bizarre cat behavior

Question
Hello =) We have a male cat who is about 1.5 years old. Normally, he is very sweet and loving..normally.  Starting about 6 months ago (about) he goes off his rocker.  He will hiss and spit and scratch and yell at everyone.  You can not touch him or get near him.  The first time he did this, we took him to the vet, the minute we got him outside he was TOTALLY NORMAL and the vet could find nothing wrong with him.  Once we brought him back, he started up again.  It took about 2 days for him to come out of it the first time.   The second time he did this, it was the same scenario, but we didn't take him to the vet this time, took him about a week to come out of it.  Now he has started again and we have no idea what to do.  If this episode gets bad enough he won't use the littler box and will only eat if I bring it to him (hissing and growling the entire time). This is the SAME  apartment we have been in since we found him (he was a stray kitten) and the same other pets we have always had.  Nothing has changed as far as the humans can tell (even the other cats and dog are acting the same), seems the only one with his panties in a bunch this one particular cat.  I could take him again to the vet, but I'm not sure she can help.   The only thing we can find in common with all of these episodes is that they always seem to happen in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping (there isn't any evidence that he has gotten into anything or ever been hurt).  I just want to know at the very least how to deal with this behavior, especially since my husband and I are expecting a baby soon.  I appreciate any advice you can offer. Thank You =D

Answer
Hi
you didn't mention if he is neutered or not. If he is not then this behavior sounds like it is normal night time male cat antics.
Night time is the normal time that cats are naturally more active, in the wild this is when they would go out hunting, marking vterritory, finding females etc. So if he is not neutered then this would be a good first course of action.

Other wise it could be becasue he is bored at nightime and is frustrated. Night time crazies as i like to call them are vey common in cats, my own goes through a very dtrange episode every other night, making strange wailing noises and searching round the house for something, we have nver quite worked out what.

It is strange if the behavior continues throughout the day though and again all i can put it down to is frustartion and boredom. I have written a peice about how to keep cats entertained on my website here is the link /indoor-cats.html for your information.

Other than that always try to playa very energetic game with the cat about an hour before bedtime, this often settles then down and wears them out for sleep. The only other option is to place his bedding and toys etc in a separate room at night so that he cannot disturb the rest of the household.

Best wishes kate