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Expert: - 9/7/2011


Question
My Family has had this cat "Angel" Since it was a kitten, we raised it and cared for it with all of our hearts, shes about 1 years old now and things have gone weird. My Uncle has passed recently and after the funeral my cat has been acting weird, she hissed at my mum randomly we just thought that it was because she shooed away a cat that was outside. Last week my cat decided she hates me and hissed at me like i was an enemy and that i posed a threat to her, my family and i were just sitting in the lounge room and suddenly she hisses at me, i don't think she recognizes me anymore.

Is their anyway that i can get her back to the happy, playful kitten or is she doomed to hate me.

Answer
Joshua,

These are always difficult to answer. So, the first question I have is: Is she spayed? Sometimes hormonal changes in a whole cat can cause behavioral changes.

Next, have you had her to the vet to check for any health issues, for example her hormone levels, her thyroid levels and the like.  A cat in discomfort can often exhibit these kinds of behavioral changes.

If there is a strange cat hanging around outside that she can see, this could upset her and also explain these behavioral issues, especially if she is not spayed. If she is seeing a strange cat, her fight/fright/flight reactions may be activated and, under these circumstances, she could easily exhibit these behaviors. In these cases, sometimes putting the cat in an interior room (no windows) for a time out for a few hours might help quite a bit.

It could be that the funeral is coincidence or something happened that day to upset your cat.

Until you get to the root cause of the behaviors, it is hard to know what to do.

Please let me know what you find out.

Best regards... Norm.  

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Norman Auspitz

Expertise

I can answer most non-veterinary questions about cats. My particular expertise is pedigree cats, breeding and showing. However, I am versed in feline behavior, cat breeds and their characteristics, general feline husbandry, and the like.

Experience

I judged for the Canadian Cat Association from 1975 until 1982. I am currently an approved allbreed judge for the Cat Fanciers'' Association (the world''s largets cat registry), and have been judging for them since 1991. I have been breeding pedigreed cats since 1971 and have been exhibiting pedigreed cats in shows since 1970. I obtained my first pedigreed cat in 1970 and have never looked back. In 1971, I obtained my first Abyssinian which has become my primary breed. In addition, I have bred Manx and Persians. Currently, besides the Abyssinians, I am also breeding Maine Coons.


Organizations
Cat Fanciers'' Association, inc. (CFA) and the Manx, Maine Coon, and Abyssinian breed councils. I am currently Abyssinian breed council secretary.

Publications
Cat Fancy Magazine, The Abyssinian Chapter in The Cat Fanciers'' Association Complete Cat Book, and Articles for various editions of The Cat Fanciers'' Association Yearbook

Education/Credentials
I received a B.S. from Drexel University in 1968, a M.Math from University of Waterloo, in 1970, a Ph.D. from University of Waterloo in 1975, and a MBA from McMaster University in 1980. I received my approved allbreed judging status in the Cat Fanciers'' Association in 1999.

Awards and Honors
We have produced a number of Cat Fanciers'' Association (CFA) National winning Abyssinian and Maine Coons. We have produced a number of Abyssinian and Maine Coon Distinguished Merit females (an award for a top producing cat), including the first Distinguished Merit Abyssinian in the red (sorrel) color. I am the CFA Abyssinian breed council secretary and belong and/or hold office in a number of cat clubs. I am also a member of the CFA Judges Association.

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