Sudden behavioral change in 7 yr old cat

Question
We have multiple cats. At present we have 13. We have had up to 15. All are indoor cats. 3 weeks ago while we were on vacation, our renter left  a door open and one of our cats (Comet) got out. He has yet to be found.

Comet's best buddy is Yuki. Yuki has been missing Comet but seemed ok. Then a week ago, Yuki suddenly vanished for 2 days inside the house. We eventually found him hiding BEHIND our ventless gas fireplace. He had apparently been there the entire 2 days. When we took him out and let him go he ran scrambling to hide behind the fireplace again, and he did this every time we let him go. When we offered food he bolted it down like he was starving.

We do not know what happened. There was not a mark on him where we could say that he had gotten hurt. He was not afraid of our dogs. He was not afraid of the other cats. He was not afraid of us. But he cowered next to us and wanted to be pressed against us. He was just terrified of god knows what.

Our bedroom serves as the kitty hospice and place for our special needs cats. We brought Yuki up there in hopes of helping him not be afraid. Now he cowers in a compartment under our bed. At night I lay him beside me and he presses his face into the crook of my arm and he will stay there until I fall asleep, at which point he will return to his spot under the bed sometime during the night.

We drag him out to feed him and he always bolts the food. We don't know if he is coming out when we are not around to eat and drink. I am worried about dehydration and I check his skin elasticity to make sure he is not dehydrated. I am taking him to the vet to make sure there is no physical problem behind this.

But we are baffled. We have no idea what caused this sudden terror. One day he was fine and acting normal, then he vanished sometime between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, and we didn't find him until Sunday.

My husband says he has had a nervous breakdown, but while I have noticed that cats do have behavioral shifts around the age of 7, nothing has ever been this drastic or confusing. To the best of our knowledge, Yuki wasn't hurt or frightened by anyone or any of our other animals, but it is obvious that something has happened to make him act this way.

Do you have any ideas as to what might be going on?

Answer
Hi Theresa,

I too have 13 cats. There is a different dynamic when you have a lot of cats together. I had to put one of mine to sleep and I noticed a sift in behavior in a few cats. Yuki may now be the low man on the totem pole. And he is feeling the pressure from some of the other cats. It happened with one of mine. I have to keep her separate from the rest of the pride or she will get pushed away from the food and litter box. There may be the same thing going on with yours. That's why he is seeking you out. He knows he is safe with you.

I'll be honest with you, I couldn't figure out what to do except give mine her own room, food dishes and litter box. I let some of the neutral cats visit with her. And I have another that stays in the room also with her. This is the best that I could do. Things might shift back again when you find Comet. And if you need help finding Comet check out the advice from DebbieC. She was the expert on getting your lost cats back. Here's a link for one of her answers.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cats-1606/cat-ran-1.htm Good luck.

Ciao, Karen