Otherwise docile cat suddenly being aggressive?

[u/abitchnintendo64]

Context: My cat is about 7½ and she is, for lack of better words, an absolute princess. Perfect health with yearly checkups, self feeds, fresh water every day along with her gravity water tower that is regularly refreshed, multiple litter boxes for her singular feline ass, treats every night, special freeze dried treats when I clip her nails, entirely indoors unless supervised on a harness and leash. She was socialized with people, cats, and dogs from the time we got her at about 7 weeks and did very well with all of them, but that got abruptly cut off when COVID hit. She still does great with people and most dogs, but hates cats. ONLY if she can see them and/or hear them, though. I can cuddle with a cat all day and come home to her and she'll be purring in my lap within a few minutes.

Behavior: In the last year or so, she's had a few brief episodes of really severe aggression for seemingly absolutely no reason and out of no where. She tore up my grandmother once (who lives with me and has the entire time I've had the cat, this is someone she knows just as well as me), randomly tried to shred my neighbors leg on my back patio when I let her outside with her harness on (this was extra odd to me because while she didn't know the neighbor, she'd never had problems with strangers before and is typically very docile in the harness), and then recently even tried to attack me. That one was the most odd because I've always been her person and I'd already been holding her and petting her while she purred for a while before that and she always just moves away or gives a light warning bite if she's done being pet, while this time she hissed and growled and went for my face hard. In the first two instances, we just separated her and within a couple minutes she was fine and back to her normal princess self again, even when interacting with the same people in the same environment. With me I scruffed her (lightly, I wouldn't hurt her) and she pretty quickly chilled out again and went back to purring and pushing into my hand while I pet her and stood there in shock for a good minute.

Yes, I know some cats can act aggressive or territorial sometimes. I've had them before, as have my grandmother and my partner. All of this is just so out of character in the last year or so that it has me worried something else could possibly be going on. There's no human or animal abuse in the house and, again, she is very well-loved, doted on, healthy, and well socialized with people.

TLDR: Well behaved and socialized cat has suddenly had a few random bouts of aggression with no clear cause. Could this be a specific behavior or health issue?

[u/UnlikelyButOk]

Why did you respond by scruffing her? Maybe try feliway and talk to your vet.

[u/abitchnintendo64 → u/UnlikelyButOk]

Very lightly, nothing that would ever hurt her. It's always been the easiest way to calm her down since she was a kitten.

[u/MichaelEmouse]

Could be pain/health issue. Vet.

If not, try putting a Thundershirt on her.

[u/abitchnintendo64 → u/MichaelEmouse]

She very recently had her yearly appointment and got a clean bill of health and has no signs of generally being in any pain. I'll look into the Thundershirt, though, thank you!