FELIWAYOptimum Cat, Enhanced Calming Pheromone Diffuser, 30 Day Starter Kit (48 mL)

My boyfriend and I recently moved in together, and his cat was NOT fond of having a dog live with her. He was very respectful of her boundaries, but she was getting more and more territorial - even hissing/swatting at him while he was fast asleep on the couch, totally unprompted. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it and we were too scared to leave them alone together. Within 2 weeks of plugging this in, our little family is sharing the couch for movie nights with no issue. Our kitty is feeling much more comfortable and confident, which has reduced the stress for us all! We're SO very grateful, worth every penny and then some.

My one year old kitty came to our home super anxious and with a history of litter box blues. She was adjusting well until her little terror of a brother arrived. When GI issues manifested in her already anxious body, all bets were off on using the toilets. Bed, stairwell, floors and leather couch became her go to spots. Vet recommended probiotics and Feliway diffusers. We gave her both. We placed diffusers in accident prone zones. It took a couple of weeks before she was noticeably calmer. During this time we also changed her toilets from closed boxes to open ones and strategically placed them throughout the house. Happy to report she has been accident free. I have seen reviews of this product not working so I too was skeptical. While it may not work for all cats, we noticed the diffusers helped calm our girl and eliminate litter box accidents when used in combination with other tools.

I have several of these Feliway plugs and they work well. I have one on each floor. I do think the price is a little spendy, hence the 4 stars. I have discovered that there are generic refills that can be purchased on Amazon that fit this plug at a tremendous savings. Just an FYI.

HIstory: I have a 7 month old female who, her and 3 siblings were rescued by a friend at 4 weeks. Mom was nowhere to be found and all four were in rough shape. A plea for help went out to help foster the kits until a home could be found. I agreed to foster one, became attached and decided to keep her. She needed to be bottle fed with KMR formula, had worms and severe diarrhea. Off to the VET we went and is in perfect health today. She has been spoiled with attention, toys, love and was a very loving cat who curled up around my neck when she napped. At 4 months she started becoming aggressive by attacking my face in the middle of the night for whatever reasons and drew blood. This aggression has increased to the point where it impossible to touch her. She will launch and latch onto my hand, growling, kicking & biting as if it was prey, not let go and draw blood. When she does this it is very painful and difficult to get her loose. So now I just respect her space and still show her affection but it has to be on her terms.Calming: A friend had purchased some calming collars for their cats and gave me one. That was nothing more than a Lavender walking air freshener. The only benefit it had is that I knew what room she was hiding in because the scent was very overpowering. Into the trash that went.Feliway: Researched their website, saw that is VET approved but I had a gut feeling and I was very hesitant to purchase this for $30. But, I thought I would give this a try and perhaps it will prove me wrong. My gut feeling turned out to be correct. I have been using the diffuser for 5 days now and there has been absolutely no change with her aggression.I understand that, like human beings, all cats are different and by no means am I discrediting Feliway. Perhaps 5 days isn't enough time for her?My advice, this is a 50/50. Use your judgement or go with your gut feeling. There is no guarantee that this product will work for all cats. For the cost of refills, I will not be ordering any in the future.There is a good article to read about the product on Cats.com. One paragraph states"To make it even more complicated, most of the research showing the supposed positive benefits of Feliway products was funded by Ceva Animal Health. This is the company that produces Feliway. Whilst scientific studies are bound by strict ethical rules, the results are still harder to trust."

Simply put, I have one cat that is suffering from PTSD and agoraphobia. Feliway was recommended as part of his post-surgical instructions (stress related urethral obstruction). Honestly, it’s a hard call and on how effective this is. I’ve used the spay atomizer in the past for other cats and situations without much success. I also realize every cat is different, and it doesn’t always work for every cat which is why I’m trying it once again. Since this was an outdoor to indoor cat now permanently indoors, I also needed to change the distribution method to a diffuser plugin for maximum and continuous coverage throughout the area. I decided on the Feliway Optimum diffuser with 2% feline pheromone complex (FphC). Since a diffuser covers “700 square foot area” (per the box) and I got the last one at the big box store, I ordered two additional diffuser kits with additional refills to ensure at least the back portion of the house including the master bedroom would be covered and “stress free” for 3 months. The starter kits contained one diffuser unit fitted for your typical 120 volt outlet and one liquid 48ml refill bottle (over 2 ½ times the size of your glade refill plugin). The unboxing & installation is simple as long as your outlets allow you to plug the unit in with the liquid bottle standing upright and not on its side. There is no discernible scent or it’s so faint that only cats can appreciate it. Since this particular cat also suffers from agoraphobia and the other cats are acting normally, it doesn’t appear the plugins are helpful. With the additional refills, we technically have a total of 90 days to measure for any changes. However, it was noted that the units don’t seem to last 30 days, more like 24, 24 and 25 days. I’ll extend the last refills with a timer alternating one hour on, then off to make it last twice as long. Unfortunately, the event leading up to Spike’s trauma was pretty severe (even for me) and may just take time for him to get over it. He’s still pretty afraid of everything and stays in “his” room 24/7 however, his bathroom / urination habits are back to normal as well as his eating habits. When Feliway works (per users & vets) it’s definitely well worth the price, but it hasn’t helped with Spike’s problem making it not a cost effective way of testing its effectiveness. 3 stars. As always, I’ll update this post in the event of any change.