Cat acting weird - please help

Hello!
My 6 year old cat has gone in and outside since we got her over 5 years ago. She is called in the house at night, but about 10 days ago, we must have failed to do this. When we let her in the next morning, she was frightened beyond belief, and went upstairs on the highest piece of furniture. She did not come down to even eat until the evening. She has been acting spooked ever since. I have checked her vision and body, and they seem to be fine. She sniffs everything before changing locations. She usually loves to go outside for hours on end during the springtime. Now, she stands at the stairtop looking out the front door in fear. She seemed to be getting better, but yesterday started all over again with the very frightened behavior. Any suggestions? Could this be serious? Thank you so much.

Welcome to the site!

I'll move this to the Behavior Forum where our experts can help you with your questions.

According to your post your cat is giving off the body language of a cat that has been in a fight or injured in some way. I encourage you to take her in to the vet for a look, it could be a bite, or any number of things that happened to her outside. Once she has been cleared by a vet, then you are looking at something that frightened her beyond belief, but a vet check would be my first move.

There's lots of big scary stuff out in the world for a little one like a kitty. But Hissy is right, take her to the vet to make sure she's okay and when she's given the a-okay take her home and love her as much as you possibly can. It may take a while, but she'll eventually fall back into regular inside routine (she may never want to go outside again, though).

Hi Lilac (beautiful, feminine name - i love it!) and welcome!!

Sorry your furbaby got frightened. Could you tease her a little with an interactive toy - like a feather or something to encourage to socialize a little? Also, i feel just spending time (giving lots of kisses and hugs) with her will help ease her hurt feeling?

Hope all is well, and hugs for your furbaby!


Smiles and cheers!

My cats freak over stray cats that come around. Once my cat got his orange brother confused with the local orange tom and ran screaming and hissing up to my deck and on the tip of the railing. he growled and hissed untill I picked up his brother and let him see it was a 'friend'. Point is it may have been a stray cat(is she fixed? Toms can be mean) or another animal.Just dont do any quick movements around her and dont be loud. The less to spook her the better. Talk to her calmly...give her a treat(like canned food if she never gets it) and try to play with her a little. Dont forget to pet if she'll let you. If she stays freaked after all that, she needs to go to vet and get checked. She could have a injury not visible to us. Good luck and let us know.