A cat that had lived quietly for years began shaking along its lower back, spinning after its own tail and lashing out without warning. The episodes came several times a day, mostly in the morning and late afternoon. The animal also started rejecting the household's newest member and urinating in the baby's crib.
The timeline was unusual enough that a team of Brazilian veterinarians published it. Their report, released May 8 in the open-access journal Veterinary Research Communications, describes a 43-month-old spayed mixed-breed female cat whose behavior changed roughly one year before she was brought in, at about the time her owner gave birth to a first child.
