I just witnessed a cat freak-out.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

I have three of the little darlings, and they all get along quite well -- a lot of play-fighting, an occasional irritable hiss, but nothing serious.

Then all of a sudden this morning, as I was puttering around doing some house cleaning, the smallest one, Pixie, started shrieking like a banshee and attacked big, mellow Milo. So he screeched and fought back (he figured out she was serious), then she ran off and attacked the other cat, Jeoffrey, with equal fury. And then somehow all three of them were rolling on the floor in a hissing, howling furball of rage. I yelled at them and they broke it up, but Pixie kept slinking around, growling and hissing. So I stuffed her in a kennel with a towel sprayed with Feliway, where she remains for now. The other two are skulking here and there, looking nervous. I have no idea what set her off.

Any ideas? Will isolating her in the kennel calm her down? It's covered with a bath towel so she can't see the others. I have to leave in a little while, so maybe by the time I come back she'll have settled down.

WTF? Cats...

[charlie and algernon]

1. did Pixie get hurt or are any of them NOT spayed or neutered?

perhaps a hormonal thing? :shrug:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Nobody was hurt; everybody's fixed.

I think she might have seen another animal outside and went into redirected aggression mode. Still, it's very odd.

[charlie and algernon]

5. that's possible

the only time my usually mellow Esther has gone off was when a cat started showing up outside. She got the puffy tail and started screeching like a banshee. I made the mistake of trying to get her away from the window and ended up with a nice scratch down the arm.

[TZ]

2. Nobody has been to the vet or out of the house lately have they?

The only time Sophie and Smokie had SERIOUS issues was when I was in Minnesota and Smokie stayed at the vet and Sophie was at home (cause I couldn't catch her)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Nope. This came out of nowhere.

I think she saw something outside that set her off -- it's the only explanation I can come up with.

[warrior1]

6. she must

have found out about the new life form.

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. Either you've been letting them watch "reality" TV... OR...

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...schedule an intervention.
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[lunatica]

9. LOL!

Cats on drugs do sound a lot like banshees

[zanana1]

13. It's all the pressure.

They know all about LOL Cats, and they're all competing for a photo opportunity. Please, guys, talk to them about the pitfalls of fame and glory.

[Lucinda]

8. I think isolating her in the kennel might make it worse

Is there a room she could be closed into while you're gone? I probably would have let them work it out themelves since they broke apart when you yelled at them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. I was away for a few hours, then let Pixie out of the kennel.

Actually she likes being in the kennel; I think she feels safe there. But she was hungry so she came out on her own. Since then all of the cats have been prowling around with sideways ears and tails low, glaring at each other suspiciously. Pixie growls at them but there have been no attacks. She seems to be calming down a bit. Wish I knew what got her riled up in the first place.

[Lucinda]

11. Glad there is some peace....even if its an uneasy one

You may never know what set her off....hopefully that will be the end of it though, and things will get better. :( I've seen one of mine wake from what appeared to be a dream and be really snappy, really odd...took him a while to settle down. Wish I knew more about how the furry guys think.

[applegrove]

12. My smaller cat gets bossed around by the bigger cat so sometimes she gets frustrated and will

bat at him. She will also attack neighbourhood cats who show up at her window. She'll hiss like crazy. I think it is because she is the low man on the totem pole and that frustrates her psychologically. It seems to me she is hyper-sensitive to her status.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. I think I've figured out what unhinged her tiny kitty brain:

I've rearranged the furniture (rather significantly). That's what I was in the process of doing when she snapped. Cats are territorial and they don't like change, so maybe the disruption of her territory disturbed her enough that she took it out on the others (who don't seem to be as bothered by the rearrangement - but they're older and they've seen it before). This occurred to me as I watched her walk all over the rearranged furniture this morning, sniffing everything cautiously. Her really bad hissy fits have subsided pretty much, but she still even hisses at me if I startle her.