This cat has always been fairly skittish but started slowly opening up a few years ago. I've had her for at least 10+ years now. Just last month she started being more and more bold and even started getting on the couch with me (unfathomable at the time due to her shyness). She quickly became addicted to getting attention on the couch and would try to lead me there or rush quickly to get there if she saw me going to sit.

Normally at dinner time, she would already be waiting and prancing, rubbing on my legs and requiring a petting before she can begin to eat. Yesterday, she was in a different room and I called and called and she nervously came in and sat far away from me, I went and held the plate up to her to show her it's dinner and she looked big eyed and afraid before running low to the ground. I put her food in the usual spot and she didn't touch it all evening (but ate it over night).

Today, she's still treating me like I'm a total stranger, looking at me afraid before running and hiding. I've tried gently baby-talking her, sitting on the couch and trying to coax her but she wants nothing to do with me. If she looks too scared, I back off and leave the room. She didn't come or eat dinner again yet. She has never liked anyone else participating in her play before, so I can't even coax her with a toy.

Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has occurred to cause this. I've not been anywhere, I've not had anyone over, I've not changed my appearance, I've not said or done anything I don't already do on a daily basis. She's indoor-only so she hasn't been anywhere either. She was adopted from outside and is already familiar with the strays who hang around and has watched them and played with them through the window before, so I don't think it's that she's territorial or anything.

So I cannot imagine what has caused this, and it makes me really sad for her to shun me like this. She's behaving like the past 10 years haven't happened. I don't know if it's too bold to say but I think she has anxiety problems, but like I said nothing unusual has happened, and she was even acting normal earlier that day so I have no idea what triggered her. I was hoping it was nothing and she'd "reset" over night but she didn't, and if she's still acting like this tomorrow I'm going to be really worried.

Anyone have any ideas about why this happened and what I can do to comfort her / get her to like me again? I'll edit or post if something changes.

If you're able, try and get her to a vet soon. Behavioral issues like that could be a symptom of an underlying illness or injury. Cats are really, really bad at showing when they're feeling ill, but acting afraid and unfamiliar can indicate a health problem. I hope she feels better and opens up to you again!

Capturing her for the vet is no easy task and is extremely traumatic for her due to her anxious nature. I'm refraining from having to stress her further if not necessary, but since she is my only cat now she has all attention and focus and I've been keeping an eye on her.

It has taken a few days, but since I wrote the first post she seems to have accepted me again and is acting normal, rushing to get on the couch for attention and all. On the 16th, she threw up a few times that morning - and she never throws up (compared to cats I've had in the past who did it very regularly) so my thoughts are that because she's so anxious in nature, she was afraid of throwing up and maybe thought that I knew she was going to throw up and was afraid that I was going to capture her for the vet. Whatever the problem was seems to have left her system and she's back to her attention-hungry self, but like I said I'm still watching her just in case!

As a side note, I don't think any amount of describing in text can clarify how skittish her nature is, unless you know her and have known her the whole time. She's the only cat I've ever had who doesn't like to be played with - she has her favorite jingle ball that is the only thing she will play with, and if I so much as acknowledge and point at her ball, she runs away. Other than that I'm glad she seems to have forgiven me for whatever happened the other day and is back to trying to lead me to the couch so she can flop against me. :)

Oh good--I'm really glad to hear she's feeling better and is back to being friendly and cuddly! My partner had a cat who was extremely skittish as well, and taking her to the vet was extremely stressful, so I can't blame you for not wanting to take her without reason. Glad she's back to her old self! :D

luckily, cats/dogs don't really care about what we look like, not as far as i noticed with having 3 cats right now (and 2 for the past 9 years). if you had a bird, especially a crow, that's when your appearance would matter. What i did notice, is that sometimes my cats lose appetite, without it being something serious. it just depends on the period the cat refuses to eat. but if there's food on the plate and she's eating at a later time, there's not much to worry. i don't think. lethargy, excessive licking, thirst, trying to use the litter with no success, or using other places as the litter are definitely signs there's something wrong. if she throws up, give her less food at once. my oldest cat has a tendency to throw up when there's too much food. the other cat poops with blood when he eats too much. the youngest just refuses to eat if she doesn't like the food. so far, i saw nothing wrong with her, but she's about 8 months old, so i still have to learn stuff about her.

thank you both for the comments. It's been a little while now and I'm happy to give a (hopefully final) report that she is still 100% back to normal. It could have been any thing that was going on in that few days that I'll never truly know, but she seems to have gotten through it and is more lovey than ever. She has not thrown up again since it happened.

innamoramento , sometimes my cat also rejects food (not completely, she's a little piggy but she's definitely hesitant to eat it) when she's accidentally given the same flavor two days in a row - she gets a variety of flavors to cycle through and expects that variety! But she didn't have any of those warning signs, just a random fear of me for a few days.

i'm glad to hear that the cat is back to normal :) throwing up now and then is normal, as they sometimes need to eliminate the fur they swallowed while grooming. sometimes there's more or it, sometimes less. No matter, it can't be fun. my cats also seem to prefer variety of flavors. but i really have to pay attention to the quantity i give them. i can't really trust fiance to pay attention, sadly. they think they give little food, but in reality it's 2 of my servings -.- meh... it's alright...

Hooray! I'm so glad she's back to her old self! :)

I was gonna say it's possible she feels threatened in her territory but I'm glad to hear she's back to her original self! Of course if this ever becomes an issue again there's a lot you can do to help cats be more confident by giving them their own designated space (particularly wall shelves since it's high enough no one can reach them and cats LOVE high up places).