hi everyone, i have a 3 year old cat who has always been an inside cat and therefore not had any interactions with other cats.

we have recently started leaving the door open with a gate on due to hot weather, this can cause my cat to get quite aggressive if you go near her but it has now got to the point where she will chase you across the room to attack.

She has just had one of these reactions and i have had to shut her in the front room in at attempt to hopefully calm her down, for the first time i was generally afraid of my pet.

we did lock her upstairs but she would pounce at the door when you walked past and after half an hour she hadn't calmed down at all.

anyone any suggestions, she can be such a lovely cat.

When you mention laving the door open, has your cat been going outside or have other cats been coming inside your home at all?

I would have her at the vet as sudden unexplained aggression could mean a cat in pain.

Is she spayed, and have you tried a feliway diffuser to help calm her down?

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no she hasn't been going outside and no cats have been in as there is a gate in place but there are various cats that pass by outside.

she only seems to get like this when the door is open, she is generally quite calm.

i have not come accross the feliway diffuser, what does this do?

It releases some sort of pheremone I believe which is calming to cats.

it may be that she feels more vulnerable when the door is open if it only happens when the door is open...

If she isnt spayed there could be other issues, but if she is that shouldnt be an issue.

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From reading this thread and what you have said ,there are two possibilities,1 is that she has a medical issue which is causing her to react in this way.2 is that the open door is causing her stress and making her defensive.If you are certain that there is no medical issue then I would stop leaving the door open for a week and see if this has any infuence on behaviour,but I wouldnt rule out medical problems without having her checked out by your vet.You didnt say whether or not she is spayed.

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yeah sorry i forgot to answer that question, yes she has been spayed.

we never used to have the the door open and she has been fine but when open she sits in front of the gate and sometimes meows and then when you go near to her she hisses at you and in the case of earlier on today she chased me across the kitchen! she doesn't always do this when the door is open but definitely more often than not.

she is still locked in the front room for the moment i plan to let her out within the hour and if she has still not calmed down i will leave her in the kitchen overnight.

just a quick update, i have just opened the door and she was still very upset and hissing allot.

we have put her back in the room for now, im hoping it will just take longer for her to calm down.

Please take her to the vet to make sure you are not punishing her for being ill or in pain.

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im honestly not trying to punish her but she is scaring us at the moment which is why we locked her in the room in the dark to calm her down.

i can take her to the vet tomorrow but it seems odd this only happens when she has access to outside and it does seem to be caused by her seeing/smelling another cat.

To be honest locking a stressed cat in a dark room alone will only add to her stress,Im not really surprised she is upset.

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