new and sudden fears

Question
We have a light grey tabby who is 2 years old.  My husband has always been his "favorite" person. Suddenly 2 weeks ago he is totally petrified of him and runs/hides every time he is in the room. We can think of nothing that has changed recently and there was no incident to set this off.  He also just had a clean bill of health from the vet 3 weeks ago. This evening he even spent 30 minutes howling to me because he was hungry and "Daddy" was in the room with his food bowl.  Any Suggestions?

Answer
Hi Sarah,

It sounds like your cat smelled something on your husband that scared him. I would suggest that you figure out what smell got on your husband that freaked out your cat. He may have picked up another cat whose scent is confusing your guy. I would suggest that your husband keep a set of sweats where the cat is and change into them. He then needs to reintroduce himself to the cat again. Try using some deli chicken or something your cat can't resist. Have him talk slowly and quietly to your cat. If he starts to panic, back away. Keep this up until he is used to him again. It won't take long, maybe a week. Good luck. And tell your husband to stay away from other cats.

Ciao, Karen