Advice/Opinion about Feliway plug-in diffuser

Hi All,

I wanted to get your advice/opinion about the feliway plug-in diffuser. I purchased one last month and it is plugged into a receptacle in the hallway. I was hoping to accomplish 3 things with it...

1 - To get Ansel to stop urinating all over the house
2 - To get Zan to stop being so aggessive towards Bella
3 - To get Bella to not be so skittish

These are all things that feliway claims it can accomplish. I know some people have posted and said that the product works on some cats and others it doesn't work. Ansel has not stopped urinating all over the house. If anything, he does it all over the hall where the diffuser is plugged. Zan is still aggressive towards Bella and Bella is still skittish. My question is this.....would you all buy another refill? LOL

Wow, that is alot for one product - do you just have one diffuser or several throughout the house where the cats go? I only had one diffuser in the room where I was restricting my new adopted feral - I knew she was extremely skittish and it seemed to make the transition for her easier. I definitely plan to get a refill for this room and use another in the other room.

I also wonder if Feliway is one of those things that not all cats respond to - like cat nip - some are more likely to be affected than others. All I know is that for one cat in one room for the one purpose I needed it, it did work.

Good luck figuring it out. Perhaps Feliway is only part of the solution for your cats.

feliway can't do it all. I woould look at the physical environment and see if something specific is stressing out your cats. Not enough litter pans? not enough space? bullying behavior you have not noticed? and of course your little pissy cat needs tobe seen by a vet to rule out a health problem.

and once a cat has peed somewhere you really need to stamp out the scent or the cat thinks that is what they are supposed to do. I would also strongly suggest you get a copy of "How to think like a cat" because understanding their behavior and instincts will help you create environments that are less stressful to everyone and tap the cats natural desires and make them simpatico with your home/life.

Feliway is great for shortterm stress and making a cat think he owns the territory but with three cats and all the stuff going on with your cats, something else is clearly happening. Good luck and keep learning.

A good analogy is that Feliway is like psychiatric drugs in humans. It can help ease part of the problem, and then you still need to do behavioral changes, therapy, etc.

So you use Feliway as an aid, you can't just have three cats with behavioral problems, throw in a plug-in, and expect it to work itself out. What it will do is help you fix the problems, and make the cats a little less stressed out.

You do need to clean the pee spots with an enzymatic cleaner, as mentioned, so the hallway is no longer a litterbox, and I would take all three of them to the vet.

Something is seriously stressing all of these cats, and you get to play detective and figure out what it is. How many litterboxes do you have? You should have four for three cats (number of cats + one). Have you moved? Has a new person or dog or other cat been added recently? Have you changed soaps? Seriously, think of everything!

Originally Posted by Abigail

feliway can't do it all. I woould look at the physical environment and see if something specific is stressing out your cats. Not enough litter pans? not enough space? bullying behavior you have not noticed? and of course your little pissy cat needs tobe seen by a vet to rule out a health problem.

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Ansel did have struvite crystals in his urine a few months ago, but that is all cleared up now. He has been urinating all over the house for probably close to 2 years now. I'm about to purchase some urine PH strips so that I can weekly monitor the PH levels in his urine to know if he needs to be taken back to the vet for treatment.

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

You do need to clean the pee spots with an enzymatic cleaner, as mentioned, so the hallway is no longer a litterbox, and I would take all three of them to the vet.

Something is seriously stressing all of these cats, and you get to play detective and figure out what it is. How many litterboxes do you have? You should have four for three cats (number of cats + one). Have you moved? Has a new person or dog or other cat been added recently? Have you changed soaps? Seriously, think of everything!

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I do clean the pee spots, when I know about them. I use Drs. Foster & Smith Odor Logic Clean Away. To be honest, I don't feel that it works. The hard part is this. When he pees, he pees against a wall...therefore, the urine drips down the wall and behind the baseboards. There is nothing I can do there except spray ths Clean Away on the wall and let it drip behind the baseboard....and I do it repeatedly. If I get on the ground and smell in his usual spots, I can still smell the urine.

As stated before, I have 3 cats (1 male/2 females)...but my mother also had a male cat and we have my grandmother's dog. Ansel was peeing all over the house long before Bella and Zan were brought home. We only have 2 litter boxes in the house and 1 out the enclosed patio (they spend alot of time out there). When I move out of my parent's house and into mine (not sure when that will be), it will only be my 3 cats. I'm hoping that will help matters in that Ansel will be the only male in the household. I know that you're supposed to have one more litter box than cats, but there just isn't any other place for them at mom & dad's.

Originally Posted by SophieC

I When he pees, he pees against a wall...therefore, the urine drips down the wall and behind the baseboards. There is nothing I can do there except spray ths Clean Away on the wall and let it drip behind the baseboard....and I do it repeatedly. If I get on the ground and smell in his usual spots, I can still smell the urine.

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Sounds to me like he's spraying. If he is spraying the same spot repeatedly, I would recommend getting the Feliway spray and putting that on the wall where he is spraying.

He is trying to get the message across to one of the cats, that this is his territory - yet apparently that cat is still violating the marks he is making (with his spray) and passing over into his territory...

I've tried it and it didn't do a thing for my cats, so no, I wouldn't buy another refill.

Originally Posted by elbvc211

Sounds to me like he's spraying. If he is spraying the same spot repeatedly, I would recommend getting the Feliway spray and putting that on the wall where he is spraying.

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I wouldn't necessarily say that he is spraying. IMO, when a male cat sprays to mark his territory, he released a small amount of urine. When Ansel "sprays", it's like he's releasing everything in his bladder. It's about the same amount of urine as if he had squatted in the litter box. Does that make sense to you?

Originally Posted by elbvc211

He is trying to get the message across to one of the cats, that this is his territory - yet apparently that cat is still violating the marks he is making (with his spray) and passing over into his territory...

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Nope....none of the other 3 cats have EVER used the bathroom outside of the litter box....this we know.

Try spraying the areas he urinates in with something citrus scented. that will prevent him from habitually using those spots and even though you say there isn't room for another box. I would try my hardest to fit one in somewhere because ansel sounds totally stressed out. He has gotteninto a bad habit and you need to find a way to break the cycle.

I have 5 cats with 2 of them who had become aggressive with each other. I contacted an animal behavorist. Who gave me a list of things to do. One of them included having a total of 7 litter boxes. I did have 2 of my cats that 1 of them would never cover his poo and another one that would poo just outside the box ...(that I never considered a problem) .....and an occasional peeing in other places other than the litter boxes...(which was very bothersome)...... Even tho, I had to place 2 of the litter boxes right next to one another, the very day, I added the additional boxes, I have had zero problems with any spraying, not covering poo or pooing just outside the box. It was explained to me that cats need their territory with their poo places and outside elimination problems and even not covering their poo is a sign of an aversion to the litter box. So I know with me the additional boxes completely helped the problems I was having.

Originally Posted by Abigail

Try spraying the areas he urinates in with something citrus scented. that will prevent him from habitually using those spots and even though you say there isn't room for another box. I would try my hardest to fit one in somewhere because ansel sounds totally stressed out. He has gotteninto a bad habit and you need to find a way to break the cycle.

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The Odor Logic Clean Away is citrus scented. That doesn't seem to matter to him!

Originally Posted by Pami

It was explained to me that cats need their territory with their poo places and outside elimination problems and even not covering their poo is a sign of an aversion to the litter box. So I know with me the additional boxes completely helped the problems I was having.

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OK. I understand the point you're making. But tell me this. If I were to add more litter boxes and the whole issue is that Ansel wants his "own", how do you keep the other cats out of "his" litter box?

Originally Posted by SophieC

OK. I understand the point you're making. But tell me this. If I were to add more litter boxes and the whole issue is that Ansel wants his "own", how do you keep the other cats out of "his" litter box?

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there are collars which send out a signal to a cat door to unlock it. if you went to that extreme and only ansel wore the collar no one else could get into the room with "his" box.