Feliway spray & diffuser for calming cats - does it work? Introducing a new kitten...

[EverySingleStar]

Getting a new kitten soon and already have a very established kitty (8 months) in the home.

Will the Feliway spray and/or diffuser help at all? It's supposed to make cats very calm by releasing facial pheromones, also to virtually kill any chance of uncastrated males marking/spraying territory as a result of disruption or anything else.

So has anyone used it with success? I'm worried that the two cats won't get along...is this an unnecessary worry?

We put a deposit on our new kitten 2 weeks ago, I left a muslin cloth with the owners to get her smell on the cloth. I plan this week on going back to change it out for a fresh one - will take the 'smelly' cloth home for resident cat to sniff, and the new one will serve to smell like the new kitten's Mummy when we bring her home in the carrier, hoping that it will not make the journey/settling in period as stressful!

Anything else that's helpful?

Hi Star. As the owner of three cats you cannot predict how the older cat will react. My mother brought a kitten into the home when her older cat was about 10 and he sat in the middle of the lawn in the rain for about 3 days sulking. Then he came around to the idea and they were best of buddies. Similar thing with my cats. I had two cats, from kittens, and there was 4 weeks between one arriving and then the other arriving . The first one (the boy, at that stage un-neutered as he was only 3 months old) we thought might be spiteful to the new kitten (a girl) but it was the other way around. She ruled the roost from the very first day. We did separate them at nightime for the first few weeks as we wanted to make sure that they would not fight or hurt one another whilst we were asleep. Sadly, our beautiful tortoiseshell girl cat died suddenly aged 6 from a severe respiratory problem (18 months after she'd had pneumonia. So with just one cat (a neutered male) we decided to get him a friend, only we came away having agreed to rehome two rescue kittens (sisters). We wondered how the boy would react (he was 7 by this time). At first he hissed and kept backing away from them. So again we separated the kittens from the adult whilst we were at work or sleeping. After a couple of nights separated they were trying to pat each other under the door that was separating them. They became really good friends and they wash each other all the time and cuddle up to each other and follow each other around the garden and they hunt for mice together (ganging up on the poor little baby ones). You never can predict how it will go. I really hope they get along. Are they the same sex? Apparently boy cats that have been neutered are much more likely to accept a new arival (or two in our case) than a female. Good luck with the new kitten. I hope she/he makes a great new addition to your household.
Kerry

KC we want kittens here so our 8-month-old is an uncastrated boy and we'll be getting a little girl. I hope things work out, but if not, the owners of the kitten have said we can bring her back as they really love her too!

It sounds as though you'll have great fun with the kittens. good luck for them mating and producing little fluffy bundles. We have wondered what colour kittens our male, Sylvester would have fathered but presumably he would have been the man about town and we'd probably never have found out if he'd fathered any. He looks a bit like the Bacardi Breezer silver tabby. And we would have been jealous if he'd fathered more like him and we couldn't be involved.

Good luck with it all. I hope the Feliway spray works well.
Kerry

The diffuser needs to be plugged in for 2 weeks before introducing the kitten if I remember rightly, the spray is instant but they have to be in close quarters of it. I used to vet nurse with a vet who swore blind about the calming properties, so much so that we used the spray in the kennels oon a daily basis and it isn't cheap so he must have trusted it's effectiveness!

Kerry Thanks, I can't wait to see what happens although it will be at least another 6-10 months before we have any littlies - our boy is a marbled silver tabby and absolutely gorgeous. We have chosen a tri-colour/tortie as the genetics of these two mean they could have literally any colour and coat-pattern kitten, except pure white I think.

Melancholy Thanks, I have just bought one on Ebay so I'll write a note to the shipper to send it ASAP so I can plug it in before DK2 arrives. Great to hear some positive feedback about it - I think I will just stick with the diffuser for now unless DK1 decides he wants to start marking specific things in which case I'll get some 'spot-on' spray.