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Hello - We have a 2-year old cat that has been an indoor cat all her life. She is EXTREMELY curious and doesn't seem to be scared of anything. About a month ago, we purchased a new home with a big backyard. Little miss curiosity managed to get out the back door a number of times, and she would just play in the yard and chase birds. More recently, she's started disappearing into other people's yards, and on several occasions, has gone off on full-day long adventures. I guess she is officially an outdoor cat now.

Yesterday she disappeared for about 6 hours. When she returned, she looked a little dazed and confused, and didn't respond to me the way she normally does. When I brought her back in, she was absolutely petrified of something INSIDE the house. She seems to be on the constant lookout for something sneaking up on her from under the couch, top of a table, or behind a wall. She jumps about 3 feet in the air at the slightest sound, and she has isolated herself in one corner of the house and refuses to come out. She's not scared of me or my wife, and actually is okay with us petting her. She'll even let us pick her up and walk around, but the whole time she's got her head on a swivel making sure nothing attacks from the floor or up above. The bravest little cat in the world has gone completely scaredy cat on us!

What's mind boggling is that whatever happenned to her happenned while she was out, but she's acting weird inside the house. What's even more odd is that as soon as we open the door, she tries to make a break for the outside again. Her only movement inside the house is to try and escape from the house! Something inside the house really has her freaked out, but she wasn't acting like this EVER before she took off on her adventure yesterday.

Any thoughts? What could have happenned? We're NOT letting her out again until she returns to normal.

I wonder if she got trapped in some way while making her rounds. She may have been hurt as well, even though she may not show obvious signs of injury. An outdoor life can be very difficult for a cat. You may want to re-consider letting her out again, even after she gets over this episode. Curiousity sometimes is not a good trait in a kitty.
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Boris's Human, Pam

Something outside may have spooked her, but she has redirected her feelings to something inside.

I would recommend putting her in a small quiet room and leaving her alone except for ocassional petting and feeding for a few days. Then allow her the run of the house.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

Yes, I agree with what was said. Something must have frightened her very much, and while her instinct made her return home, the shock has become redirected to the inside of the house. It must have been a big fright for her, and I would not let her out unsupervised again, even when she's relaxed again.

My cat Noodle was very friendly and adventurous when she was little. Until a stupid neighbour decided he wanted some fun and tied a small ball or something with a string to her tail. She was SOO scared she ran around frantically in circles to get away from whatever was following her, and of course couldn't get rid of it. I thought she'll get a heart attck. It took us what seemed a long time till we were finally able to catch her and rid her of the thing. Needless to say, she scratched and screamed us when we did that, she was completely freaked out.

Also needless to say that she never again went close to that neighbour. Which he again found amusing, that idiot. He would make a loud clap or something whenever he saw her and she would dash away from him, very scared of him.

You see sometimes, it's just a small thing that can completely change a cat's feelings.

Like others said, keep her confined and let her relax. She'll probably be alright in a day or two.

Also, you might want to check her body for injuries. If she's been bitten you might not easily see the wound (look for small puncture marks) but they can fester inside and become dangerous abcesses.

She is vaccinated, isn't she?