Sudden aggressive behavior in my cat?

[tophatjimmy]

I have a spayed 3 1/2 year old calico that up until recently has been a very well behaved, if a bit indifferent, cat.

Recently, she will be her usual self and then will suddenly begin to hiss and spit at me for absolutely no reason. If I try and approach her when she's like this she will cower, lay her ears back and scream and begin to swipe her claws at me.

It's like flicking a switch. Nice kitty/devil kitty.

It happened once or twice over the last several months, but has now become a regular problem.

She is an indoors only cat, well cared for with no history of health issues or injury.

Any ideas?

[PrettyKitty1]

When was the last time you took her to the vet? The reason I'm asking this is because animals can develop an illness all of a sudden. I'd consider taking her to the vet. There's got to be something that's causing her to act this way and if her environment hasn't changed then perhaps it's time for a check up.  Just a thought. How odd that she is doing this for no apparent reason. Have you noticed anything different like partial blindness or momentary disorientation?

And well, if the vet concludes that she is perfectly healthy and it’s just a behavioral issue, then let us know. We have good tricks to teach kitties and make them be good boys/girls.

[tophatjimmy]

Nothing in her environment or my routine has changed at all. This is all totally out of the blue.

I live alone, no other pets but her. Quiet neighborhood.

Today I came home from work and she wasn't waiting for me at the door like usual. I called for her and she came meandering out of the bedroom like she had been sleeping on the bed. I picked her up and petted her for a minute and she was perfectly fine. After a few minutes she started to squirm a bit, telling me she wanted to be put down.

She took about 5 steps then turned around and started hissing at me.

I went outside to take my snow tires off and she was watching me from the window by the porch stairs and every time I went up or down the stairs she would bare her teeth and hiss.

In her lucid periods she seems absolutely normal, but at the drop of a hat she seems to go almost rabid.

I'm at my wit's end, I can't have her in the house like this.

[PrettyKitty1]

Something must be triggering this behavior. Can you think of any changes around the house? Is anyone in the house pregnant? Any new animals in the house? Construction noise nearby? If nothing has changed in her surroundings, then it could be health related. You mention your cat being 3 y.o, so her behavior is not age related as some older kitties will become disoriented and the fear of not knowing who you really are or where they are will turn them into what you’d call ‘devil kitties’  So, we can rule that out.  Can you think of anything you do with your arms or maybe a new posture you have adopted lately? Posture and body language can tell them if you pose a threat to them or not.   What do you do when this happens? Does she stare at you or follow you for prolonged periods of time with a ‘I’m watching you VERY closely’ threatening attitude?

I had a young kitty that did this to me once. Turned out she didn’t like my boyfriend so she let me know loud and clear by doing what your cat is doing to you.

If you have not taken her to the vet yet, it’d be good to get her assessed and make sure there are no health issues involved. Then, we could start thinking about possible environmental changes or changes in you that could be triggering her odd conduct.

Anything that you could think of?