Need advice, help, opinions, ANYTHING!!!!

**Grace** · 06-25-2006, 09:49 PM

It is very clear that he is avoiding the kitchen area for some reason and I noticed that any sudden noise, no matter how small it may be, makes him very nervous.

Do you have a gas stove? I wondered if you did, and it had a leak, and he smelled it?

Did something in the kitchen get broken recently - maybe he did it, and is afraid of being punished?

**rg_girlca** · 06-25-2006, 10:07 PM

Nope, no gas stove and nothing has been broken either.

It's been just a little over half an hour and he is still laying in the hallway by the living room. So that's a start.

**jazzcat** · 06-25-2006, 10:09 PM

This really won't help but since you said he avoids the kitchen it got me thinking about Ripley. He used to run and hide for a little while when ever I would get a new trash bag out to put in the trash can. He still runs but he no longer hides. He also does that whenever we get ice from the ice maker, get out pots and pans or unload the dishwasher. He cries from the noise. Maybe Nugget is an extra sensitive boy like ole Rip.

**Tubby & Peanut's Mom** · 06-26-2006, 09:47 AM

Maybe an old bad memory has resurfaced and he just needs to work through it again, and remember that he can trust you and your family again. I would just give him some time and don't force anything on him. I think he will eventually come around again.

Poor baby.

**Lizzie** · 06-26-2006, 01:16 PM

I went through something very similar with my Ted several years ago when he was about 8 years old. He very suddenly became afraid of the master bathroom and wouldn't even like going into the bedroom. He'd come in to see me but all the time his head would be switching back to the bathroom doorway and he'd be very edgy. I checked the room for changes, there were none. His health was perfect at that time. There had been no changes in the household, the routines, no visitors, no new cleaning smells.

I managed to trick him, by playing with him, into going into the area of the bedroom that was close to the bathroom and found out that his terror, and it was absolute terror, was focused on a plastic laundry basket that sat on the floor. To this day, I don't know why he became terrified of that thing. It had been in the same location for all his 8 years, and I never put stuff like clothes in which I'd gardened or done a lot of cleaning in because I'd take those straight downstairs to the laundry room - so it couldn't have been strange smells.

I brought the basket out of the room and he bolted and hid for hours, and then wouldn't come into the bedroom for several days. This went on for a couple of months until one day I scooped him up and took him into the bathroom with me. I sat on the seat of the loo and talked to him while he huddled up beside it on the floor. It took a long time but eventually he came out and moved towards the basket, sniffing constantly and his whole body on red alert. Then he got right up to it, walked around it and sniffed it thoroughly. Suddenly, his body language changed completely. His ears came back up and his tail came out from between his legs. He'd discovered that it wasn't a threat to him after all and he was fine with it from then on.

It never made any sense to me but it was very real to Ted.

**Soapets** · 07-15-2006, 07:51 PM

I'm just now reading this---haven't been on here in awhile. I'm wondering how things are going now---any better? My cats all get nervous around new things, but as soon as they sniff them and check them out, they're fine. Did you get any new appliances or cupboards or dishes or anything that was put into your kitchen?

Deb

**krazyaboutkatz** · 07-16-2006, 12:12 AM

I also missed this thread. I haven't seen Lorraine posting recently so I sure hope that everything is okay. Sometimes my Sunny also acts like he's afraid of my laundry basket but it usually only happens when it's full of dirty clothes. He acts like something is going to jump out and get him. Cats surer can be silly at times.

I'm going to pm her now to find out what's up.

**barncat** · 07-16-2006, 12:23 AM

You mentioned he keeps sniffing... That sounds as if a scent might be frightening him. Has anything new been cooked or eaten or burned? A bew scented candle? Your son using a new deoderant? ANYTHING? Some cats are very sensitive to smells (we tend to think more of dogs, but cats live in a world of scents too) It may not be anything you would consider scarey, but scents are strong emotional triggers in all mammels.

Keep reassuring him and encouraging as you are...

poor kitty! and kind you for working with him.