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Review of the feliway diffuser and feliway spray

Feliway diffuser - Comfort Zone pheromone for cats

Review of the Feliway diffuser / feliway spray

This review was written by veterinarian, Dr. Marie.

The feliway diffuser or spray contains a substance called a Pheromone. What is a pheromone? A pheromone is a chemical substance that an animal releases in order to signal other animals. Here are some examples:

Bees release pheromones to signal danger, or a different type of pheromone to recognize the queen, and even a different type to signal to other bees where the best flowers are.
Female rats, hamsters and mice release pheromones that signal to males that they are ready to mate.
Some female snakes release pheromones that signal to the male to either start or stop courtship.

How do cats use pheromones?

Cats have something called “facial pheromones”. Have you ever wondered why your cat likes to rub his or her face on things? It is believed that a cat is depositing facial pheromones which are meant to tell others that this is his territory. It is also believed that when cats sense facial pheromones that they recognize it calms them because it signals to them that they are in their own safe environment.

How does feliway work?

Feliway is a synthetic version of the cat facial pheromone. It comes in a diffuser which is a plugin that you plug into the wall or as a spray that you can spray on objects in the house. The spray is especially useful if your cat is urinating in a certain area of the house or scratching on a particular piece of furniture. Some vets actually spray the spray on themselves when they are going into an appointment with a cranky cat. It seems to calm down fractious cats.

The diffuser lasts about 30 days and covers an area of about 500-650 square feet. It is safe to use and there are no known harmful effects on cats, people or other pets. If you have asthma that is normally bothered by perfume like plugins then the feliway plugin may have the same effect. However, there is no discernable smell produced by the feliway plugin.

Does feliway work?

You can read through thousands of testimonials on the web of people saying that feliway worked for them. However, anyone can write a testimonial…so how do we know if this is an effective product or simply a scam to take advantage of cat owners who are desperate for a solution to their cat’s behavior problems? When I want to answer a question like this I always look to medical research. There have been a number of studies done on the effectiveness of feliway for behavioral problems in cats:

Stressed cats can be helped with feliway

Clinical Trial of a Feline Pheromone Analogue for Feline Urine Marking - Journal Vet Med Sci. This was a study of cats who had urine marking problems (peeing in the house). After one month of using a feline pheromone (feliway) in the house, the problem was completely gone in 37% of cats, greatly reduced in 40% of cats and unchanged in 23%.
Effects of a synthetic feline facial pheromone on behavior in cats – Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. In this study, hospitalized cats were monitored. Some were in a cage with a feline pheromone and some were not. There was a significant increase in the amount of grooming and eating in the cats that had the feline pheromone present.
Urine spraying in cats: presence of concurrent disease and effects of a pheromone treatment – Applied Animal Behavior Science. This study used Feliway to treat 34 different cats with urinary spraying problems. An improvement was seen in 74% of the cats.

There are many other articles which support the use of Feliway. I definitely recommend it. Feline Pheromones can be useful in the following situations:

Urinating in the house (spraying, urine marking, interstitial cystitis)
Intercat aggression (very common in multi-cat households!)
Anxiety disorders (overgrooming, interstitial cystitis, etc.)
For cats that hate to go in the carrier or travel in a car – use the feliway spray on a towel in the carrier

Here is a video of a few testimonials about people using feliway for their cats:

Pros:

Safe
Easy to use
Often helps solve behavioral problems without giving medication

Cons:

Can be expensive if you are using it all of the time

Dr. Marie’s ratings:

(5/5) Quality.
(5/5) Saftey.
(4.5/5) Value.

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If you want to buy the Comfort Zone Feliway electric plug in diffuser or spray online, Pet-Product-Review.com has found the following websites that offer it for sale: