"Even after he shot it, that cat was so hopped up "
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I wonder, if perhaps the cat found some drugs, as in illegal drugs, in the basement and sniffed or ate some, and because of his small body weight relative to humans, it made him totally crazy.
They said it was just a normal, non agressive cat before.
It's either drugs, or something frightened the cat so tremendously, that virtually drove him out of his mind.
A sudden change like that must have a cause.
The Kitty saw Lucifer.
Sour Ground
My cat gets happy on, get this....coffee grounds! When we make coffee on the weekends, I give him a pinch of the fresh grounds. He snorts it, licks it rolls in it etc. and after that he's ready to play!
Good that you specified illegal drugs, otherwise we would have all assumed you were talking about safe legal drugs that can't harm anyone.