If you have never heard of Feliway spray, hold tight cause you’re about to be blown away!

I spent the first year of bringing Ah Mao to the vet for her subcutaneous in terror. Looking back, I wondered how I was able to get through all the stress of catching her, putting her in a cage and whisking her off to the vet. I had to deal with the constant fear of being scratched or bitten, not forgetting her scary threats – the frightening deep, threatening growls that she made whenever I got near. At the clinic I always had to apologise to the staff there for her terrorising behaviour.

I got to know about Feliway spray only in the second year of her subcutaneous treatment during one of her visits to her eye doctor. After her first hand experience with this feisty girl, the vet recommended this spray. She explained that the spray is essentially a synthetic pheromone, that mimics a chemical cats release through the glands on their faces, which helps relieve stress and anxiety. She suggested that we try this spray out by spritzing a few pumps in Ah Mao’s carrier before travelling to the clinic. This might help her relax and make her less feisty.

Knowing that there is a possibility to make Ah Mao less of a terror, I bought the spray right away. Not cheap (about $30 for 60ml) but definitely definitely worth it! One bottle was able to last us around a year. I tried it on her on our next visit to the vet, ten minutes later, it was as though she was high and stoned on drugs. She laid quietly in her carrier, didn’t growl when the nurse approached her. Unlike what she usually does, this time round she was calm and peaceful. The spray worked like magic, although not 100% of the time but at least 80% of the time. I was elated that she was a lot nicer to the clinic staff and extremely relieved that it reduced her stress. Stress triggers Feline Herpes Virus (FHV) as it compromises her immune system which would in turn bring about the most sickening disease ever – corneal ulcer. Freaking expensive and difficult to treat which I would share more in detail in later posts.

Besides calming a cat and reducing stress, the Feliway spray can also be used to alter its behaviour such as stopping it from scratching your furniture or urinating at inappropriate places. To do so, you have to clean the areas marked by your cat with surgical alcohol or water first and allow to dry. After which, spray Feliway directly on the spots. Re-spray daily to reduce the likelihood of re-marking.

How much to spray?

If your cat is travelling in a carrier, spray the carrier 15 minutes before putting your cat in it. You can place a towel in the carrier and spray it on the towel. I usually spray around 3 pumps. One important thing to note; Do not spray directly on your cat. I sprayed it once near my kitty and she rubbed her face against the droplets. She had contact allergy as a result and her ears became burning hot while her skin turned reddish pink. I had to bathe her to try to remove the chemicals. In the end, I recall having to give her an antihistamine to resolve the issue.

If you are shifting to a new place, you might want to prepare a few Feliway diffusers in your new home. Diffuse Feliway in your new house for hours on the day that you want to bring your cat over to your new house. You can place a diffuser in each room before letting your cat in. Moving is an extremely stressful event for cats especially for timid or shy cats. The Feliway diffusers might help to reduce stress on cats, thereby decreasing the chances of illnesses or inappropriate behaviour brought about by stress.

Not sure if you have experienced this before with your kitty but my Ning definitely has separation anxiety. Not so much towards me and my husband, but surely towards her food. Because of the Covid situation, both of us had been staying home alot with her. While at home, her meal times are fixed. Freshly opened wet food placed on a platter, served right to her on her bed. At times when we missed the timing, she would remind us by meowing loudly and rubbing her face against her food. So, one day, both of us decided to have a little date outside of the house. We made sure there was enough kibbles for her as we planned to be out for the entire day. We would miss her lunch and dinner where wet food was supposed to be served. A CCTV was set up so that we could monitor her and make sure she was fine. We checked the monitor a few hours later (after her lunch hour, nearing her dinner time) and saw her biting and pulling out her fur. We knew then that it was time to go home, this girl was starting to get mad with anxiety cause of the lack of wet food! When we opened our front door, the sight was horrible. Tufts of fur strewn across the sofa, the entire living room and kitchen. The moment she saw us, she ran towards us purring and rubbing her tiny cute face against our legs. Boy, she must be thinking her food is finally back. I gave her dinner, she calmed down for the rest of the night. I thought this was over but it seemed like she took some time to recover from her anxiety. The next few days whenever I left the house for an hour to run errands, she would be pulling out her fur. I completely forgot the beauty of Feliway spray and as a result she continued to yowl and pulled out her fur a couple more days. Luckily this old brain of mine suddenly recalled this miracle spray. I quickly sprayed a few pumps onto a piece of tissue and placed it near her. Peace resumed almost instantly. She stopped plucking out those fur and I stopped having to endure her noise and the constant vacuuming. She stayed relaxed even when I had to leave home.

So, if your cat is showing signs of anxiety (hiding, yowling and pulling out fur) and aggression, and you haven’t tried this, you really should consider using it. Who knows, it might work like a charm like what it did for Ah Mao and Ning!

Love,
TG