Help - bizzarre behavior problem

We have a crazy cat. That's not the problem, she has been crazy a long time and she is now 11. We have multiple other cats. Liza (crazy cat) lives in a two room area because the boy cats torment her. Her two sisters are in and out of those rooms and she gets along ok with them until... Last night in the middle of the night there was cat fighting. This am Liza was behaviing very strangely, hiding behind furniture and being very mellow. She usually is very skittish and won't allow herself to be held for long. We can't perceive anything physical, she did eat. But something is very very wrong. We decided to isolate her for awhile but that is impossible in those two rooms so we moved her to another room. It is foreign to her though and she doesn't like it. Should we leave her in her two room area and just let her hide and hope it works out? Or leave her in the small room that she doesn't like? And for how long? We are, at this point, assuming this is mental and not physical since we see no symptoms. Thanks for any help!

Liza just threw up in the small room. This raises the question whether something physical caused the behavior, or perhaps the psychological thing and the stress caused her to throw up. We may take her to the vet but doubt there is much that can be determined from a physical exam.

Behavioural changes are often the first sign of illness, it sounds to me as if your cat isn't feeling well and should see a vet as soon as possible. You won't know whether a physical exam will show anything until you've let the trained and qualified expert (the vet) have a look at her. I hope she's feeling better soon

Originally Posted by Epona

Behavioural changes are often the first sign of illness, it sounds to me as if your cat isn't feeling well and should see a vet as soon as possible. You won't know whether a physical exam will show anything until you've let the trained and qualified expert (the vet) have a look at her. I hope she's feeling better soon

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I agree. She needs a vet check up.

I'm really no expert, but I would def go to the vet and, until then, bring her back to the rooms where she is used to be (even if she is hiding) because it will cause her less stress. Acclimting to a new area is a lot of stress, especially for a mature cat (I find that kittens adapt faster to a new environment). To me, change in behavior + throwing up = vet check up!
Good luck and many for your cat to be allright.

It seems most likely she had a stroke and that has caused at least temporary blindness which in turn caused the behavior. She is on prednizone and we are hoping the vision will return. We have her back in her regular room but in a 4 ft dog crate for more security and to keep other cats away. We will hope for the best. By the way I was wrong on her age, she is 13 1/2. We brought her in abandoned my her mom at one day. She still had an umbilical cord and we bottle fed her. Hope she pulls through this. Anyone with any relevant experience, advice is appreciated.

Oh bless her, I don't know that much about strokes in cats, but from what I've heard if it was a mild one there is a fair chance of some improvement over time- but even if she doesn't fully regain her sight, cats adjust quickly as long as you keep her things where she's used to finding them.

Originally Posted by danner

It seems most likely she had a stroke and that has caused at least temporary blindness which in turn caused the behavior. She is on prednizone and we are hoping the vision will return. We have her back in her regular room but in a 4 ft dog crate for more security and to keep other cats away. We will hope for the best. By the way I was wrong on her age, she is 13 1/2. We brought her in abandoned my her mom at one day. She still had an umbilical cord and we bottle fed her. Hope she pulls through this. Anyone with any relevant experience, advice is appreciated.

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Oh my goodness! I hope the vet can help you out with this poor little kitty. She is old enough to start seeing some health problems. I haven't ever had a cat that had strokes, but I did have a dog that was epileptic. The vet gave us meds to help control her seizures. I think you need to take her to the vet and see what they can do for your poor girl. From what you are describing it sounds that it is something serious! for her getting well.

Sending to your kitty! I hope she recovers fully. However, Epona is right. Cats that are used to their territory adjust pretty quickly. We have a kitty that had to have an eye removed and she doesn't see too well out of the other eye (damaged from disease). She does just great - even jumps around - as long as we don't move things around much.

Laurie

She is comfortable now but still pretty spaced out. She is eating and drinking water. She is on 2 meds and the hope is vision will return in a couple weeks. We're hoping she can be reintegrated with the other cats.

So sorry! It is very stressful when cats have sudden vision trauma. I highly recommend a lot of soft talk to her and playing some soothing music at low volume for her constantly. When they have sudden vision loss, they become freaked out by noise, depth perception is off, and she may have hearing difficulties as well. She needs a calm environment, try to think what she may be feeling and what you would want if so.