Sudden inexplicable fear

Neufi, one of my two 13 month old brothers, freaked himself out the other day in the early morning, jumping out of the laundry bin in the bedroom closet, maybe getting a claw stuck on something (? I was half asleep), getting all caught up in the rug that slips around the hard wood floor, and finally getting out of the room in a terrorized kind of a fury. This was 6 days ago. I have NO idea what caused it, but since it happened, Neufi does NOT want to come back into the bedroom. Since he was a kitten, he has not yet slept even one night apart from his brother or from me. Now - he's scared to death of this space. He's not at all scared of me or Tino his brother - just of this bedroom. He cries overnight, alone in the other rooms, because Tino sleeps with me, as usual. It's heartbreaking, but he won't come in! I carried him in gently once and he stiffened up and did the kitty-high-alert thing, running out immediately when I put him down. I try to coax him in with treats - he will come far enough to grab them and then run out to chomp them up. I talk to him sweetly when he sits at the door looking in. I throw his favorite toys on the bed for him to chase, but he dares not go after them. It seems it's really the bed and the closet that are the most threatening to him, I just cannot figure out why. At the time of the ordeal, his brother Tino (the alpha) followed suit, freaked out, and also fled the room. But Tino got over it in 5 minutes. To my knowledge, there's nothing differently scented in the room, and there is no other foreign object that wasn't there before the fated morning. I would normally assume there's a threatening scent that's keeping him at bay, but the strongest scents in here have got to be my own and Tino's, which should be welcoming (when I'm in the living room, both cats are all over me, and the guys play and groom each other as usual). I am at a total loss. Anyone have any ideas?

Maybe they heard something outside at the time that scared them. There isn't much you can do but leave it be for now, don't keep pushing them to go back. They'll eventually forget and go by themselves (or himself), but you're only keeping whatever it was 'alive' for them by trying to drag him back.

I totally agree.....and hopefully this was NOT where his kitty litter was!!!
Linda

There's nothing in here he needs (no litter, no food or water), except what he obviously wants - affection from me and his brother. It's really a mystery, but I'll just hope he comes around sometime.

It's his scared scent that he left behind that is telling him to stay away. Invest in a bottle of Feliway spray, spray the bottom of the doorway and liberally spray the floor and up the walls a bit. The take some catnip and sprinkle that around (unless it makes him aggressive) You want to cancel out the scared scent on the floor with pleasant ones. Don't force him to come in, let him make the choice. leave the door open and just watch and see what happens. Also buy a couple comfort zone room diffusers and plug one it near the doorway (outside the room)_ and the other inside the bedroom. Again, don't force him- he was scared out of his wits. Cats never remember the nice things that happen to them, but they NEVER forget the bad-

Originally Posted by hissy

It's his scared scent that he left behind that is telling him to stay away.

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I had that situation. I just realize it now that I read hissy's explanation. It took about three weeks before the cat was at ease again. Apparently the scent goes away with time. Those diffusers are expensive. So is the spray. If you just use the spray, or if you just wait long enough, I think the fear should go away.