My cat has had a personality change

Yes, it could affect her behaviour.

You say she is neutered. Are you quite sure that it was successful? A pregnant cat could eat ravenously and could act differently. So would a cat who has kittens concealed outside somewhere that she is anxious to return to and feed!

I agree with what Elegran says. A cat can quickly sense if there is an "atmosphere" in the house and yes, she may well be pregnant but I would have thought that she would return to her kittens rather than sleep in the house for a few hours. That would be a long time to leave them unattended.

It may be worthwhile to ring one of the vet nurses and discuss her personality change before you make an appointment to take the cat to see a vet.

One of my 'grand-cats' (2-year old, neutered female) has been in a strange mood recently and the vet thought she might have been bullied by one of the neighbouring cats. Another 'grand cat' was seen to be having trouble peeing after we got back from our French holiday and her vet suggested stress induced cystitis -she'd been missing her family! What a nervy bunch they are!

I don't know enough about cats - but dogs seem to move into adolescence about that age. My young dog developed fear of things he'd taken in his stride previously at about 10 months. He's 17 months now, and though much more confident again, he nearly jumped out of his skin when I shook a rug near him yesterday, the noise alarmed him. Maybe cats go through a similar developmental phase. But then again, maybe not - cats are dogs are such different animals aren't they!

I'm sure that her sterilisation was successful - my vet is the most efficient vet ever!

Definitely sounds as if something has upset her. If you think the atmosphere in the house might worry her a pheremone thingy might be the answer. I should speak to the vet.

I'd get the vet to check her over....sounds odd to me.

I saw a programme once about how cats sense things and see things in a different way to other animals [eg they know if you're going away somewhere, and not just because they see you packing a case]. You could try a dap diffuser [although not much good if she wants to be outside all the time]. I swear by them. Remember what we said about silver tabbies being hunters; perhaps she just wants to be out in the fields?

I would be worried by this behaviour, I agree with HildaW you need to get her checked over by the vet. Also perhaps a behaviourist might be able to help build up your relationship with her again. Good luck.

She could certainly be picking up the vibes in the household. Another thing she could be having a 'phantom pregnancy'. My daughter's cat won't come in at night now because the weather has been so warm. I hope she soon improves but cats do tend to be a law unto themselves. I take it she hasn't gone particularly thin or anything?

Tegan what's a dap diffuser? - never heard of that

specki A pheromone plug-in thingy may be worth a try.