or putting calming liquid in her food or treats.  Here's a thread about different kinds of calming agents you could try:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292533/what-is-your-favorite-calming-liquid

 

[ragdollmama]

Thanks we did talk to the vet and he said it would be ok to give her a tranquilizer, we have half of one left that we had used to pick her up because it was a 4 hour drive to bring her here. She hid under our bed for two weeks when we first got her. He's said the pill wouldn't have a lasting effect, but of course he sells that plug in to calm cats so we will try that too. We are concerned also because we live in a condo, if the nasty neighbors complain about her howling they could tell us she has to leave. Pets are not permitted but people have dogs too so its a rule that has some leeway obviously.