Why Doesnt Feliway Work With My Cat
You may find some products work more effectively with your cat than others. As I previously mentioned, it can take a long time for any effect to show, and its possible your cat wont respond at all!
My advice is to persevere with Feliway even if it seems to have no effect. You could also try another brand to see if that gives better results.
Does Feliway Really Work For Cats
Modern-day lives are busy what with fitting in work and family life and pets and hobbies, its no wonder that many people suffer from anxiety or stress. But how about our cats? Do they get stressed out, and if so, do pheromones like Feliway help? Weve been looking at what we know about this popular remedy.
What Are The Types Of Feliway Products
Feliway products are created and manufactured by Ceva Sante Animale, a multinational animal health company based in France. These products contain a synthetic copy of feline facial pheromones that cats use to mark territories as safe and secure. With the help of these synthetic cat pheromones, Feliway products create familiarity and security in cats surroundings, alleviating their stress and anxiety.
The Feliway range of products comes in various types and these are the following:
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Which Feliway To Use
There are various types of Feliway products with their own recommended uses. Feliway Classic Diffuser is recommended for use if your cat has problems with hiding, scratching, and spraying or urine marking. Feliway Friends/Multicat is the best type to use to reduce conflict in multi-cat households with the help of feline appeasement hormones. FeliScratch by Feliway is recommended for use to prevent inappropriate scratching while the Feliway Classic Spray is the best type to use before travel, during vet visits, or if youre moving to another home. It can also reduce stress in cats during thunderstorms, fireworks, or when there are loud noises due to parties and holidays.
Feliway Classic Cat Calming Pheromone Spray
Features :
- FELIWAY is vet recommended, and the #1 selling solution: FELIWAY Classic may help cats adjust to challenging situations, and curbs stress related unwanted behaviors such as urine spraying, scratching, and general fearfulness
- 9 out of 10 cats show an improvement in urine spraying*
- FELIWAY Classic Spray makes vet visits, travel, new environments, and loud noise less stressful for your cat
- FELIWAY Classic is a drug free solution that mimics cats natural facial pheromones, which may help your pet feel calmer in common stressful situations
- Great for on the go use, or spot treatment at home you can spray calming pheromones directly onto objects such as your cat carrier or car
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Feliway Vs Comfort Zone: Which Pheromone Is Better
Both the Feliway and Comfort Zone pheromone diffusers are designed to make your cat feel calmer, less anxious, and generally a pleasure to be around. If your cat is having issues like feline aggression or urine spraying or if they have been hiding, then using a pheromone diffuser can help.
If youre looking for the most effective pheromone diffuser on the market, then the Feliway diffuser is the one to choose. This has thousands of positive reviews and has been clinically proven to work in scientific trials.
The Comfort Zone diffuser is a good choice if youre looking for a cheaper model that lasts longer before the diffuser needs to be replaced. However, although it uses the same active ingredient as Feliway and at a higher concentration, users note that it doesnt seem to be as effective for some reason.
The Feliway diffuser is the most popular option on the market today, but you might find that the Comfort Zone diffuser appeals to you more. Lets take a look at both of them in more detail.
Why Might Your Cat Be Stressed
Before diving more into Feliway and what it is all about, lets look at the possible cause of stress and anxiety for your cat. Cats are instinctive and habitual creatures. They like being in a stable routine and home environment, which makes them susceptible to various stressors both at home and around. Some of the most common causes of anxiety in cats include
- Bringing a new pet into the home
- Holiday festivities or fireworks of any type
- A new dog or cat in the neighborhood
- An unfamiliar person or baby in the house
However, this list is not exhaustive, and some cats are more susceptible to anxiety than others. But its essential to predict what may upset your cat to try and minimize disruption to their comfort zone and routines.
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Can I Use Both Feliway Classic And Multicat Together
Are you seeing spraying, scratching or hiding behaviours – and you have multiple kitties in conflict? Dont worry! It is possible to use both FELIWAY Classic and FELIWAY Multicat at the same time!
Its not uncommon to see kitty conflict cause other stress behaviours, such as urine spraying or scratching, so supporting your kitty family with FELIWAY and helping to reduce stress can lead to a much calmer household all around!
Use Of Feliway Diffuser
- The unit is for indoors use only.
- Plug the diffuser in a power point in the room most used by the cat during the day and dont turn it off at night.
- Place the diffuser near the cats bed or common sleeping area if possible.
- Dont put the diffuser behind a door or cover it in any way.
- Dont put the unit under furniture the vapour is oil-based and can rise and possibly stain furniture.
- The more contact the cat has with the diffuser, the better the effect will be.
- Consider housing your cat inside if it is a roaming cat or has outside the house issues.
- One diffuser lasts for approximately four weeks and covers an area of 50 70 square meters.
- The pheromone has no effect on humans or on your love life!! It is species specific.
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Times You Should Use Feliway
- When you are moving to a new home.
- When you get a new pet.
- When you have guests over and your cat seems to get nervous / uncomfortable.
- When you take your cat to the vet.
- When you take your cat to the groomers.
Any time you feel your catâs routine or environment is going to be disrupted or changed in any way, is a great time to try out Feliway.
Also, if your cat is displaying common symptoms of being unhappy or stressed like hissing, urinating outside the litter box, hiding, fighting, change in appetite or over-grooming, you should consider using Feliway. Another use for this product is if your cat is displaying signs of being unhappy or stressed. For example this can look like a lot of hissing, urinating outside of their litter box, hiding out of sight, fighting you or another pet, sudden changes in appetite or over-grooming themselves. If your cat or kitten shows any of these signs, we recommend you try Feliway.
Comfort Zone Cat Calming Diffuser
Comfort zone cat calming diffuser is very similar to Feliway, except its cheaper. Some people claim it has a lower concentration of pheromones, while others believe its less effective.
If youre on a budget my advice would be to try a cheaper brand such as Comfort Zone first. If that fails to work you could try Feliway, but theres no guarantee any will work.
> You can buy Comfort zone here>
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Ceva Introduces Feliway Multicat Pheromone To Reduce Tension And Conflict In Multi
Ceva Animal Health has introduced Feliway MultiCat® a feline appeasing pheromone clinically proven to reduce social tension and conflict between cats living in the same home.
Feliway MultiCat pheromone is different than Feliway® products that have been sold for years. The original Feliway contains a synthetic copy of a facial pheromone that cats use for marking their territory and comforting themselves. Feliway MultiCat pheromone is a synthetic copy of the pheromone produced by a mother cat during lactation. This appeasing pheromone reassures kittens and helps them bond with the mother.
During the past 20 years Ceva has developed expertise in animal behavior, and more precisely in pheromones. We expect the launch of Feliway MultiCat pheromone to extend our market leadership in this area, said Dr. Karen Padgett, Chief Operating Officer, Ceva Animal Health Companion Animal Business Unit. Within one week, Feliway MultiCat pheromone users noticed a reduction in conflict behaviors, even in households where conflict had been occurring for several years. After one month of continuous use, 84 percent of pet owners report a significant improvement in their cats ability to get along.
Different types of pheromones signal different information to a cat.
Feliway MultiCat pheromones come as a plug-in diffuser with 30 refills available. It starts working immediately.
To learn more about the Feliway brand of products please visit www.makinghappierpethomes.com.
Get To The Root Of The Problem
Determining the cause for your cat’s stress would, obviously, be the best place to start in fixing the problem. Cats can go outside of the box for something as simple as not liking the type of litter, the box being too dirty, or even just not being able to get in because the sides are too high for their arthritic joints. Your vet can talk to you about your litter box set up and help troubleshoot anything that you can try to adjust. Providing more resources, that is, more water bowls, more comfortable sleeping areas, and more scratching surfaces can help with both inter-cat aggression as well as destructive scratching.
Cats enjoy being up off the floor. It’s why they jump on counters and tables all the time. So providing ‘vertical surfaces’, that is things like cat trees, cat shelves, etc. can help deter counter jumping as well as providing even more resources in the home. Vertical surfaces can also provide ‘alternate routes’ in areas that can get crowded in a multi-cat home. If you’re struggling with inter-cat aggression in your multi-cat home, try and pinpoint where in the house most of the scuffles occur. If it’s an area that can get a bit crowded if more than one cat is present providing vertical surfaces can make that area seem less crowded for your cats.
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Redirect If There Is A Mismatch
With one super playful cat and one with less enthusiasm, spend time playing with the more enthusiastic cat yourself to help channel some of their energy away from the other cat. This should relieve some of the pressure on a cat who is constantly the target of unwanted stalking, pouncing and grabbing.
For owners that work long hours or spend a lot of time out of the house, knowing their cat has a friendly play mate to spend the day with is a big reassurance. Taking time to set them up for success from the start can help them develop a strong relationship, enriching the lives of both the cats and the owners.
What Signs Of Stress Do Cats Show
Cats can be very subtle about any unhappiness or they can make their displeasure extremely obvious!
Some very overt signs of stress include spraying urine in inappropriate places, scratching at furniture, stairs and walls, grooming themselves so much they develop bald patches, fighting with other pets in the household or becoming grumpy with their owners.
More discrete signs that your cat may be anxious can be that they go off their food a little , hiding away more and interacting with their owners less, and being less active than usual.
You know your own cat best: what may be normal for some may be concerning for others. If you are concerned about your cats health or behaviour, it is always recommended to speak to a veterinary surgeon.
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Set Them Up For Success With Matching Pairs
Before bringing two cats together, give careful consideration to their expected activity levels and play drive. Pairing an energetic kitten with an elderly cat may potentially bring problems and the kittens attempts to play may be met with a hostile response.
Taking the time to match activity levels and temperaments can really pay off when looking for a pair that develops a strong, positive relationship. Two kittens from the same litter usually work best as they are perfectly matched in terms of age and there is no risk of rushing the introduction process.
Are Pheromones Suitable For Your Pet
Pheromones such as the Dog Appeasing Pheromone Adaptil and Feliway are wonderful products because they are easy to use and side-effect free.
But they certainly are not a cure for all behavioural problems.
If you are uncertain about purchasing pheromones for your pet, complete our inquiry form below and we will review your submission.
We will then respond to that by email or by telephone as needed.
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Is Your Kitty Happy Or Stressed
Can you tell the difference between your furry friends happy behaviours, and what might be stress responses?
Our cats and kittens get up to all sorts of antics! And if a cat is relaxed and happy, youll see they are quite happy to curl up in a corner or sleep on their favourite perch. Theyll also mark their territory by rubbing their face on furniture, or corners, or even against your leg if you are closeby – leaving happy messages of reassurance as they go!
But if you notice that your cat is not settling is scratching furniture , spraying in the home, or fighting with other cats in your house, you may need to take action to help your pussycat become less stressed.
There are many causes for kitty stress that can lead to changes in behaviour. It may be as simple as a change in furniture, or a new routine! Luckily there are lots of ways to keep a cat calm if they seem stressed – and FELIWAY can also help!
Below are two products that can help your kitty to cope with stressful situations – and tips on how to use them to best effect!
What Can I Use To Improve Results With Feliway
Although Feliway on its own may not show a discernible change in cat behavior, pairing it with other anti-anxiety therapies may help you to see more of a positive effect. Nutraceuticals are over-the-counter pharmaceutical alternatives that claim to have pharmaceutical benefits. Behavioral nutraceuticals include products like Zylkene , Anxitane , and Composure chews . There are also special diets that your vet can prescribe. Diets like Royal Canin’s Calm and Hill’s c/d stress can help your cat with her anxieties at home. The Hill’s c/d stress specifically helps with cats that suffer from pandora syndrome . Of course, there are also actual pharmaceuticals that can help with behavior problems. Your vet may choose to prescribe a behavioral medication for your cat.
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Prepare Your Cat For The New Arrival
Help Your Baby And Cat Live In Harmony
When your baby arrives home, your cat may disappear for a while, and then come and investigate on their own terms. Never force them to come close to the baby and never leave them unsupervised together.
Always build on positive associations between your cat and your baby have rewards to hand so you can reward your cat when they are showing calm and relaxed behaviour around your baby.
Even though your life with a new baby will be hectic, its important to continue to spend time with your cat this can be playing or grooming them, or even just allowing them to sit on your lap when they ask. Or, if you are having some relaxing time with your baby, try playing with your cat at the same time! A fishing rod with a toy mouse to chase, or a laser pointer will keep kitty occupied and they wont feel excluded.
Cats and babies can live in harmony with a little bit of preparation and patience. However, if you are concerned that your cat is not coping, consult a qualified behaviourist for advice and get your vet to check for any underlying medical issues that you may not have noticed.
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