Very Angry Cat

[Cayenne3113]

So this morning she was absolutely fine. My house had a little accident with my dishwasher and water came through the floor into my basement, where her litter box is (basement, not same area). So I went downstairs in the room with her litter box to check to see if there was any water and she came down. This is where it all started. From that moment until current she has been VERY angry at me. Growling and hissing like I've never seen her do. This includes swatting and anything you can think of. She gets going so much she is peeing on the floor when 'yelling' at me. This is not normal. Normally she gets mad for a little bit and calms down. But she been sitting at the top of the stairs to the basement now for awhile, anytime walking by doing the angry spurts. I'd like to get an opinion on what to do as this has never happened like this before. It started probably at 1:30PM today (EST) and is still going on. I dont know what to do. I've let her sit for an hour given her treats etc. and still like this.


An update since this has happened. It is now 5:30PM EST , and my cat has come out of the dark room she went into for about 30 - 60 minutes. She came out and sat with me and my family. She still looks like she will flip out if you stand near her for too long. She does also growl if you walk by her. She clearly still has an issue. Any thoughts?

We called 2 vets and they recommended letting her sit in a dark room until she is ready to come out. We havent been moving around very much so it's likely that nothing has changed except she can now come around us.

 

[maggiedemi]

Did the dishwasher make a loud noise when it broke? Did the cat see the water pouring into the basement?

 

[Cayenne3113]

No, it was silent, and it was just a 'small drip' that had been taken care of by the time she had come downstairs.

 

[Furballsmom]

It might be something going on that's completely unrelated to the dishwasher and just coincidentally happened around that time. However, it does seem from your description like she's slightly less worked up after her dark room time. Hang in there - just a thought, are you sure there's nothing else in the basement that she saw/heard/smelled as being a bad thing, and ended up associating that with you when you were there checking on the dishwasher situation? Anyway, hang in there!!

 

[Cayenne3113]

From what you said about smell, hearing or seeing, I did not notice anything out of the ordinary. Obviously just because I didn't notice anything doesn't mean that she didn't... From what I've read online, moving stuff (that she would be used to) can cause change of behavior, but nothing had been moved. The spot in which water came through the ceiling had been taken care of and looked as normal. The water didn't have a smell that I could smell, but it hadn't been down there long enough to reach the area she had come from. I'm worried something else might be at play here like an illness. We are planning to schedule an appointment to get her checked out, but might not be until the weekend is over.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[catsknowme]

Wow - that is bizarre! I wonder if the leak has activated an old pee spot from another animal - perhaps a dog from years ago. Their sense of smell is incredible.
And being around an angry, aggressive cat is very unnerving Please keep us updated!

 

[Cayenne3113]

Honestly, I have no clue. It has calmed down a lot. If I had to put it to a percentage, it would be 85% calmer, as weird as it sounds. Randomly she still has an angry outburst, but NOWHERE near what it was before. I hope it just all goes away. I suppose I will learn if there is anything actually wrong shortly.

It is really a shame that a pet that you love like a family member randomly goes crazy at the whole family and there is no explanation. I feel terrible as I cannot tell if something is really wrong or if it was something simple.

 

[Furballsmom]

Bless your heart, wouldn't it be amazing if they could talk and tell us what's on their mind. I'm SO glad to hear she's calming down. I'm actually wondering if catsknowme is on the right track. Anyway, it's better, that's the main thing.