Hello,
Tonight just about midnight my cat got into a serious brawl.. with her own reflection. She broke my wall mirror in half (it was a cheap one) and wouldn't stop attacking it. I got rid of the mangled mirror in hopes that this would calm her. I understand that it is possible she mistook her reflection for another cat, but find that strange because the mirror has been in the same place since I first brought her home as a kitten 2 years ago.
After her fight with the "other cat," she was paranoid and scared. She would not enter my bedroom again without all of her fur raised, but could not resist sitting in the doorway to search for the "other cat." Myself and my housemate tried to calm her. She had no aggression towards either of us, though she did cry out if she thought we might carry her into the room or hold her in a way that prevented her from seeing the doorway to it.
After a while she seemed to calm down. She explored the room a bit and even let me pick her up and sit with her on my bed. I hoped it was a one time thing and went to bed. At 4am I woke to get medicine (I am on the tail end of strep at the moment) and in the time it took me to get up and get the medicine she searched the room for the "other cat" and then after poking her nose under my dresser got into a crazy battle to the death with a bag of shiny christmas ornaments that has been there since christmas. It was obviously not a fun cat "I found a shiny" fight, but rather she must have thought one of the reflections from the ornaments was the "other cat" and lashed out at it.
After that I took an hour to clean the room from top to bottom, removing all shiny objects but her own toys and picking up all clutter on the floor. Just in case she was reacting to some other ailment, I changed her food, water, and litter (cleaning the dishes as well). I took out the trash in case she could have found something in there. I sprayed a bit of vanilla scent in the room to make it feel familiar, as I usually have a vanilla air freshener.
Once again, the cat wandered in. She sniffed around the dresser, and finding no ornaments was not upset. She then came to me and sniffed happily at my toes. Next she went to eat, and saw a bit of reflection in a glass table top which was near her food dish. Again her fur raised and she started howling, but this time instead of attacking she ran from the room and hid under my housemates bed.
Just wondering.. what on earth could cause a cat to suddenly decide that any reflection in a specific room is another cat?
As a last note, she is a siamese with a SLIGHT cross eye problem. It isn't visible if you look at her but it has always given her a bit of a head wobble as she tries to correct her own vision. Also, she has always displayed violent fearful aggression towards other cats, which is why she is my only cat and an indoor-only pet.
Any help would be appreciated.
Tonight just about midnight my cat got into a serious brawl.. with her own reflection. She broke my wall mirror in half (it was a cheap one) and wouldn't stop attacking it. I got rid of the mangled mirror in hopes that this would calm her. I understand that it is possible she mistook her reflection for another cat, but find that strange because the mirror has been in the same place since I first brought her home as a kitten 2 years ago.
After her fight with the "other cat," she was paranoid and scared. She would not enter my bedroom again without all of her fur raised, but could not resist sitting in the doorway to search for the "other cat." Myself and my housemate tried to calm her. She had no aggression towards either of us, though she did cry out if she thought we might carry her into the room or hold her in a way that prevented her from seeing the doorway to it.
After a while she seemed to calm down. She explored the room a bit and even let me pick her up and sit with her on my bed. I hoped it was a one time thing and went to bed. At 4am I woke to get medicine (I am on the tail end of strep at the moment) and in the time it took me to get up and get the medicine she searched the room for the "other cat" and then after poking her nose under my dresser got into a crazy battle to the death with a bag of shiny christmas ornaments that has been there since christmas. It was obviously not a fun cat "I found a shiny" fight, but rather she must have thought one of the reflections from the ornaments was the "other cat" and lashed out at it.
After that I took an hour to clean the room from top to bottom, removing all shiny objects but her own toys and picking up all clutter on the floor. Just in case she was reacting to some other ailment, I changed her food, water, and litter (cleaning the dishes as well). I took out the trash in case she could have found something in there. I sprayed a bit of vanilla scent in the room to make it feel familiar, as I usually have a vanilla air freshener.
Once again, the cat wandered in. She sniffed around the dresser, and finding no ornaments was not upset. She then came to me and sniffed happily at my toes. Next she went to eat, and saw a bit of reflection in a glass table top which was near her food dish. Again her fur raised and she started howling, but this time instead of attacking she ran from the room and hid under my housemates bed.
Just wondering.. what on earth could cause a cat to suddenly decide that any reflection in a specific room is another cat?
As a last note, she is a siamese with a SLIGHT cross eye problem. It isn't visible if you look at her but it has always given her a bit of a head wobble as she tries to correct her own vision. Also, she has always displayed violent fearful aggression towards other cats, which is why she is my only cat and an indoor-only pet.
Any help would be appreciated.