Cat Scared For No Reason

by Jeanine
(Philadelphia)

So, We have a cat who is in a small apartment. She is very familiar with every inch of this apartment. Yesterday she looked at something, it seems, and just got scared. She pulled back and jumped. After that she kept smelling and smelling the area where it happened. She jumped at every noise and watched the area for hours. Her eyes got big. After watching that area for hours she moved to another area and then back to that area, still jumping at every sound or movement. She was shaking at one point. She has not gotten over her fear of the area. We did not change anything, in fact, we had been in the apartment for hours and she was fine with that area.

Today she has moved on to a different area and things she has already smelled she is smelling and she is also very jumpy. She still will not go in the area from yesterday. She is scared of new things today, it seems. Things from all different places in the apartment. We also have another cat who is not bothered or acting strange in the least.

I am perplexed and want the kitty to not be so scared and jumpy. I am sure it is very stressful for her to feel always threatened by something.

Thank you so much for your input!
Jeanine

Answer by Kate
She is obviously reacting to some scent she can smell, even if we can't. What it is who knows, perhaps something was walked in outside and has been transferred to the floor, perhaps the scent of another cat. All i can recommend in this case is a thorough floor clean and then sprinkle some dry bicarbonate of soda onto the dry floor, leave for half an hour then vaccuum up to get rid of any left over odors.
Your cats sense of smell is far more acute than ours and so she can pick up even the tinests scent. If she is a more nervous cat anyway she will react more strongly to things like this than a more confident cat would.
I hope she settles down again once the scent is removed. Best wishes
kate

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