the skiddish cat

Question
I have had a cat for almost four years, she used to love the basement and now all of a sudden she is deathly scared to go down there. I have to take her downstairs to use the litter box because she won't go on her own. Even her toys that are in the basement she is scared of. It is like she has never been there before. How do I make her more comfortable with going down there?

Answer
Well this is a tough one. I would have to say that something had to have happened to her down there that scared her. Did she perhaps get locked down there for a while? Is it possibel she encountered an insect or mouse? I know cats are supposed to kill mice but if she is four and never saw one, it wouldn't surprise me if one would spook her. Perhaps she was running down the stars and slipped and fell? Not very cat-like but not impossible. Point being, for her to have that kind of reaction I woud have to guess she was frightened by something and she isn't going to just get over it. As always with cats, change can only come about with patience and time. I do have to point out that if you have to carry her down to use her litter box, you would be best served to bring the box upstairs somewhere. First off, its not fair to her to keep her box somewhere that terrifies her. Second, she may start going elsewhere in the house because she is afraid to go to her box and that will just lead to many more problems, or she could hold it in and cause herself problems. So definitely she needs a box upstairs for a while. Other than that I really have to say you will just need to give her time to try and get over whatever it was that triggered this problem. The fact that she lets you carry her down is a start. I have seen worse cases where the cat would not even be carried into a certain room and would fight and scratch to avoid being taken there. So if she lets you take her, then there is much hope that she will get over this given the time to do so. I am sorry that I can't really solve this quickly. But love and patience conquers all.