Cat Freaked Out By Own Reflection

[x-ta-z]

Hi, I'm posting for my friend who has a 8 year old dsh boy. They moved to a new place 4 weeks ago and all went well. Last Wednesday he suddenly became freaked out by his own reflection in a shiny door. He became aggressive and stressed by his reflection. Hissing and growling, tail flicking... the works.
Now here is the awful part the entire home has his reflections. All doors are shiny gloss finish. There are lots of full length windows. The kitchen cabinets are also shiny. He is starting g to see his reflection in every shiny surface and freaks out. They don't know why this suddenly happened as he was ok with his reflection in a mirror in the old place (he pawed at his reflection but didn't become aggressive.).

I was at their place today and it's heartbreaking to watch as he keeps going back to search for the intruder who in fact is his reflection.

The only thing they think might play a role is they got a cow hide rug on the day his behavior started, but he doesn't seem to pay attention to the rug. Could the rug smell like a intruder cat? Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

Short of trying to paste something over every shiny surface, do a anyone have solutions? Right now we turned one mirror around and hu g trash bags over the kitchen cabinets. But like I said, the entire home is high gloss and it's a rental so nothing they can change permanently

 

[susanm9006]

Most cats experience this as kittens and get over it. But,
this is a new place which is enough to put him on edge. He will figure out these intruders have no scent and aren’t coming after it him but it might take a while. I would just ignore the behavior in the meantime.

 

[x-ta-z]

I think it's difficult to leave as he sees intruders approximately every 5 minutes which throws him into a fit. And the odd thing is that he did see his reflection before in the old place and had no issue with it. My friend is also concerned as he has a history of peeing and pooping throughout the house in times of stress. With them just having moved it was going to give them a clean slate (no residue of pee anywhere) and hopefully stop him from doing it again.
It's been going on for 5 days now and he keeps discovering new areas to see his reflection. Yesterday he started seeing himself in the kitchen for the first time. And they now had to move the litterbox into the living room as he refused to walk through the hallway due to the glossy doors on either side.

 

[danteshuman]

Perhaps contain him in one room (the friend's bedroom?) That way he can explore that one room first. Keep him in the room for a week or two and then let him explore the rest of the place. It might help him feel more secure and less frightened by his reflections?

Also they sell fills in frosted or stained glass patterns you can apply to windows/mirrors. In a pinch you can try taping wrapping paper on all the reflective surfaces he reacts to from waist height down?

 

[rubysmama]

danteshuman beat me to it, but I was also going to suggest keeping him in one room or small area until he gets more comfortable.

Not sure if there'll be anything helpful, but here are links to the TCS articles on stress.
Is Your Cat Stressed Out?
You, Your Cat And Stress
Potential Stressors In Cats - The Ultimate Checklist
Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats

 

[x-ta-z]

thank you! I will suggest that to her. It's bizarre though that he was fine for the first 3 weeks. Any idea what could cause him to suddenly see his reflection as an intruder? could the cow hide rug be a problem?

 

[Adway]

Can it be that he is seeing too many reflections and feeling persecuted? One of my cats - Bruce - got really aggressive when he first saw his reflection, 4 weeks back. When he saw one today, he ignored it and decided to explore contents of my dressing table instead.

 

[rubysmama]

Any idea what could cause him to suddenly see his reflection as an intruder? could the cow hide rug be a problem?

Maybe he was startled by a noise at the same time he caught sight of his reflection. Or maybe a strange scent. Would the cow hide have a smell?

Maybe tell them to look into Feliway, or calming treats.

When he's trying to find the intruder, can they distract him with treats? Something to make him associate good things with the "intruder".

 

[x-ta-z]

Not sure if the cow hide has a smell. They have taken the cow hide into their car for now and bought a calming spray which is helping a bit. They are planning to paste frosted film over the shiny surfaces as well. Unfortunately when he is fixated on his reflection he does not react to treats or other distractions.

 

[rubysmama]

Very frustrating, and stressful, I'm sure. I hope he gets over his obsession soon.