Feliway Plug-In

[twofatcats]

I went ahead and ordered a Feliway plug-in over the net, even though I still have some concerns about using it so near the litter boxes. I guess if worst comes to worst, I could always use it upstairs, but my two do spend probably 60-70% of their indoor time in my large sewing room, where I also feed them, groom them, and they have their daytime "nap" beds. (Both sleep with me at night.) I've never really had litter box problems with these two, so probably the risk of problems is minimal. At any rate, I have been going through so many problems with Red Cat's anxiety for months, and if this helps to calm him a little, I will be very greatful. It seems that all the medications I've tried to give him for it have added as much anxiety as it has solved. And I am getting very concerned about trying to find at least a partial solution before I leave on a two-week trip. My furbabies are scared to death of any other human being and are not used to me being gone, so I'm getting desperate to find a solution. Will report results. And I hope others will also report what results they are having with the Comfort Zone plug-in.

Thank you for starting this thread.

 

[turtlecat]

Interesting day this as.. I tried to let Molly wade in some water because she kept watching me shower, but she didn't like it.. however, she decided that it was just an errant experiment on both our parts and once she fluffer her tail back up, was no worse for wear.

this evening before I came home, Jason said Molly walked right up to him, and sat beside him for a minute. Well Jason decided that this was an opportunity to pet... she skittered off.

but let me point out that that was the first time since we got her 2 months ago that she actually sat with either of us.. rather than skirted close to te TV and away from us. Later, she came out into the hallway and complained, as usual, sitting primly in the middle of the bathroom enterance, and meowled. Paige, for once, opted not to chase her, even after I let her go (she was upset for being held against her will.) we went out to dinner, and came back, and paige for once did not think that mommy's home meant "playfight with mommy's hands" and actually let me pet her for a few minutes before letting me know when enough was. Molly started her nightly meowing of forlorn-ness she was like to do since we got the feliway.. so we went in to see her and she was hunched up as usual under the bed.. staring at us detestfully. so.. I took peoples advice, and grabbed our one picture book (terry Pratchett's the last hero" and started up reading aloud. Not only did molly loll out under the bed (all sprawled out on her side, listening intently to me, and even looking at me!), something we'd never seen her do... but when Paige went under the bed to see Molly, she only hissed when paige came within 6 inches of her (when normally 2 feet is close enough)

Now, admittedly, she left, to eat and do her duties, but when she came back, she meowled to be read to, so I continued. I read to them for a full hour, and when i was tired of reading (we're getting through it, I'm not just reading to them random crap, I actually like the story) she meowled for more, and when she didn't get her way, she walked into the living room and sat under Jason's chair. Well I went out.. and she let me walk close to her.. let me talk to her.. let me crouch down (without meowing like a cornered well ..cat.. mind you) and even lay on my belly and pet her. of course after a minute, she was like .. "that's enough".. but she waited for me to get up before running to the bedroom. Also, while I was reading .. Paige fell asleep in the corner of the room, which she normally hates to be in because of Molly.

So I think this is progress!! Jason is happy and he's actually offering to read to us all three (since I'm reading last hero to the three of them) so I think that this may be a family routine soon.

I think the feliway makes cats more responsive to the treatments we are taught to use here for a stressed or feral cats, such as the reading or the sitting with, and whatever it is you can do to make them feel more comfortable is the actual part that makes them better, not neccesarily the feliway itself, although, I don't think I would have broken down her little shell half as fast by just talking or reading alone. she wouldn't move with us there before.. so .. all in all so far i suggest it, as long as other things are gone along with it. I don't think it's nearly as successful if you plug it in and then walk away like the problem is going to fix itself.

we'll see what the next 3.5 weeks hold, then.

-D

 

[twofatcats]

Thanks for the update, turtlecat. Sounds like you are making good progress with those wee ones. Glad to hear it!

 

[monica's six]

turtlecat... Sounds like you are making good progress!!!

It's heart warming to hear people getting closer with their furrbabies! I'm so excited about these things, but I need to prioritize how I want to use this. The more I think about it the more applications it could have for me... Like warming Audrey and Casey up to company when they come over... Working with Clarence and Amelia getting along better... Calming the babies next time I go away on a trip... I need to plan a strategy!
-

 

[turtlecat]

Ah..
Well apparently when Jason was reading night before last, Molly jumped up on the bed, and then tried to get on the headboard behind his head.. but fell down and got embarrassed hid again. Paige slept in a corner of the room all night that night.
Yesterday.. things seemed to be pretty much normal.. she came oput and yowled at us, so we read for a while, but she didn't seem interested last night. I think she's probably still embarrassed, and as I was saying elsewhere, I'm starting to link kitty aggression in Paige to cows milk. She had some yesterday and started batting the heck out of us.. (thank goodness she's had a nail trim recently) :/
I hope this is just a rough patch.. it probably is. On the upsidel, there was no hissing today.. which is good, but no petting either.
*le sigh*

 

[sbbeatnik]

Several days now with the Feliway plug in at our house too. Dylan is no longer walking around with his ears flattened and isn't flicking his tail in annoyance either.

He has been much more cuddly and has spent a lot let time under the couch. However, he has now taken to hiding in the corner between the couches. (which is ok, because I can scoop him up and get him from that spot)

He has also started spending time in "his chair" (which is actually my chippendale wing chair w/foot stool...but he has blanket in it and has claimed it as his own

) Since the Feliway is plugged in just behind chair on wall.

His appetite has taken a dive though. I purchased this in hopes of de-stressing him in order to get him to eat more (he has hepatic lipidosis) but so far this hasn't helped at all in that regard.

 

[turtlecat]

Itg's been a week now, and Paige is more affectionate rather than crazy, and she's letting me train her to be in water, by getting her in the tub with me for rinse for as long as she doesn't mind. Molly, is improving drastically, however. She stil spends the majority of her day with us hiding under the bed, however at this point, it's not hiding as much as keeping her territory. If I wedge myself under the bed, and hold out my hand, she bows her head to be pet and will nuzzle and roll around for a good 15 -20 minutes. (as long as I touch only her head and some small portion of her sides)she also now rarely hisses, and the yowling is less frequent as well. she plays now, but only with her catpad, and the mice under the bed, and now stalks accross the living room rather than zooms accross. she does not like us to approach her still, and will run back to her spot, where she seems comfortable with us visiting her. I know this doesn't sound like much, but it used to be that she'd run to a spot under the bed where we couldn't reach her. I will also mention, that she no longer hides in the boxspring itself.

 

[littlebigcat]

Just wanted to address a few things associated w/ Feliway:

1) I actually sell my clients Feliway but only the plug-ins. I think the spray is a waste of time and $, except in a few instances, the main one being spraying a kennel for travel or the inside of a car for the same reason, as mentioned in a previous post. In a home, though, the concept of having to spray the same area every day manually means more wasted spray, the chance that it's not evenly distributed, and ultimately, more Feliway that you have to go through. The diffuser and refills may seem more expensive than the bottle, but really, they are more economical. The diffuser covers 600 square ft. and lasts usually 2 months before you need a refill.
2)As for the placement of the diffuser, I wouldn't worry too much about its proximity to the litterbox, except I wouldn't put it right on top of it. Meaning, the litterbox is a place for cats to deposit scent and therefore have increased territorial security everytime they walk by it, which, in a way, is what you're trying to accomplish by plugging in a Feliway diffuser. Having a little bit of space between the two, I think, is optimum.
3) I'm a huge believer in flower essences as a complimentary modality to Feliway. I've seen them work time and time again. You can start with something as simple as Rescue Remedy, or go to my site and get more complex remedies, but, like I said, why bother stopping at Feliway?
4) I'm getting a lot of feedback from my clients that if the Feliway runs out, symptoms return in spades. That makes sense, in many cases. For instance, in a multi-cat household with much territorial stress, Feliway definitely helps ease that. You run out of that positive scent marker, and they very well might feel the need to mark for themselves to make sure stress doesn't return. Point being, make sure you don't run out!

Hope that helps!

 

[turtlecat]

We've been on the feliway for 10 days and now, Molly seemsto be warming up to the idea of her head being pet, even coming up to me when I poke my head under the bed and waggle my fingers at her. YAY!

And the petting makes her roll around willynilly under the bed, and roll herself onto her head, and she purrs so loud you can hear it in your chest. Also much hand bathing commences.

However, we're seeing more and more that she does NOT like below her front shoulderblades touched.. She meows at you as if scolding, but at this point she's stopped swiping.. unless you touch her lower back, close to her tail, whereupon he spins about hard and hisses.

Unfortunately this time she did so and conked the heck out of her head on the boxspring struts.. Poor thing.. and then i touched her head where she smacked it and she mewled and scuttled away into the dark deep of the bed. :/ i hope she doesn't hold it against me. She didn't want to come for more petting, but she did seem responsive to me, in a I like you, but please be quiet.. I got a headache. So I let her be... I'm encouraged though that she actually will come close rather than make me stretch.

 

[turtlecat]

I've figured out part of Molly's Problem. Paige. She tries to get close to Molly and of course Molly gets upset. o I'm breaking Paige of that habit, which is making Molly a little more content with her environment. I think I'll put a bit of Vanilla on each of them some time soon as, and here's the big news, Molly let me pet her in the hallway!

Which impressed the hell out of me, and on top of that, Molly spent about an hour out and about the room, and is still out, even though we're doing stuff. She didn't even wince as Jason walked past her, and is even examining under Paige's chair.
She doesn't however, trust Jason. I attribute this to him smelling like Paige, and also because he caught her on the counter the first week we had her. She's being a great deal more accepting of others (people othe than me) being about .. as long as if we approach her, we scoot accross the room on our bellies.

So YAY!!
Good news

 

[tuxedokitties]

Originally Posted by LittleBigCat

Just wanted to address a few things associated w/ Feliway:

4) I'm getting a lot of feedback from my clients that if the Feliway runs out, symptoms return in spades. That makes sense, in many cases. For instance, in a multi-cat household with much territorial stress, Feliway definitely helps ease that. You run out of that positive scent marker, and they very well might feel the need to mark for themselves to make sure stress doesn't return. Point being, make sure you don't run out!

Does this mean I'll have to use the diffuser for the lifetime of my cats if they don't seem to get along with each other without it?

I used it when introducing my cats to my husband's cat 1 & 1/2 years ago & it worked wonderfully, even on 2 of my own cats that never seemed to get along before. I've stopped using it, and though my husband's cat now gets along fine with my cats, the 2 of mine that used to fight have started up again.

Thanks,
Tess

 

[turtlecat]

I was wondering whther I would need to keep using the Feliway, even though I am only using it for the socialization of the cat we were having problems with (who seems determined to hang out with us now, as long as we're sitting.)