Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and I have a 2 year old abyssinian cat. She is normally a very sweet, loving playful cat. Occasionally she will get "spooked" and hiss and cry a bit when someone picks her up, or gets too close to her face, but quickly gets over it. The other day she did that, but instead of getting over it, proceeded to terrorize the house and our guests. She cornered me, and wouldnt let me pass-screaming at me and hissing, and went to the bathroom right there on the floor. She was clearly terrified, but I have no idea why. She was better through the night but got spooked again the next day and did the same thing- hissing and screaming at me and my husband for no reason.

I am devasted by this- I love her dearly but I am 3 months pregnant, and am worried that this will continue. I am afraid to have guests over to our house, afraid she will lash out at me again, and especially am afraid of having a baby in the house with her.

Right now we are considering trying to find her another home, but I dont want to do that - we are so upset, has anyone had any experience with this before?

Hi,

This didn't happen for "no reason". Something definitely happened to affect your kitty.

First of all, she may have a physical reason for what she did. Sometimes a cat will become aggressive when he or she isn't feeling well. A trip to the vet would be a good place to start, then if the Dr. feels that the problem is behavioral, you need to go from there.

I am assuming that your cat is spayed, but if she isn't, it needs to be done ASAP.

Abys are high-energy cats and can be easily excitable. Something set her off and it may not be possible to figure out what it was. It could have been almost anything, such as a smell she didn't like, or another animal on the property. Or even the smell of another animal that might have been on you. I had a cat that screamed and attacked me when a stray kitty sprayed on our front door.

If your vet thinks the problem is fully behavorial, he or she may recommend medication. Clomicalm is one that works well in cats.

Take care,
PHKitkat

Thanks for your response. We had actually had done some construction in our house the week prior, and she had been kept in the bedroom while the (very loud) work was going on. My guess is that she was scared on the days she was home, and she is used to roaming around the house-this probably set her off. Our vet suggested a pherenome spray that we are going to try, it helps to relieve anxiety. She has been better in the last day, she only hissed once, but got over it real fast.

thanks again!

Thanks for the update! I hope the situation continues to improve!
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!