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Feliway - the Secret to Happy Less-Stressed Cats
Easy: Plug it in, Turn it on, and 10 seconds work can provide a Month of Stress Relief!
If your cat is "marking" territory through stress, this could be the key to eliminating the problem.
It could save you $00s in cleaning bills and add $000s to your property value!!
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Feliway is usually supplied as a small amount of liquid attached to a small, neat, plug-in diffuser.
This is placed somewhere out of the way and releases tiny amounts of vapour into the air, which humans are unable to detect. However cats are able to pick up the scent of the product and respond to it.
Feliway can also be supplied as a colourless liquid in a small, pump action spray bottle.
The liquid can be sprayed onto surfaces in places where a stressed, nervous or anxious cat goes.
The liquid spray has the same effect as the diffuser and can encourage a feeling of calmness, confidence and wellbeing in cats.
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How Feliway Works
Cats naturally produce a secretion (called a pheromone) from glands in the skin of their muzzle and face. Tiny amounts of this secretion are transferred onto surfaces within their territory by the cats rubbing their faces against them. This is something they do when they are feeling relaxed, confident and at ease with the situation. Most cat owners will have noticed how a particularly "happy" cat tends to rub its face against the owner. The cat's feeling of wellbeing which accompanies this action is re-enforced by picking up the scent which is transferred at the same time. All of this is a natural process which goes on without us being able to detect the scent at all. Feliway is a made to contain the same compound as the naturally produced pheromones. When a cat detects Feliway on a surface, or in the air, it triggers a response in the cat which brings out the desirable feelings which occur when a cat is "face rubbing" naturally. This has the effect of influencing the cat's "mood" so that a cat which is not feeling confident or calm will be encouraged to relax. It is not magic and will not bring about a miraculous transformation, but it will tend to shift the balance of a cat's mood in the right direction.
Is there any need for treatment?
Thyroid hormones tend to speed up the body’s metabolism, so when they are over-produced, the affected cat tends to lose weight despite eating large amounts. Indeed some of these cats become enormously greedy, but still lose weight. They also tend to have a fast heart rate, are overly active for their age, and can suffer from the effects of high blood pressure. They can suffer bleeding and detachment of the retina in the eye, sometimes going blind. They are also more prone to heart and kidney disease. Some cats show other symptoms and can go off their food instead of being greedy, worsening the weight loss. They may be prone to vomiting or diarrhoea, physically weak and subdued. If left untreated, affected cats are unlikely to live as long as they would with treatment, and may well go blind or suffer from other problems.
Are there any side effects?
It is extremely unusual for any treatment to have no side effects at all, but this does seem to be the case with Feliway. It is simply a scent and the worst that is likely to happen is that it will fail to be effective. Probably it has some effect in most situations, but it might be too weak to make an observable difference. It is possible that the liquid spray might affect certain coloured fabrics or other materials it is applied to, though this would be very rare and is not a side effect as such.
Feliway is regarded as an extremely safe product, has been very widely used for many years, and is considerably less likely to have an adverse effect than medicinal products.
What is it used for?
Feliway can be effective whenever it is desired to make a cat more relaxed and confident, such as:
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When a cat is nervous about being introduced to a new home.
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To help established resident cats which are meeting a newly introduced cat.
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Cats to be transported in a carry-basket, the anxiety associated with travel can be reduced by spraying Feliway in the basket before putting the cat in.
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When transporting a cat (especially to see the Vet!)
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When building work or other disruption is occurring, such as getting a dog or when a baby first starts to become mobile around the house.
All of these things can be stressful to a cat, and can be the cause of urine marking around the house, scratching in vertical surfaces, loss of appetite or loss of interest in play.
Feliway® is a product which reproduces certain pacifying properties of cat facial pheromones.
The placing of facial pheromones is a behaviour which is well known to all cat owners. When a cat feels safe in its environment, it rubs its head from the side of the chin to the base of the ear, against the furniture, the corners of walls or the bottom of curtains. By doing this, the animal is depositing facial pheromones. These marks convey a message of well-being and a feeling of security.
When there is a change in the cat's environment (such as visits to the vets, return from hospitalisation, moving house, new arrivals, rearrangement of furniture) or if the cat is scared, a state of disquiet or stress may develop. This state can be expressed by changes in behaviour, such as urine marking, vertical scratching, loss of appetite or refusal to play and to interact.
In these situations, Feliway® Spray or Feliway® Diffuser can be used to restore the natural balance.
Feliway® is a safe solution of feline facial pheromone, which mimics the cat's natural pheromones, creating a state of well-being and calm.
Pheromones are natural substances extremely widespread in the animal kingdom.
They are used to communicate between members of the same species.
The development by CEVA SANTE ANIMALE and PHEROSYNTHESE of commercial formulations of nature identical pheromones for use in cats (Feliway®) and in dogs (Dog Appeasing Pheromone - D.A.P.®) created a new field in veterinary science.
Pheromonatherapy is an innovative and natural solution to manage stress related problems in cats and dogs.
For more information about the efficacy of Feliway, click here.
For answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), click here.
For tips on reducing stress in your cat when moving house, read this article in Urban Animal magazine. |