My three younger cats all exhibit occasional stress-related behaviors related to their background. Jaspurr and Joey were born to a household of multiple cats, dogs, and small children, and were only 6.5 weeks old when I adopted them (I had been awaiting them since they were four days old.) The women of the house said, "I want them out of here. They're running all over the house and driving me crazy."
Joey has at times always been somewhat withdrawn, fearful, or distrustful. Jaspurr, from early kittenhood, has practiced a habit of "nursing" his left front foot, while kneading and purring. Since this occurs only when he is in close proximity to a human companion, we assume this embarrassing habit (for us) is one of comfort, possibly driven by insecurity. Because of this we have made no real effort in the past to physically restrain him from his need to "nurse."
Billy was in a foster home environment with a number of cats of all ages, and spent several weeks in a cage each Saturday and Sunday during "adoption days," and was physically underdeveloped when we adopted him at five months. While he was the most outgoing and personable of the three, he still often exhibits distrust and fear with his human family.
With those challenges in mind, we were looking forward to testing the Farnam Feliway products. Since we have experienced none of the territorial marking or undesirable scratching behavior, we knew up front our results would be less dramatic and more subjective.
The Test Results
With that last thought in mind, I installed the Feliway Plug-In in my home office, a room of approximately 192 square feet (smaller than the maximum, but with a sloping high vaulted ceiling). The cats spend a large part of their daytime hours here, so it seemed a logical place for the test.
After a testing period of two weeks:
- Joey was noticeably more sociable. Although he still will sometimes "back off" when approached, he seems to want more interaction with his human family, and will often jump onto my lap when I am working at my computer, or join the rest of us on our bed for our "evening socialization."
- Jaspurr still practices his nursing behavior in our bed at night after "lights out. However, he frequently jumps on my lap during the day, and often chooses that time to bond with me instead of his usual "nursing" behavior.
- Billy is noticeably less fearful around his humans, and often voluntarily seeks us out.
Although Feliway is said to be harmless to humans, there have been a few scattered reports of asthma, including this review on Amazon.com. A few of my own forum members also reported asthma symptoms, although other members with asthma stated it didn't bother them. Although I initially did not notice exacerbation of my own asthma, on a later occasion, the Feliway did seem to bother me.
Because the test period only lasted two weeks instead of the full 30 days; only one room of the house was fitted with the Feliway Plug-In; and because of the subjective nature of this particular test, I am awarding this product a 4-Star rating.
Feliway Comfort Zone has been proven effective in alleviating undesirable urine marking and destructive scratching, and I would not hesitate to recommend it for any cat with stress-related behavioral problems, keeping in mind the potential for humans with severe asthma.
