Tripping accident has given Sinbad traumas - any advice?

Several days ago while playing with Sinbad, my husband tripped. Well, was tripped would be the better way to put it - Sinbad got overly excited and slammed into my hubby's ankles while chasing the wand. This caused my husband to fall, and while he was falling, Sinbad ran under his feet and was solidly stepped on. My husband crash landed and made lots of noise knocking things over.

Luckily neither of them was hurt. But Sinbad was completely panicked. He spent all day hiding under the bed except for my morning nap, when he crept out to cuddle with me.

It's been several days now, and Sinbad is still afraid of my husband - sort of. Morning playtime with my husband is his favorite time of the day - and he still gets excited at the sound of the alarm that signals the end of my husband's exercising and the start of play time/ He runs to greet my hubby the way he normally does, but then panics at the sight of him coming up the stairs and runs to hide under the bed. The wand toy also elicits the fear response.

If my husband is sitting or lying down, Sinbad behaves completely normally. Snuggling and looking for attention the same as always. He'll even carry a toy up to him to play, like normal. But the moment my husband stands up, Sinbad panics and hides. He's tried playing with Sinbad while sitting, but that causes fear too.

This situation is stressing out both of them. My husband is sad and upset, feeling like he's lost Sinbad's playtime. And Sinbad is clearly upset too, he so obviously wants to play with hubby like usual, but he just instinctively panics at the sight of my standing/moving hubby. I keep catching him hiding a room away, just watching hubby, wanting to come out and play but unable to stop twitching afraid whenever hubby moves.

Does anyone have any advice on what we can do to help them? 

It sounds like both the men in your life had quite a nasty accident there and it's extremely lucky that neither of them got seriously injured.  I'm not surprised Sinbad is anxious about it happening again, and it is all credit to you all that he is managing to play and run about other than where there is a direct reminder such as the toy he was playing with at the time, and your husband standing up.  The good thing is that Sinbad still seems to trust both of you and the association is only when your husband is standing up.  That doesn't make it feel any better that your usually confident and playful cat has had his world shaken up.

It is difficult to imagine exactly what goes through any cat's mind but Sinbad being afraid your husband could step on or fall on him again is possible.   Cat's remember things which help them to survive.  It makes most sense to me that the way for this memory to be over written and for Sinbad to reduce and loose his anxiety around your husband when he is standing or walking and with the wand toy is to gradually introduce him to being around your husband standing up from a chair or from the floor having given him some food or play or pettings, and move towards encouraging Sinbad to come closer to him once he is stanging up or walking.   Similarly with this wand toy, which Sinbad clearly loves, will he tolerate it being out and on a table or on the floor to investigate?  If not, that is probably the starting point.  Once he is OK with that, very gradually start to touch the toy or move it once Sinbad seems to look calmer and perhaps paws and plays with it on his own a little and learns that the same catastrophe does not happen each time he sees it, touches it or plays with it.   He may take a while, or he might suddenly decide in a few hours time that all in his world is safe again.  I very much hope so.

Good luck.  I am sure all Sinbad needs to time to see that your husband does not fall over again, and that the wand can be out, and even played with without it happening again.

Thank you for your response!

I was hoping someone would say something like that, as that is the feeling I've had as well. Sinbad clearly isn't afraid of my husband, it seems that he's afraid of being stepped on. It's just bewildering though, because it seems like his conscious self is warring with his unconscious self, if that makes sense. He runs away in a panic then is upset that he ran away and didn't get play. But he still can't bring himself to go back...

Or he couldn't...

Your commentary caused me to think of going out to buy a completely new and different wand toy last night. We picked up a feathered one. He wouldn't go near it last night, but this morning he was willing to come out for a tiny bit of play with it and my hubby. A cautious playing, and he still runs if my hubby moves when he's not holding this new toy, or if he gets near the old ones, but it's progress. 

That makes sense because how cats learn is much more to do with their automatic fight or flight responses and once they learn something is scary they are likely to do one or the other (cone to think if it it is very lucky Sinbad didn't have an aggression response).   From what you describe I suspect poor Sinbad is battling with his new 'fear' message about your husband and with the slightly different things to tell him this is not the same experience as he had that day hopefully he can un-learn this lesson and gradually start to play with both of you again.   Great idea to try the new toy.   I look forward to hearing how things progress.

Out of interest, how has Tempest reacted?  Is there any change with her? 

Tempest was terrified when it happened. It was very loud! I was terrified too! And Sinbad was very distressed. However much she aspires to aloofness she still does get upset when something is wrong with him.

But she got over it quickly. I tried giving them treats to calm them down, and it worked on her; once she saw the treat bag come out all fear was forgotten in favor of gluttony. It's cute watching her eat those treats because not only does she absolutely love them, but she 'kills' them by taking them in her teeth and whipping her head around as though she's breaking a neck.  

But I had to coax him out to eat his, then he went back under the bed until I climbed into it for my nap.

I stepped on my feral and he was afraid for weeks. Now he is accepting me again and acts like nothing happened. I agree with all of the above, have your husband offer tasty treats and back rubs, your baby will come around eventually. I know it breaks your heart, I've been there, but he'll come around!

Well, I accidentally almost stepped on my cat´s tail one dark evening about a year ago. I was wearing high heels. She was not hurt, but she still hides when she hears the sound of me wearing heels.......  As soon as they´re off, she is her cuddly self. But, she learnt that is not wise for a black cat to wait in a dark hallway on a dark mat, she is not visible!! 

One hazard with an all gray cat is they are easy to miss most of the time, and when they hand around you like Mouse does they get trodden on regularly:  I don't wear shoes in the apartment and neither does anyone else.  Tripping over him is a constant worry and it wouldn't surprise me if I end up in a similar situation at some point with Mouse.   

You'd think that Sinbad would be hard to miss with his brilliant white coloring, but he has a spectacular talent for sneaking in beneath your feet. I trip over him all the time because one moment I'll see him across the room, then suddenly he teleports under my foot as I take a step.

I think Tempest must have learned about being stepped on before we adopted her, because she won't go near someone who is walking. And if you start walking while interacting with her, she'll stop moving until you depart or stand still. Not afraid, just seemingly aware that there is a risk of being stepped on by the big clumsy furless cats.