I think my cat had a nightmare

A week ago, my cat was sleeping in her usual spot in my room (in a cat bed next to the door). She woke up suddenly and began panicking. She darted around my room, then down the stairs. I noticed her right paw was bleeding, so I took her to the vet immediately. One of her claws was almost completely torn off, hanging only by some skin. I think she may have snagged it on the carpet, or her bed.

Anyway, after a week of pain medication and antibiotics, she has recovered nicely and is walking fine (still a bit of a limp). The problem is, she is now deathly afraid of the spot in my room where she was sleeping when this happened. I can carry her in to the room, and she will be pretty much OK, until she wants to leave and has to go out the door. She is in total fear of that area, and there is nothing there.

Is there any way I can help her overcome this strange, sudden fear?

you could try enticing her by leaving treats in that spot. if she associates that spot with treats, i'm sure she'll eventually forget about what happened there.

You're lucky. Zane was asleep on my lap when he had his nightmare, and when he woke up he thought I was The Bad Thing. If I hadn't been wearing my glasses I might have lost an eye; as it is, I have a scar on my cheek. Nobody's asked about it, but I'm tempted to tell people I was attacked by a puma.

I tried the treat method, and she had no apprehension about being in the area while enjoying the food, but she still sort of slinked away in fear. Although, she was much, much calmer.

Thanks for the advice, this may work out.

You might try spraying the area with Feliway. It marks the area as a "safe spot". You do have to reapply, so it's not a one-time thing, but hopefully over time she'll forget she was ever afraid.

Hopefully she gets over her fear...she must have been terrified!