My cat the spirit hunter

by stephanie
(florida)

Scared cat behavior image

My 11 yr old, 15 lb, neutered cat Snuzzle, has spent the night sniffing and prowling throughout my house. He usually goes to bed at night and sleeps all night curled up next to me.

Last night however he acted quite strange. He started around midnight sniffing every room and every nook and cranny.

He searched the fireplace, tried to climb into the chimney and sniffed everything he could reach - repeatedly. He then went into my bedroom and proceeded to sniff everything there.

He got on the dresser, rocking chair, bedside table and DVD racks. He sniffed everywhere, under the bed behind and under all the furniture, then got on the bed and sniffed the perimeter of my bed and made 46 trips around it.

He then started his sniffing search all over again. This went on for 5 hours without any break in this pattern. Once he jumped on top of my dresser, jumped off quickly, hissed and ran from the room.

I had to coax him back and he once again resumed sniffing everything. He did not want me to touch him and would suddenly sit in the center of the room and look around him like he was following something with his eyes.

This went on till it became daylight where he suddenly stopped searching and sniffing and laid on the bed like he usually does. He was awake for hours after the incident which is also unusual as he really likes to sleep any time any where.

He is such a laid back, lovey that for him to be so active and not want to be loved its almost unheard of. This happened once before in April and it was the same as last night.

Has anyone else had their cat behave like this? I also checked the house for bugs, rodents (which we have never had before) and for snakes. I searched again this morning and didn't find anything either.