Does The Feliway Diffusers Really Work?

inkxpencil

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I have been debating buying the feliway diffusers for a few months but haven't gotten around to it yet. But yesterday I reached a bit of a breaking point with Rory, and I need to do something.

I love Rory so much but she is a very aggressive cat. I've had her since she was 5 weeks old, she is 8 going on 9 now but as she gets older her aggression gets worse. She has bitten/scratched every single member of my family several times and she routinely goes after her brother Charlie and my parents dog Ollie. My niece is terrified of her, and will not walk by Rory or go into a room if she is in it. She is generally pretty sweet to my mom and I but she can turn on even us in the blink of an eye, for no reason. You just have to walk by her sometimes. Its almost like she doesn't even recognize us when she is in that state.

Last night she was sitting on my chest and she was licking my face. When I moved my face away she bit me hard in the face twice. When I went to move her off me she went for my neck and again bit me hard. I finally got her down and she growled the whole way. She can be quite nasty.

Do you guys find that feliway works for aggression? I need to do something to stop this behaviour. Its only getting worse as she gets older. She has been around all of us since she was a kitten I just can't understand it.
 

Pjg8r

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I have used feliway to reduce cat on cat aggression. I don’t know if it would help with the reactivity you are seeing. Hopefully someone can answer that.
 

Ardina

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I tried feliway when I was trying to integrate Saipha with my roommate's cat. I found that it just made her really sleepy. Didn't help much with the integration, unfortunately. I suppose it's worth a try. :dunno:
 

5starcathotel

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Wow. first, I really pity what you are going through. It is, frankly, beyond my experience.

I used felliway for a couple of months, I didn't notice any dramatic change in behavior of any of my 4. So I have to say, no, this is probably not the solution.

If you can, get her to the vet ASAP for a full checkup. If everything is normal, ask about some mood stabilizers, etc. Normally I'd never suggest mood-altering drugs as a first solution, but what you are describing sounds like nothing short of an emergency. And ideally drugs would be only a short term solution!

Longer term, Rory may need some changes to her environment. Does she have places she can escape the dogs/kids/noise etc? Especially places that are up high, but not trapped?
 
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inkxpencil

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She has been the vet before for it, and everything was normal. She was just there a few weeks ago for a different issue and they did a full work up on her and everything was normal. I have never broached the subject of mood stabilizers with her though. I don’t want to medicate her unless I have to.

The worst of her behaviour has come out at my parents house. I have bought the cat tree her and brother uses it but she doesn’t, she hasn’t loads of places she hides there and no one bothers her because she is such a beast. She has a screened in room that she loves in the summer time, and on mild days in the winter. She only spends weekends there. She mostly lives with my in my apartment. For awhile her behaviour at the apartment was awesome but now it’s getting bad there as well. It’s just her, my boyfriend and I so it’s pretty quiet. I’ve tried leaving her for the weekend with him when I go out my parents but she gets very sick when I leave her. She can flop on the floor and want attention. You can let her for awhile and then she will turn on you all of a sudden, and for no reason.

I bought her a cat tree for my apartment and it should actually be getting delivered today. I have lots of low windows, and I always move th curtains away is she can see out. I have tons of toys for her, I try and pay with her but her preference is the ‘dead’ toys.

Surprisingly she is an awesome traveler.
 

modakian

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Have you tried the Feliway?
I use Feliway and it does seem to help keep my cats calm. HOWEVER, the part of the wick that sticks out the top starts to dry out immediately and I have noticed that it has a burn spot on it. I really want to keep using it so every couple of days I have to go "oil" up that part of the wick because I'm afraid it will catch fire. Has anyone else noticed this?
 

Furballsmom

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I have read a number of people who are commenting that the diffuser itself can get hot enough to cause concern...I don't know if these are amazon purchases where the product might be a third party fake knockoff? ....sometimes the fake products are really hard to tell..
 

Furballsmom

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By the way, to the OP inkxpencil inkxpencil , a cat that is biting people, including your face and neck, seriously needs something to address the issue, or someone is going to be put in the hospital with a life threatening infection from either a bite or a scratch.

Besides that, for a cat to be allowed to frighten people to this point is just wrong.

Many products are available over the counter with ingredients such as tryptophan, casein, valerian, chamomile.

There are also CBD oil, Gabapentin, et al.

Please do the responsible thing, if you haven't already done so, and talk with your vet in more detail about this. Your cat may be in pain which can cause irritable lashing out.
 
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inkxpencil

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I did speak to my vet about her behaviour at great length. My vet thinks the behaviour is coming from boredom. We have been adding more things to enrich her environment. I have added a bird feeder to a window and she will spend hours watching the birds, we are rotating her toys, we have gotten her food puzzles and are hiding her food around the house. Her behaviour has been pretty good for the most part. We recently bought a house, so once we move in I plan on making doing more things to enrich the environment for her.

My vet wants to try this route before agreeing to medicate her. When we do see behaviour my vet told me to ignore her and the behaviour.

I did get a Flyway diffuser, it seemed to help a bit but it does get very hot.

I fully understand that her behaviour is not acceptable. I've done everything in my power to stop it and to help her at the same time, I'm a responsible pet owner.
 

ramscici

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Hi inkxpencil inkxpencil , I hope you don't mind me asking, but does she happen to be declawed? I know some cats are just more aggressive than others depending on environment/genetics, but asking about this just out of curiosity since my parents had a cat that became a biter after they declawed her when I was a kid.

In my personal experience Feliway is 50/50. I bought it in hopes of stopping inappropriate urination issues with my boy Ramses after I brought him in from a shelter. He did stop soon after, but I'm not sure if it was the Feliway or the fact that he got more comfortable in his environment and that we had changed up the litter we used for him. It could have been a combination of things.
 

maggie101

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My cat started peeing standing up ever since Josie died. The litter box is in my bathroom which is the litter box Josie used. I plugged feliway and she no longer does that. Who knows if that was the solution. I have 2 other cats.
 
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inkxpencil

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I don't mind you asking! Rory has not been declawed. I have had people recommend that I declaw her but I refuse, its cruel in my opinion.

She has always been a bit of a cranky pants but it got worse after we got another cat. And then her behaviour got even worse after my parents got a dog. She is much more relaxed when she's at my apartment, she's the only pet with us currently. Once we move I'm taking my other cat, Charlie though, I'm hoping if I get the environment ready for it before hand that it won't wreck any progress that we have made.
 

ramscici

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I don't mind you asking! Rory has not been declawed. I have had people recommend that I declaw her but I refuse, its cruel in my opinion.
Good on you. I'm glad you refuse. It is a cruel practice in my opinion and I think her behaviors would probably only get worse if you did it. Just wanted to rule that out before giving my two cents!

My friend has a cat with similar behavioral problems and she keeps caps on his nails to avoid nasty, unpredictable scratches. That's also an option.

Rory sounds like a classic case of the "Napoleon" cat, in the words of Jackson Galaxy. She is over territorial / overcompensating her dominance for whatever reason because she feels insecure in the ownership of her territory, perhaps. It sounds like you are doing everything right and have probably significantly reduced the behaviors by enriching her environment as much as possible and keeping her with you by herself. She probably gets worse when there are other animals around because of this reason. And some cats are also very sensitive to stimulation (being petted, etc) which might be why she's attacking you after vying for your attention as well. She sounds like she needs a lot of patience! Thank you for always doing your best for her!
 

Matt M PA

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Perhaps of little help, but...

We tried the Feliway when Aggie and Allie started their hissing, etc. I didn't see that it made a measurable difference in our case.

We ran two of them in different rooms for about two weeks. Perhaps it was too soon...but something I read about them gave me pause for concern.

I was trying to find out if having a windows open would hurt it's efficiency. The maker's response was that the refills won't last as long. Seems to me that if there's a breeze the product would not be as effective. While I suppose that could have some impact on how long a refill would last...my bigger concern was that if the "scent" is diluted due to a breeze...it won't work as well.

We only had so much time to make a return, so we only used them about two weeks. Our vet also sold me some very expensive treats ($50 a bag!!) that are supposed to help. Only one cat would eat them.
 
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inkxpencil

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I'm planning on adding more shelves and higher places for her once we move to the new house. Its hard since we are renting to do anything like that at the moment.

She is definitely territorial. The biggest trigger for the behaviour is me. Typically when Rory and I are at my parents house together she is very nasty. But there has been a few occasions where I'm not at their house with her and she is good as gold for them if I'm not around. The second I arrive the nastiness comes out in her.
 
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