For the last fe days, we've noticed PW has been acting strangely. Lots of growling & hissing and then he runs for his life out of whatever room he's in. He's always been quite a character and has survived many cat fights, coyote attack and being shot at short range with birdshot.
The other day I was in the kitchen and heard him start one of his little episodes. I moved quickly to find out what he was growling at and looked around the room. From the noises he was making, I was sure we'd been invaded by a raccoon or worse, a skunk! If it were a mouse or bird he wouldn't be so angry and defensive so it had to be something bigger and scarier than him! When I came around the kitchen counter, I couldn't see anything. I got down on my hands & knees and examined under the table in case something was hanging around up there but seriously hoping there wasn't!!!
There wasn't any animal anywhere!!! and he's doing this often. I was afraid we had a poltergeist or something. Animals can sense these things you know! but then I wondered if maybe he was possessed himself. and then I couldn't decide which scenario was scariest! He's a pretty weird cat before you add any evil spirits!
After a couple more scenes in the night, and now that we realize his "foes" are all figments of his imagination, we decide it's time to call the vet. This morning I spoke with the receptionist who surprisingly has a sister whose cat did all the same stuff this time last year and they found out it was
Feline Hyperesthesia .
This can only be diagnosed once they do a bunch of other tests to rule out other conditions. As I talked to her, I tried to picture my regular crazy PW having blood samples drawn. Totally not going to happen then, and certainly not now in his newly deteriorated mental state! I called Murray and he looked it up and the symptoms are bang on to what we're witnessing. We decided to watch and wait.
Then this afternoon I came home and found him sitting and facing into a wall with his tail stuck straight out behind him. Wait IS that his tail??? It's all wet, and stringy and shredded looking. What the heck?!??!?! Then he suddenly starts flicking the tail back and forth, glaring at it, low growling and hissing at the tail as it moves. He's afraid of his tail and has attacked it!!! Oh my word!!!!!!! No way was he going to let me wash that, I wouldn't risk my life to try. I took him to the bathroom and closed all the doors so he couldn't escape. I got out the Polysporin spray. This is the same spray that the girls swear is like pouring javex and ground glass into an open wound. I was more than a little hesitant to touch him at all! However, I was more afraid of it getting infected. So I covered him with a towel so he couldn't see the offending member or what I was doing to it! He didn't even flinch as I sprayed the cuts so there goes the girls' theory! I sat with him and petted him and he purred and purred. He even let me scratch his ears and under his chin. He didn't mind me touching him but I didn't want to push my luck as I was lucky to be alive as it was!
I phoned the vet back & talked to the same person again and she remarked that it still sounded exactly like her sister's situation. We decided not to take him in just yet, I can't see getting him stitched up. The symptoms can be caused by food allergies if there's been a change in diet. We're going to watch Murphy's food more carefully because PW has been stealing a lot of his stuff lately. Now that Murphy's food has tasty, crunchy bites with bacon and chunks of canned dog food meat and gravy on top, PW is constantly eating out of that dish and ignoring his own. Hopefully that's the trigger and we can prevent further damage!
