Cat suddenly freaking out when taken outdoors

Hi all. 

we have suddenly experienced this with out little one, Peggy Sue. She´s about 8 months old, been with us since october last year, living in a small flat. 

For a few months now, every now and then my wife takes her out (with a leash), to the lawn in front, or for a quick walk around the block, and so far her behaviour had been totally normal, obviously a little excited/scared, which is to be expected, nothing else.

BUT, 2 days ago, she took her out, no leash, to the garden below our balcony. She did her usual thing, cautiously walking and sniffing around for a few minutes, but then when it was time to go back, the wife picked her up, and she went bonkers, not recognizing her and being very agressive. She managed to take her back into the building, then left her lose in the corridor. Little Peggy run to the garage (as she normally does), minutes later I picked her up, and brought her back. she was still a little agressive, hissing a bit and such, but quickly after being back in the flat she returned to her normal self.

Yesterday it was much worse. The moment she hit the garden she started hiding from us, not recognizing us at all. We couldn´t approach her, she would hiss and scratch violently, meowing wildly all the time. Eventually I threw a thick coat over her, made a bundle and run back into the flat. Once back home, she yelled wildly to get released from the leash, and once that was done she was inmediately back to normal.

We will surely take her to the vet soon, but we are also scared to take her out again after yesterday, so I thought of sharing what happened here to see if anyone has any idea what could be happening with her.

Few months ago some burglars broke into our house while we were away. Little Peggy took about an hour to come out from behind the closet where she had been hiding (she doesn´t get easily scared), which makes us think she was beat by them, so we thought this episode now could be some sort of late reaction to that traumatic experiencce?

Any feedback will be welcomed.

Thanks much

Forgot to add that recently she has started to crave some.... erm...  company, nudge, nudge, say no mo, say no mo, wink wink. So yes, she´s not short on hormones at the moment

Whatever has spooked her, it sounds like redirected aggression... it's not you, but she attacks you anyway.

The first thing I would be doing is getting her spayed, as it sounds like she hasn't been.  You may find that will help.