Fear aggressive cat will not stop attacking me 5 hours later. HELP

[charmanderb]

Hi guys,

Hoping you can help me with an issue i'm having with my cat Freya,

I've had her since she was 6 weeks old, she's now 2 and I have only recently had problems with her. She's usually a playful and fairy affectionate cat 90% of the time. She sleeps on my bed, gives me kisses, purrs when we interact  etc.

However she has an extreme fear aggression problem. It's only happened 3/4 times but it's simply awful when it happens, like it did tonight.

Here's what happened: 

    I was walking down the stairs and past her litter box, I didn't realise she was using it and as I walked past she shot out of it and scared me, causing me let out a shout of surprise (as you do when you are scared). When I walked back through the house and past her again she attacked me. Extremely vicious attack at my legs, biting, scratching and making the most awful noises. 

It's been 5 hours and she keeps attacking me. When i'm sat on the Sofa/PC she's fine. She comes up to me, brushes past me etc (though I am ignoring her as punishment)

However the moment I stand up she freaks out and attacks me again, I had to hold my coat in front of my body to protect myself as she rips into it. When I turn to face her attacks she lays on her back, legs kicking and makes the most awful noises like I am hurting her but I am not touching her.  I have never reacted violently to her episodes, never hit her, sprayed her with water etc. 

I have had to lock myself in my room for the night to stop her attacks, I can hear her scratching at the door and ruining my carpet but I am not letting her in. Nothing I do stops her attacks, she just keeps coming.

The times this has happened before she is usually fine the next morning but I am wondering if there is any way to calm her down faster? 

I could move the litter box/be more careful around it but this happens any time she is startled (loud noises etc)

I am considering Feliway products to calm her down but she is usually fine after these random outbursts. She's a little shy and skittish but she doesn't seem anxious etc in general. 

Does anyone have any tips for me? Currently I am just forced to lock myself away and hope she calms down but it's a struggle to get her away from me long enough to lock her out.

I don't want to fear my cat but at the moment I am dreading interacting with her again tomorrow.  

Thank you for any help!

Kind regards,
Charlotte

 

[xxmintxx]

Because this is so sudden and I gather that she is usually a sweet calm cat then she might be hurt or in pain and doesn't really know what too do. This happened with my cat, he had a nice collar on and it was tightened correctly with it being able to fit 3 fingers in between it and his throat. One day he can back and was fine when I got up to go to the kitchen and he attacked my legs viciously and even left small scars. Stupid day to wear a skirt! I brushed it off as a one off but then I woke up one morning to him hissing and spitting at me from the floor. He us usally a loving kind cat and when I wake up he licks my face but that day he bit my nose making it bleed. I managed to get him in his carrier box and go to the vets. He made horrible noises the whole time and they had to put him under anesthetiser (I think that's the right word) because he was so vicious. They found that he was in serve pain because his collar was tightened in his neck cutting into the flesh and making it quite sore. He had to have meds for a week and a big collar thing to stop him scratching at the stitches. After that he returned to normal but has a scar on his neck to show for it and I have some on my legs! You cat could have the same problem. She could be hurt but doesn't know how to tell you. I don't really know why she is doing this but I thought my personal experience might help.