Cat acting strangely after getting outside

This was a stray kitten when we first adopted her. She is an indoor only cat. She has been great ever since we got her (about a year ago), always social and cuddly. Recently, she got outside, along with our other cat, and within 30 minutes, we realized they were missing and luckily were able to find them. She seemed a little scared outside, but very curious. Now that she is back inside, she is acting all strange around our other cat and us. She usually loves me, but now runs away anytime I get within 5 feet of her. Her tail is constantly bushy, and she is always watching everything. Around our other cat she looks like she is about to attack him, while before they got out, they were best friends. She was just scratching at the door trying to get out. She has NEVER been like this before, even when we first got here. Our other cat is fine after being outside, by the way. Currently she is playfully biting me while purring loudly after I tried to approach her, but then she starts seriously biting me. Honestly, at first we thought we had found the wrong cat, but it looks just like her, shes been in a lot of her usual hiding spots, we found her right outside our house, and she knows her way around the house, so we are positive it is her. We already put flea and tick stuff on both of them, which has never before changed their behaviors. Is this normal, or what is going on?

Hi
I wouldn’t worry about this behaviour. It sounds to me like she is both excited and a little freaked out by her recent adventure. Don’t forget she would have encountered lots of strange smells (scent is incredibly important to cats) and also she may have heard noises and encountered other animals etc, so the fact that she is different really isn’t a surprise.

I find this question a little difficult to answer as i have always let my cats outside. I just don’t know how you’ve managed to keep yours inside for this long as my two would have either gone crazy themselves or driven up mad with this their pitiful cries etc.

I know many people do keep their cats in but I also have heard that once a cat does get a taste for the outside then it can cause problems as all their natural instincts are triggered and as they say cats are very curious creatures.

Hopefully in your case your cat will settle down within the next few days and eventually return to her normal self. Cats react to fear with aggression and so her new biting etc behavior could be a result of this.

You could try buying her some new toys to try and distract her from the outside and also any fears she may currently have.
I have lots of pages about different sorts of cats toys which you may find of further interest here

http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-toys.html

Best wishes kate