Expert: Karen Craft - 9/2/2008

Question
my 2 year old cat has had 3 episodes of hissing and acting scared, confused and unsure of her surroundings. this has happedned on 3 seperate ocassions: 1)when picking her up from the vet after bieing spaded; 2)suddenly after (I'm pretty sure )she ingested a giant centipede, got caught up with a plastic bag around her neck and was running all over with it; 3) again this week when i came home---she seemed okay, then suddenly she changed. didn't want to go into the back bedroom(which is her room with her food and liter box).she literally stopped, looked in, then backed out cautiously. when I bent down to see what was wrong, she hissed at me, looked almost terrified and confused like she didn't know where she was or who i was. I couldn't get near her for around 2 hours. she would hiss, slap my hand and put her teeth on my fingers like she was going to bite. she also kept running away from me in the house. then, suddenly, she became herself again. she even came and layed on my chest for awhile.
can you tell me why this happens and what I can do.
I also have a dog who gets along with her very well.(my cat sometimes go after my dog-just playing, I hope.). and will soon be getting a new kitten very soon who will be neutered. I am more afraid for them if she freaks out.
appreciate anything you can tell me.

Answer
Hi Catherine,

Her behavior is normal. Some cats react a little more stronger to disturbances in their world than others do. When she gets frightened this is her way of reacting. The first episode was from all the strange smells at the vet. The second was she was scared by the bag. And the third was most likely she saw or heard something in the room that scared her. Don't worry about it. One thing though, when you get the other kitten , make sure when you go to the vet that you take both. This will prevent problems later of her having a reaction like the other time. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen