Does Feliway Work?
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- čas přidán 14. 06. 2022
- Today, I'm discussing the Feliway line of cat products and offering my opinion about their efficacy.
You can check out my enrichment guide for cats here:
www.kittyhelpdesk.com/help-de...
I'm Tom Kirby, UW-AAB, and I'm a certified animal behavior consultant who specializes in cats. At Kitty Help Desk, I offer science-based, zero-stress, feline care advice for everyone.
DISCLAIMER: This video is provided for informational purposes only and should not substitute for a consultation with an animal behavior consultant.
WEB: kittyhelpdesk.com
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Video content by Tom Kirby, UW-AAB
Original music by Tom Kirby
Modeling by Miss Lucy & Miss Mina
Please comment responsibly.
Feliway Multi Cat helped one of my cats who has marking and bullying issues. I had one infuser for my 1000 sq ft loft apartment and it took about 5 days for me to notice a difference. My cat is much more calm and doesn't mark as often, his bullying of my other cats has gone down significantly.
Hi which version of feliway did you use ?
My vet recommended it for me. I am already noticing an improvement for my two cats. One of my cats is very territorial and won't allow the other cat to lay on the bed or on the couch. Yesterday, she saw her on the couch and sniffed her, and left her alone.
Thanks for this video! I'll make sure to check out your website
Very informative. Great video. Didn’t know about there being 5 different face pheromones. Thought it was just one
Thank you for this! I have used Feliway before and I wasn’t sure it made any difference.
Recently my Ceridwen, female Siamese (6years) has started being aggressive to Lance, my big white Maincoon (12 years). Ceri we adopted as a kitten . Lance we adopted 4 years ago. There has never been great love between them, but Lance isn’t aggressive and so they tolerated each other. For about a month Ceri has been irritated that Lance exists. And, being a Siamese, is quite vocal about it (you’d think she was being attacked by a bear).
I’m definitely going to check your links before spending more money on something that is only affective “sometimes “!
I bought this not knowing, but I pluged it in today and my cat calmed way down, so I guess it depends on your cat, but I'm very greatful
thanks
Interesting video thank you. Think your right they sometimes work and some times don’t. Tried all 3 types in the UK. (Feliway classic, Feliway Optimum & Feliway Friends). I found the only one that helps our 2 cats is the feliway friends. The feliway optimum made our cats nervous/anxiety issues worse not better. The classic did nothing. But the friends one we deffo see some benefits from that one. P.s thank you for the water fountain video a few months back. Very helpful. We now have a fountain for our kitty’s. Took 2 weeks to use it but now they love it and are drinking more water.
Yes, lots of cat products are hit or miss, not just Feliway. I'm glad you found the videos helpful! 😺
thanks
I’m considering getting Feliway Multicat because my cat doesn’t get along with my girlfriend’s cat. Is Feliway Multicat the same as Feliway friends? I’m assuming they just changed the name and they’re the same thing but I want to make sure.
i think this is my issue, i bought optimum for my bengals and the one is really stressed out! thanks will try this
I just plugged it in. I’ll let you know if his behavior changes. My cat has feline herpe disease that is supposedly triggered by stress. It occurs about twice a year.
Wow good luck I hope it helps. If it does then you would be a perfect case to show how well it works. Please let us know. I would love to hear if it does.
I moved to a new house early Feb. I had heard of Feliway and decided to buy it to avoid stress for my cat. Well he was so calm that I was absolutely amazed.
While it is possible that the Feliway helped in your case (it does help a small percentage of cats), it may actually be that your cat would have adapted easily without it. It's important not to assume causation when there wasn't any real A/B testing taking place.
I appreciate your dedication to a more scientific and rigorous thought process. Fair, open minded but critical.
Here is my situation. I have an about 12ish year old senior female cat. I got her I think at about 6-8 months old. To my limited knowledge she was weened too early and her first owner was abusive to her. Kicked her around stuff. We brought her into our home with 2 other neutered male brothers, about 8 years of age as I recall. She has not ever really gotten on well with other cats and the 2 brothers did terrorize her a bit bit it calmed down eventually. She did remain unsprayed for a few years and did end up having a litter of 3 by accident. She always seemed a bit clueless what to do with them but was certainly maternal to them. 2 of them were eventually adopted and 1 was was kept but died tragically before a he was a year old. About 2 years ago we had to put down the last of one of the initial brothers, he was like almost 24 I think, and she's been on her own since then. Before she became an indoor kitty full time, about right after her litter, she was terrorized a lot by neighborhood cats. She's always been skittish, anxious, extremely finicky, even for a cat, and a bush dweller rather then a tree climber. She seems like she doesn't understand the difference between a hiss and a meow something, its bizarre. She'll follow you around sometimes happy and friendly while rubbing against you and licking you but while hissing. She randomly hiss for no reason. I've been around a lot of cats and I've never seen anything like this before. She doesn't really turn on a dime, like super friendly and cuddly one second and then suddenly aggressive and violent the next. Its like she has cat autism or something. Anyways she's never gotten on too well with other cats, is generally terrified of them(a lot of them do harass her through the widows though) and the last one she was tolerant of was the old brother male we put down a few years ago.
Recently, at my jobsite we found some more feral kittens, about 6-8 weeks old, and I decided to try and adopt one. A little male. I though my female cat would be some what gracious or open to a kitten much better as she's acquainted with kittens and its not an adult and in the recent past I've played infant kitten cries and meows on my phone and stuff and she often rushes in to investigate as if she's concerned and often meows back as if she's looking for them. Like she did when she did have a litter. Even though she hasn't had a litter in years and is spayed. However she has been clearly alarmed, defensive and scared of it. She growls and hisses at, and now even me too at times. Shes not as scared of him as she was at first, but she is still very stand off-ish and not happy. I've kept them apart and dont force them together at all. She is mostly fine from a distance.
He is scared of her and cowers when she hisses at him and will run away when she does, but generally is curious and friendly with her.
I'm not sure scent is a matter because she has been mostly oblivious to him if she cant see him. Shes unintentionally sat in my lap while hes in like my pocket or under my shirt or hoodie, even if she watched me put him there. When he plays around or moves its like she might realize, growl and bit and get over it quick. Unless she sees him .
I really want to keep him, I'm already pretty attached and for her to have some companionship before she eventually goes, so I'll do whatever I have to do to make it work.
This is a more complicated problem than I can really address in the comments section here, but I will say that it's perfectly normal for adult cats to reject newcomers as competition. A kitten is certainly not something a senior cat will embrace unless they have a very outgoing personality. Imagine being in your own senior years and coming home to find a three-year-old running around in your house. While it's possible that your senior can learn to tolerate the kitten, it's unlikely that they will ever be "friends" and very likely that the kitten will pester your senior for all of her remaining days. If you're determined to keep both, I recommend making an appointment with me at kittyhelpdesk.com so I can guide you through their introduction in the best way possible. Otherwise, I think the kindest thing to do for your senior is to adopt the kitten out to a freind so you can continue to visit them.
I bought one today for my cat who had an operation last friday, and she seems quite stressed ever since. It´s not that weird, because of the anesthesia and also probably some pain from the parts they have been cutting in. On top of that she has to wear a romper so she wont lick the wounds. All in all, very weird and stressful for her, so I just bought this in the hope it would help at least a little bit. It´s hard to tell, she´s a little better but I´ve also started to mix water into her food because she wouldn´t drink enough, so it might as well be that she´s doing better because of rehydration. I feel like it could be a varient of reasons that it works in some cases and not in other cases. Maybe the owners act calmer because they get peace of mind with the feliway stuff, and that demeanor can have a good effect on your cats. Or maybe its like catnip, some cats go crazy, some think it´s just grass. Who knows.
Lastly, I agree 10000% with your advice about spending the money on enrichtment of their enviroment. I just bought the plug because she has to stay in one room for another week, but after she can roam around again and she´ll be fine. Make sure your cat has everything it needs instead of tricking its brain into thinking thei´re happy!
I hope your feline friend feels better soon. 😺
I had one feral cat & one shelter cat as kittens together (after full treatments of course). They used to like each other a lot, but as they've gotten older the feral-turned-house cat gets really hostile at my other cat just existing in proximity. Not big fights, but lots of hissing & them avoiding each other at all costs. There has never been any issues w/ them marking or being destructive. They have used the same litter box since I got them & there has never been any problems. They eat food next to each other without fuss. They have no issues w/ people at all. They have a whole 2 story house & basement to entertain themselves. Furniture, cat trees, lots of scratch boards & posts. I play with them as much as I can. They still don't like being around each other. I'm not expecting them to be best buddies, I just want to try to make the coexisting a bit easier? Anxiety meds on the feral-turned-house cat really knocked her down a few pegs, but I don't want her to be sloth the rest of her days. Would "environmental" calming aroma stuff like this maybe be worth a shot?
These diffusers have a very small chance of working. Adding enrichment will be much more beneficial (and cheaper) in the long run. Start by providing an abundance of all the resources your cats value, especially vertical space. Then look closely at litter box arrangements and feeding stations. One red flag was your statement that they eat next to each other. They really shouldn't be able to see one another when eating. That fosters feelings of competition.
I would get more litter boxes.. that would be pretty stressful having to share one. Those things load up pretty quickly- do you clean it 2-3 times a day? They say you should always have one litter box per cat + 1 extra. I don’t know why I had this strange conversation in my head of your cats arguing about who left the kitty litter seat up lol 😂
I have 5 cats and 6/7 litter boxes. In different rooms.
@@KittyHelpDesk The not eating near each other is never something I ever thought of!!! Thank you, I have two cats with the same issue as the original commenter.
Except my male cat is marking, and I'm wondering if Feliway would be good for helping him not have the urge to mark everywhere. But the reviews are so mixed.
I tried the diffuser for a while and would have been glad to try longer but the diffuser dumped oil all over my floor. Kind of an expensive gadget to just ruin my hardwood.
I have added another adult cat to my household, and this has been the worst reaction to a new family member ever. One is overgrooming and one is attacking, not just the other cat, but me as well. Will tey some other tricks.
Great video I’ve been using this stuff for about seven months it’s very expensive and I’m wondering if it’s making my cats meaner to each other I have 114-year-old cat And a brother and sister of five years that just had their first alley cat fight and I’m trying to find some peace in the home so I don’t have to rehome one it’s getting very unbearable but I don’t think this stuff is making a better difference I don’t think I would purchase it in the future
Not knowing all the specifics, it's hard to comment, but IMHO training is the best path to peaceful coexistence. See my clicker training video and think about clicker training the aggressor to disengage from pursuing the other cats. And be careful - the aggressor may not always be who you think it is. It's also important to intervene gently and calmly before things get out of hand. Positive reinforcement is the best choice for long term results. Good luck!
I found 2 kittens in the woods! One was adopted but unfortunately one of them didn't and she stays with us! I have an 8,5 yrs old cat and she doesn't really like the kitten. After few days she started to accept her presence but they cannot get closer or my cat gets angry.. my senior cat started to attack her more in the last 2 days.. will this spray help her calm ? I need to say that we did all the steps of the introduction and we strongly hope she will accept her in the end. Whenever the attacks happen we separate them until they calm down!
It's unlikely that Feliway will help. The kitten should be separated from your cat and introduced very slowly. Let your resident cat show you when/if she's ready to accept the kitten.
Great video, thanks. I'm currently buying two a month at the cost of about £22 each, so that's £44 a month. My cats are both from the same litter and have been together since birth. However, we moved home about a year ago, and noticed they have been less friendly towards each other and more territorial. I thought the Feliway diffusers might help, but I haven't really seen a difference that could be put down to their use. I'm tempted to stop for a while, save the money and see if anything changes. How long do they usually take to start working? And if I stop, how long until I can expect to see the effects of that, do you reckon?
It's natural for cats to sometimes grow apart as they age - much like us, TBH. Would you still want to live with your siblings today? The effectiveness of these artificial pheromone products should be pretty fast. They aren't like drugs that take effect slowly. You should be able to evaluate any change in your cat's behavior after the diffuser has been operating for 24-48 hours in an area that the cats frequent. Giving both cats choices every day and enriching their environment so they can clearly see that they aren't in direct competition for anything they need can be even more helpful.
@@KittyHelpDeskthanks, now I feel like I’ve inflicted them with a life being forced to live with a sibling they no longer like 😭😭 but yes, it’s probably just that they’ve grown apart somewhat rather than them being in need of calming pheromones. If the change should be that fast I’m pretty sure it’s not making much of a difference. As for environmental stuff, they have so much stuff here it’s basically taken over the house. I’ve been banned from buying anymore large equipment 😂😂
Hahahaha! I understand. Cats mostly live solitary lives, but that doesn't mean they can't learn to tolerate others. It usually does mean that they'll time share various portions of your home so as to feel like each of them has their own territories. That's just natural. You can help to alleviate feelings of competition by making sure that they can't see one another from their feeding stations and offering them at least three litter boxes spread out throughout your home. Good luck!
@@KittyHelpDeskthanks. We did add a third litter tray recently and placed it upstairs, which is Calvin’s territory. He didn’t use it at first so I switched it for one of the older ones and that worked. As for the feeding stations, that might be a little more complicated as it’s a small house and quite open plan. But I’ll definitely give it some thought!
Had a diffuser, the top area turned black? Any idea what that is ? It does calm our cats, two are older they're ok with each other, the younger is a feral , chases them , but has calmed him quite a bit . But the black surface is a bit puzzling
The diffusers use heat to disperse the material into the air. It could have turned black due to overheating. There have been some reports of fires that have been started by these sorts of diffusers, so you may want to replace it.
😢😢😢just purchased it !! Will have to contact manufacturer
Great video! Does it smell wierd or anything?
Thanks, Vincent! No, I don't smell it at all and I have a very sensitive nose...for a human. ;)
Which spray is better for vet visits
None of these is going to effective at reducing anxiety in a meaningful way during a high-stress situation like a vet visit. You're better off including bedding from home in the carrier, acclimating your cat to the carrier with treats and other trips that end in positive experiences, and finding a vet whose staff has Fear Free or Low Stress Handling certification.
@@KittyHelpDesk thank you for your information. I just adopted a 1 1/2 year old domestic shorthair that I was told could be aggressive during vet appointments. I just purchased the Feliway Optimum diffuser and the classic spray. All I can say after 2 hours of use is that my cat is fast asleep. He scratches me because he thinks I'm the "prey." I haven't used the spray on me yet but will when time comes.
I get it ,every cat is different just like every person is different when it comes to antidepressants.
Can it calm a male cat in heat?
Even if it were effective on your particular cat, it's unlikely to have a strong effect against such tremendous hormonal pressures.
Does it effect humans in any ways??
No, it shouldn't.
F5 is emitted by Brock Lesnar. Haha I’m sorry that’s all I could think of.
AUD50 for the plug alone and it only lasts 6 months. What a rip off.
Not sure what product you're looking at, but the Feliway plugins only last for 30 days.