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Feliway

post #1 of 6
9/15/10 at 8:30am
Thread Starter 
I have two 6 year-old female cats (I've written about them on TCS before). They are both indoor cats so they've never encountered other animals before. My boyfriend and I are bringing home a black lab puppy (8 weeks old) on Sunday. We plan to keep the puppy enclosed in our large front foyer with a baby gate so the cats will still be able to go around the majority of the house without being bothered by the puppy, until she is housebroken. In fact, they may not even notice the puppy at first.

I want to make this transition as smooth as possible for my cats. I will do the introductions gradually, including swapping blankets so they get used to the smell. I'm thinking of getting some Feliway to help keep the cats calm (one of them is already pretty skittish and hides whenever someone comes to visit). Would it be best to get the spray or a diffuser? And if I get a diffuser, do I plug it in near where the puppy is or in the basement where the cats' food, boxes and beds are, where they spend most of their time? (the basement is a very large room and their litter boxes are nowhere near their food or beds).

Thanks.
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post #2 of 6
9/15/10 at 8:37am
The diffusers are better because you can plug them in and forget about them until they need to be refilled. You can't just do one room, sorry. If the cats have access to most of the house you need to get enough to cover the whole square footage of your home. It won't be cheap. I think some on here save money using a site called entirelypets? (otto?)

And a black lab puppy! Yikes. A whirling mess of chewing and digging... for 2-3 years. I hope you majorly puppy proof, they're a destructive breed. They also need a lot of stimulation. I also hope the baby gate survives the puppy (as it gets bigger). Make sure puppy learns that cats are higher up in the social hierarchy.

In general your cats are going to hate this. But hopefully since they have their basement they'll handle it better. You can also get the pet bachs rescue remedy to add to their water.
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post #3 of 6
9/15/10 at 4:19pm
Your cats will notice the new puppy even if it's separated by a gate or even in a closed-off room. Feliway Plug-ins are definitely a good way to go to try to keep them calm, and yes, Entirelypets.com has it for cheaper than other sites I've seen it. In fact, I don't know if I'm allowed to post this but I will anyway- I get emails from them and just got one for 10% off any order this week- coupon code is DOGGIEDEALS.

I just have 1 diffuser but bought a 3 pack of refills when we were moving, used it mostly in our small apartment during the weeks we were packing. I put it in the living room of the new house, I don't know if it really was enough to cover the space but things seemed ok. Genever never seems to be bothered by things but I had the Feliway going just in case.

Hehe, I also bought some Rescue Remedy for Genever, but as it turns out I put it in my water way more often than hers! Don't know if it really helps, but if it helps in my mind, then it helps.
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post #4 of 6
9/16/10 at 6:43am
Thread Starter 
Thanks so much for the help. I'll definitely have to try the Feliway and see how things go. We're probably going to put a cat door on the door to the basement so when the dog gets bigger and starts to wander the house, the cats can have the whole basement to themselves without worrying about the dog
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post #5 of 6
9/16/10 at 8:14am
Just a quick question about the Feliway and Comfort Zone plug-ins... I've used the Comfort Zones but are the refill bottles interchangeable? I know the Comfort Zone bottles say Feliway so I would assume so but are there any differences between the plugs? Will both refills work for both plug-ins?
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post #6 of 6
9/16/10 at 1:25pm
Feliway is the same as Comfort Zone, or Comfort Zone is the brand and Feliway is the product name or however you want to say it. If you Google Feliway, you come up with lots of links for 'Comfort Zone with Feliway'. So yes, it's the same so you can use the refills.
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