e-claire's Full Review: Farnam Products Feliway 75ml Spray
Feliway Comfort Zone is specially formulated to create a 'comfort zone' for cats, help modify stress-related behaviors and diffuse potentially stressful feline situations. The Feliway formula is sold in both spray and plug-in formats, and is manufactured and distributed by the Farnam Pet Products company in Phoenix, Arizona. Consumers not yet familiar with Feliway might still recognize the Farnam name from Bio Spot, Scratchex and Sulfodene pet products, brands which FPP also happens to produce. My husband and I initially purchased Feliway hoping it would help make taking our cats to the veterinarian a less traumatic experience for the kitties (and for us). We specifically chose the 75 mL spray for convenience, intending to go to this product only for very sporadic use.
Feliway is made up of: 10% synthetic feline facial pheromones - The feline pheromones in Feliway are designed to basically trick a cat into thinking and feeling secure. When your cat is a happy cat, you’ll likely see it rubbing its face on any available surface including sofa corners, wall corners, chair legs and so on. Well, this is a cat's way of marking areas it deems to be safe with its own natural facial pheromones. Feliway replicates these pheromones synthetically in order to mimic and induce the same friendly feline feelings.
90% ethanol preservative compound - The odor emitted by the ethanol is really quite overpowering, so we've learned to use the product at least 30 minutes to an hour prior to re-introducing our cats to the Feliway-treated item or area. This is especially important for first-time users to note if, like our asthmatic cat, you or your kitty has a sensitive nose.
Notes on Usage Feliway spray is super easy to use. Spray product onto desired areas of furniture, carpeting, cat trees, litter areas or cat carriers; use to encourage and promote feline feelings of safety and familiarity prior to car or plane rides, vet visits, and exposure to new environments. Avoid inhalation (if you can help it) and contact with the eyes. As mentioned previously, we make a point of removing our cats prior to Feliwaying, and we keep them far away until the ethanol scent fades and the product has had time to absorb. Of minor note, the nozzle doesn't always spray evenly, although this may be an unusual product defect particular to our bottle.
We mainly use Feliway on our cat carriers prior to bringing the cats into the vet's. Despite the carriers having been either lightly or completely doused with Feliway, the mildly rebuking ("why, oh WHY ARE YOU TAKING ME TO VET AGAIN?") cat moans still come and go throughout the entire trip. The crying inevitably tends to escalate (and oh, the heavy dander-making and coat shedding that come with!) as soon as we enter the vet office, and the piteous sounds don't stop until we get home. Feliway, little Feliway or no Feliway, cats just seem to know, don't they?
Coming home from the vet is a different story. Our cats don't seem to want to tear into each other anymore as they used to in pre-Feliway days when a fellow cat came home smelling like the vet. We're not sure what the cats are thinking, but we do find the cats incredibly stoic, as if on kitty valium, and humorously keeping to their own Feliway-treated areas for several hours before interacting with each other super slowly again. Based on this oft-repeated experience, Feliway does not make our lives any easier on the road or at the vet's, but there are discernable signs of external behavior modification at work when returning home. Perhaps Feliway just needs some time to fully kick in, or perhaps the cats are simply exhausted from having dealt with the vet and the car ride for so long. It's hard to say for sure.
Other times we turn to Feliway include when we decide to make the occasional litter or food changes. We would then lightly spray the new litter area or the furniture immediately around the food area to help ease the transition. The cats never seem to have extreme adverse effects to litter or food changes (i.e. no diarrhea, vomitting, behavior changes), so we're hoping Feliway is helpful here. Feliway is also invariably our first go-to product after each L.A. earthquake. When the product settles, the cats seem to as well.
Peace of Mind Cost Us $16.99 Feliway isn't cheap, but the value is there as the product lasts a good, long time. We're still working on the one bottle we bought over a year ago. Since then, we've been through multiple vet visits, a couple of low richter earthquakes, and the occasional in-home furniture rearranging. Despite the number of uses, there is still plenty of product to shake and spray. Based on our personal experiences with the product, we definitely have mixed feelings towards Feliway, but whether Feliway Comfort Zone Spray is truly effective for our cats or not, we still like having a product like this on hand at home. At the very least, pre-treating the cat carrier and litter/food change areas gives my husband and I a little added peace of mind whenever we're forced to inflict car trips or routine changes on our feline homefries. At the very most, it is infinitely easier spritzing cat things than it is to pill a cat with composure medicine.
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