Sudden fearful behavior won't last forever, right?

Background: My cats are Cagney and Lacey, two female litter mates, almost 11 months old.

We've had them since they were 2 months old. Great cats with no significant behavior or health problems to report.

Cagney is neurotic and cuddly, Lacey is more laid back and loves head scritches but not into being held/picked-up. 

The incident:  Lacey got her head caught in the handle of a plastic bag and did several high speed, panicked laps around the house when she suddenly stopped and I was finally able to get the plastic bag off her. She was very freaked out - crouched under the coffee table, tail fluffed, wouldn't move or take a treat. I finally put her upstairs in my bedroom so she could have some quiet time - she hung out under the bed for the next couple of hours.

During the commotion Cagney hid under the bed in a spare bedroom on the first floor. It took a couple of hours for me to find her, in fact.

The problem: Anyway, they slept in my room last night and I was hoping they'd be over it this morning. They were hesitant to leave my room, but crept downstairs - walking low to the ground ever so slowly, tails low. 

Lacey even made it as far as the kitchen/family room to her normal feeding spot for some breakfast (alternately taking bites and looking around fearfully). 

I've had a lot more success with luring Lacey out from under beds with treats and Da Bird - Cagney not so much and nothing even happened to her.

I've decided to keep them quarantined in my room (with attached master bath) for a couple of days to sort of reintroduce them to the house. 

My question: Will this do permanent damage to their personalities making them more fearful? I hate seeing them like this.

Just give them lots of TLC and don't force them to come out of their comfort zone for now.  They should eventually get over this incident. 

They are watching out for that terrible thing that attacked one of them, grabbed them around the neck, and tried to eat them.  It will take a while.  Don't leave any plastic bags where they can see them, for a while.

Thanks for your replies. I'm definitely seeing improvement. They both (cautiously) ate downstairs in their usual spot. They've both napped in my lap.

Lacey has only just begun (in the last month or so) to show interest in my lap. I was afraid this incident set her back - apparently not.

My previous two cats from childhood were quite different from these two. Creature was just ridiculously bold and in your face; nothing phased her and I can't think of a single incident that caused her to hide. We took her camping! Shadow was the polar opposite; a feral we captured from the street who had zero interest in returning and was afraid of anything she couldn't eat.

These two are somewhere in the middle. It seems like it would be really easy to turn them into total fraidy cats and I don't think living in fear is a good thing.

I had a plastic bag incident happen to one of mine. He got over it but he was always fearful of the sound of them all his life.  You will probably always remember to hang them on a door from now on.  I saw the pictures you posted of your two.  They are very beautiful and look like they have fun together.

About 1.5 years ago, Ritz got her paws caught in a plastic bag -- with 18 eggs in it -- which I had left on the sofa while I went outside to get more groceries.  I didn't see it happen, but I saw the egg whites and yolks everywhere from the walls of my living room to the far corners of my bedroom.  She was hiding under the sofa, and when she came out, she STILL had the bag wrapped around her torso but thankfully was able to shake it off her.  She lost a claw in the process (which I keep in my keepsake box).

She actually got quite cuddly on my lap around three hours after the incident.  I gave her lots of TLC.  And was back to normal more or less after about three days.

But she STILL does not like to see plastic bags on the counter (she crouches) and I simply don't place plastic bags on the sofa.

Interestingly, she has no problems with plastic bags (handles cut off) on the floor.  She likes the sound of them and I sometimes hide balls and tiny mice under them for her to "hunt".

They seem to be back to normal. Cagney - the one nothing happened to - seems to be the most traumatized. That cat is such a freak.

I don't typically keep plastic bags around the house - I always bring reusable ones to the supermarket which have long handles they can't get stuck in.

Your cat will come around within a few days; she was just simply reacting  the the ''traumatic'' experience that took hold of her. With the bag being ''loud'' cats do not like loud noises. Also with her head being caught in the handle of the bag she may also have been reacting to something being around her neck, as cats do not like things around their necks, as it makes them feel smoothered. Again the noise of the bag from her ''high tailed'' reaction was the biggest factor of the issue. Again kitty will come around within a few days time, but watch her next time she sees a bag, she will not go near it.

Ive both plastic and paper bag incidents with my little one(now just over a year old)..with plastic got his head in the handles..luckily I was sitting right there..ran about 10-15ft before I was able to grab the bag and tear it to free him...same thing happened with paper..

was playing in and out of the bag...went to go in and got his head caught in the handle..took off and went behind the couch..was able to reach down and grab the bag and again tear the handle freeing him...within minutes he seemed no worse the wear but I will wait to bring those "toys" back into play..the only reason I did was because my older cat, when he was alone would play in them..

annettek said:

Your cat will come around within a few days; she was just simply reacting  the the ''traumatic'' experience that took hold of her. With the bag being ''loud'' cats do not like loud noises. Also with her head being caught in the handle of the bag she may also have been reacting to something being around her neck, as cats do not like things around their necks, as it makes them feel smoothered. Again the noise of the bag from her ''high tailed'' reaction was the biggest factor of the issue. Again kitty will come around within a few days time, but watch her next time she sees a bag, she will not go near it.

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This is off topic, but how can you acknowledge that a cat is terrified of loud noises in this thread, then recommend Draco pop a balloon in her cat's face in the thread about keeping cats from jumping in closets?