Does Feliway really work?

catapault

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We have a problem with two neutered male cats. Valium resolved the issue. Started last summer. Everything fine. Stopped Valium. All O.K. for months and months. Just started up again. Back to Valium and things are calming down. Prescription from vet, pharmacists makes up chicken flavored oral suspension I just squirt over wet food and they eat it right up/ 1 ml twice a day for each cat. Not expensive either.
 
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alexiso

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We have a problem with two neutered male cats. Valium resolved the issue. Started last summer. Everything fine. Stopped Valium. All O.K. for months and months. Just started up again. Back to Valium and things are calming down. Prescription from vet, pharmacists makes up chicken flavored oral suspension I just squirt over wet food and they eat it right up/ 1 ml twice a day for each cat. Not expensive either.
The vet never suggested Valium to me, it was either Paxil or Prozac. We thought the Paxil wasn't working so we tried prozac and that zonked him out like no other so we went back to Paxil and it's been fine ever since. He's going to have to be on it for life. Paxil is this tiny yellow pill which I have to cut into quarters, CVS wouldn't do it for me and they're too small for a pill cutter so I just cut them with a sharp knife. The prescription costs me $15 for 8 weeks, it's the generic Paxil. I stick them in Orijen treats - I tried pill pockets but he figured out there was a pill in them and stopped eating them. I also use the Feliway diffuser in my house on my main floor. I keep it in our office which is actually the "cat room" because that's where the litter boxes are. The paxil really saved our household so I can't recommend it enough but every person and every cat is different! 
 

krystal55

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The vet never suggested Valium to me, it was either Paxil or Prozac. We thought the Paxil wasn't working so we tried prozac and that zonked him out like no other so we went back to Paxil and it's been fine ever since. He's going to have to be on it for life. Paxil is this tiny yellow pill which I have to cut into quarters, CVS wouldn't do it for me and they're too small for a pill cutter so I just cut them with a sharp knife. The prescription costs me $15 for 8 weeks, it's the generic Paxil. I stick them in Orijen treats - I tried pill pockets but he figured out there was a pill in them and stopped eating them. I also use the Feliway diffuser in my house on my main floor. I keep it in our office which is actually the "cat room" because that's where the litter boxes are. The paxil really saved our household so I can't recommend it enough but every person and every cat is different! 
Wow, guyz, thanks for the new tips! I'm glad now I didn't start Fluffy on Prozac, I didn't have a good gut feeling about it, afraid it would zonk her out even in a tiny dose.

Will sacrifice the 16 dollars that cost me, just to be on the safe side!

Hmm, now I wonder whether she would do better with Valium or Paxil? It would be fantastic to have a liquid kind of med that I could just squeeze over her food.

A friend told me Peanut Butter is great fr giving pills to cats, they can't resist licking it and then once they do it's stuck in their mouth and they have no choice but to swallow it!
 

alexiso

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Wow, guyz, thanks for the new tips! I'm glad now I didn't start Fluffy on Prozac, I didn't have a good gut feeling about it, afraid it would zonk her out even in a tiny dose.

Will sacrifice the 16 dollars that cost me, just to be on the safe side!

Hmm, now I wonder whether she would do better with Valium or Paxil? It would be fantastic to have a liquid kind of med that I could just squeeze over her food.

A friend told me Peanut Butter is great fr giving pills to cats, they can't resist licking it and then once they do it's stuck in their mouth and they have no choice but to swallow it!
You're welcome. I would still suggest you try the Prozac. Medicine is different for all cats and Paxil just worked better for mine. Plus, the vet may want you to try it to see if it works before trying an alternative. 

As for the Paxil pills, it's a quarter so it's so so tiny. I shove it in Orijen treats (freeze-dried) and have had much better luck than trying to put it in another type of treat. FYI when you cut the Paxil, the inside pill is exposed which is an awful taste so putting it in PB may not be good. The Orijen treats are a good size, more dry so they don't fall apart and since my cats go nuts for those treats they inhale them. My cat learned to associate that bad pill taste to the pill pockets after he crunched on it and would not come near those pill pockets again. 
 

ritz

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I'm not sure Feliway works (Bach's Remedy and Jackson Galaxy's remedies don't work), but I do believe it is idiosyncratic to the cat.
Regarding pills: I can't pill Ritz; the stress would make the problem worse (like stress induced UTIs). She was on Prozac for a while for FHS (she was a zombie) and the compounding pharmacist near where I work made it into a flavored liquid (tuna/chicken though Ritz also likes bubblegum. If the prescription medicine is also used in humans, the pharmacist can legally make it into a flavored liquid. If the medicine is not used in humans, depending on the law/vet/pharmacist, same deal.
I am fostering (adopting) a stray cat who has suspected Giardia. The medicine for that tastes very bitter; yet, Hercules had no problem eating it when I wrapped it around cream cheese.
BTW: Feliway just came out with a multi-cat product. I asked my holistic vet if she thought it was just a marketing ploy, and she said, no, the company does good research. Just plugged it in, jury out as to whether it works.
 

cats5

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Well, I just started using the diffuser's on 3/12/15 & I bought 4 to put in various places in my house. It says that it takes about 4 wks to see results & 90 days to fully imprint behavior changes. So, I just ordered the refills & plan on giving it the 90 days before I know if it will work for my cats. Mainly its Raven & Nicky that has issues for the most part & on occasion, he may have a scuffle w/ one of the others. Raven is not very friendly as he lived out back with Little Bit for 8 yrs until she passed away & than I brought him into the house. He's been in the house since Oct 2014 & does pretty good considering but he does not like to be held or picked up & other than eating which is his passion in life, he pretty much prefers to be by his self. He does seem to favor Mr. Topaz which is a spitting image of him, except Mr. Topaz is larger but he sorta has bonded with him. Hoping that the Feliway diffusers will eventually make him calmer & more friendlier. I'm hoping I will be one of the lucky ones for this product to work.
 

krystal55

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Well, I just started using the diffuser's on 3/12/15 & I bought 4 to put in various places in my house. It says that it takes about 4 wks to see results & 90 days to fully imprint behavior changes. So, I just ordered the refills & plan on giving it the 90 days before I know if it will work for my cats. Mainly its Raven & Nicky that has issues for the most part & on occasion, he may have a scuffle w/ one of the others. Raven is not very friendly as he lived out back with Little Bit for 8 yrs until she passed away & than I brought him into the house. He's been in the house since Oct 2014 & does pretty good considering but he does not like to be held or picked up & other than eating which is his passion in life, he pretty much prefers to be by his self. He does seem to favor Mr. Topaz which is a spitting image of him, except Mr. Topaz is larger but he sorta has bonded with him. Hoping that the Feliway diffusers will eventually make him calmer & more friendlier. I'm hoping I will be one of the lucky ones for this product to work.
It is something of a relief to me to hear that not everyone has fantastic "testimonial" results using Feliway. I believe my garage which is Headquarters is simply too large, it's 25 x25 with a ceiling that is probably 10 feet high, typical garage but I suspect way too much space for 1 Feliway diffuser to have any real effect. I'm considering Galaxy's Bully Remedy although someone else here said that doesn't work either. I hate to throw away more money I can't afford to part with (crappy low-wage job and all that). I emailed my vet whose assistant said he is friends with a neurologist who might be able to help. Have not heard any more, but if I don't hear something by Monday I will give them a call.

Poor Fluffy's troubles seem to be on the rise, she acts more anxious than ever and is now getting bitey with me when I pet her...although she obviously loves me and she playsalot, also purrs loudly, gives head bumps and rubs my legs and enjoys getting pets on her head & shoulders. But I have a few scars already from scratches and bites, I need to keep her from getting like my SIL's crazy feline, who started out a cuddly kitten but grew into a psycho cat that you can't pet any longer and they can't even take her to the vet without a tranq gun, like managing a wild animal!
 

florida42

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Believe me it will not have the affect you are hoping for. It is a petroleum based product with a synthetic pheromone. Your cat will smell petroleum! I would try herbs.
 

BonitaBaby

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Don't waste your money. It's a marketing ploy. You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't fool your cat.
Believe me it will not have the affect you are hoping for. It is a petroleum based product with a synthetic pheromone. Your cat will smell petroleum! I would try herbs.
@Florida42, you should not spread misinformation. It clearly either works or doesn't work on cats. You have to test it out on your cat to see if it has an effect on your cat; however, I can attest firsthand that it can work and does work on my cat. When I brought home my rescue cat, I decided to put a Feliway plug-in diffuser in my living room to make her calmer and happier. After about 3 weeks, she would start scratching and biting my hand and then I would check the diffuser and it was empty. I would change it and the scratching and biting immediately stopped. Another 3 weeks and the same thing happened again, etc. so it is not a marketing ploy.
 

BonitaBaby

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Waste of money and time.
@cataan, see my post above and other people's posts. Without the Feliway plug-in diffuser, my cat would have continued scratching and biting me and I probably would have returned her instead of bonding with her...so not a waste of money and time IF it works on your cat. It's just like medications. Works on some people and doesn't work on others.
 

florida42

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Bonitababy, I am glad something worked for your cat and you obviously believe in the product. Sometimes that is half the battle. For me I was warned by my Vet not to bother purchasing the product but I chose to try it. I am telling you from experience it is a petro-chemically based product. There are no cat pheromones...strictly synthetics.
 

krystal55

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You're welcome. I would still suggest you try the Prozac. Medicine is different for all cats and Paxil just worked better for mine. Plus, the vet may want you to try it to see if it works before trying an alternative. 

As for the Paxil pills, it's a quarter so it's so so tiny. I shove it in Orijen treats (freeze-dried) and have had much better luck than trying to put it in another type of treat. FYI when you cut the Paxil, the inside pill is exposed which is an awful taste so putting it in PB may not be good. The Orijen treats are a good size, more dry so they don't fall apart and since my cats go nuts for those treats they inhale them. My cat learned to associate that bad pill taste to the pill pockets after he crunched on it and would not come near those pill pockets again. 
It might be very difficult for me to pill Fluffy--she's wiggly with a growing tendency to bite, and I don't want her to get so that I can't handle her anymore w/o a fight--

but the Orijen treats sound like a great idea. I have not heard of them but thanks for the tip, maybe I could mail order them online. If I did opt for Prozac it would

definitely have to be made into a flavored liquid, I know they do that at our local pharmacies for children.

Seems if I used prozac in liquid form it would be the easiest way to control the dose so that my kitty doesn't become zombified...
 

alexiso

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It might be very difficult for me to pill Fluffy--she's wiggly with a growing tendency to bite, and I don't want her to get so that I can't handle her anymore w/o a fight--

but the Orijen treats sound like a great idea. I have not heard of them but thanks for the tip, maybe I could mail order them online. If I did opt for Prozac it would

definitely have to be made into a flavored liquid, I know they do that at our local pharmacies for children.

Seems if I used prozac in liquid form it would be the easiest way to control the dose so that my kitty doesn't become zombified...
Yeah, I can't give pills to the tiger cat, liquid is even really difficult but since the Paxil quarters are so small they fit in a treat and he just eats it no problem. The Orijen treats are soft yet dry and the denseness of them holds the pill, I just gently push it in. I order all my supplies from Chewy.com they have the best prices and they carry Orijen. The chicken is softer, the Regional flavor is more dense and dryer. My cats like the Wild Boar but I haven't tried that for giving him pills. 
 

cats5

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Not all products work for everyone, just like anything you purchase,  one size does not fit all. Sometimes you have to do trial & error to find out if a product fits your needs. I'm hoping that it will work for me but I do understand, that it may not either. All animals have different immune system, including humans & just because a product does not work for you, does not mean the product doesn't work either.
 

ciarabd

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Feliway is so expensive, unfortunately. I bought a diffuser and didn't really notice any changes at all, but that could be because my cats never stay in one room for very long.

I'm interested in the medications you guys have been posting about though. When I went to the vet my aggressive cat was prescribed amitriptyline but it also had absolutely no affect whatsoever. When I call the vet the ladies who work at the desk have no clue what's going on and say there isn't anything you can give for an aggressive cat.... definitely can't afford any more vet bills either. Think I'm stuck forever with a house full of fighting Cats.
 

krystal55

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Feliway is so expensive, unfortunately. I bought a diffuser and didn't really notice any changes at all, but that could be because my cats never stay in one room for very long.

I'm interested in the medications you guys have been posting about though. When I went to the vet my aggressive cat was prescribed amitriptyline but it also had absolutely no affect whatsoever. When I call the vet the ladies who work at the desk have no clue what's going on and say there isn't anything you can give for an aggressive cat.... definitely can't afford any more vet bills either. Think I'm stuck forever with a house full of fighting Cats.
Yeah, I feel the same way sometimes, ciarabd, I know the cheapest thing to do would be just settle for my own situation with a kitty who is aggressive and anxious, whilst I play the referee and work to keep her separated from the other 2 older cats to prevent any more fighting. (They can see each other plainly when she is fastened in her cage, so vision and smell or lack thereof are not the problem.) I can't really afford any more vet bills (other than our necessaries) either, for meds I can't stick down Fluffy's throat. Would love to try the Spirit Essences in hopes that it wouldn't be more money wasted, since it seems there is no magic bullet out there that is a sure fire cure. I am really not thrilled at the idea of using drugs on my cat, regardless of what kind. All these kinds of products are expensive since more and more pet owners are getting serious about trying to help their pets with aggression and anxiety probs. And companies are making tons of money. Years ago I never heard of anything like it, the only mood altering drugs I knew of were the sedative drugs prescribed by vets for dogs who were terrified of thunderstorms and fireworks. And what my family and I used were "event" drugs, you had to know exactly when a T-storm would be on top of us and give the med to the dog accordingly, two hours beforehand so that he/she could sleep thru the storm. If we were late administering the drug, the poor dog would suffer agonies thru the storm but then afterward, get groggy and stagger around like a drunk for awhile!
 

BonitaBaby

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Yeah, I really have to swear by Feliway for my cat! Just last week my kitty baby came over to sit in my lap all cranky and started trying to seriously bite me and scratch me as soon as I started petting her. I got up and checked the Feliway diffuser and sure enough, it needed replacing. There was still some liquid, but it was below the wick, so the diffuser wasn't working.

I replaced it and then waited 4 days before posting to make sure. Yep, absolutely no more cranky biting and scratching after I changed the diffuser. My lil' girl came over to watch and I waved the old diffuser in her face just in case it had the scent of pheromones still. She looked so confused. Lol. :D I hope it never stops working on her!!

This is what happens about every 3 - 3 & 1/2 weeks. Same thing since I adopted her 7 & 1/2 months ago. She's lucky I can afford her Comfort Zone with Feliway plug-ins off Amazon for now. Those and her Vet's Best hairball tablets. Although, it's more like I'm lucky Feliway works on her and makes her nicer instead of a cranky alleycat. :)

If anyone is thinking of giving up on their cat, they should try Feliway or Comfort Zone with Feliway first to see if it works.

Edit: I'm sorry if you tried it and it didn't work for you, but please don't tell other ppl it doesn't work at all. It might work for them and change a cat's life (& the human's life).
 
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cats5

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The jury is still out whether Feliway is working in our household yet but I'm not giving up just yet. I'm going to give it the 3 mos as recommended & hope for the best. I'm, also, giving Raven the calming treats daily as well as Bach Rescue Remedy, too. He's such a chow hound cat & will eat anything. Unfortunately, his brother Nicky (as those are the 2 that don't get along) doesn't care for the calming treats. I agree with BonitaBaby as just because it doesn't work for you, doesn't mean it doesn't work. Its like anything new you try, Trial & Error.
 

deborah julian

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Feliway did absolutely nothing when we adopted a new cat and had a stressful situation. I have had really good results from Spirit Essences products especially Stress Stopper.
 
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