How to use Pet Remedy? Need to calm my anxious GirlCat!

[NotElizabethBennet]

I posted a while ago about our new kitten. We kept him separate for a couple of weeks, then started introducing the resident cats to him. GirlCat (who is out a lot) was totally indifferent and uninterested in him, although would give the occasional hiss. BoyCat was freaked out but really interested.

Kitten is now settled in really, really well, and BoyCat and him get on brilliantly, it's everything I could have hoped for.

GirlCat, however, has got very stressed and anxious, and is on high-alert whenever she's at home. She swipes at the kitten, does a low growl or hiss whenever she sees him, and runs away from him if she can. She's also a lot more stressed with BoyCat (who has always wound her up a bit by trying to play with her but isn't any more as he has kitten to play with), and will hiss at him too.

She's got no reason to be stressed - both other cats are totally leaving her alone and not doing anything at all - so I need her to calm down and just get used to kitten being there.

I've been giving her Zylkene with her food, which I think is helping slightly (unfortunately I ran out so she had a few days without, now we're back on it again and I hope in a few days it'll start helping again).

I've also ordered Pet Remedy spray, as I would like to use it when she comes in in the evenings and "has" to spend time around the others (she usually goes and hides in one of the bedrooms but that's not helping her to get used to kitten, it's avoiding the problem). If she stays in the living room with us, she's mega stressed and can't relax. So ideally I'd like her to chill a bit during this time and see that neither kitten nor BoyCat is going to hurt her.

Thank you if you've managed to get this far!

How should I use the Pet Remedy? She doesn't have a particular spot for sleeping in, so should I spray it on my hands and then stroke her (as I read somewhere)?

I find feliway optimum is better than pet remedy. The plug ins are probably a better option than the spray as you can only spray certain areas. I'd give her her own space and just go back to scent swapping and starting from scratch, if she's forced into situations with no escape she will just end up more stressed.
Spraying on your hands and then stroking may work, just watch she isn't allergic to anything. I always recommend Jackson galaxy videos for these sort of issues. Hope she's happier soon!

Thanks for replying! I forgot to say I tried the Feliway plug right at the beginning and it seemed to make my BoyCat much more aggressive (which was what I found when I'd tried it before).
I can't see how to do scent swapping now when the kitten's scent must now be everywhere? I do stroke kitten and then GirlCat. She can always leave the room, I'd never force her to stay, but if she just hides upstairs the whole time I can't see how she'll get desensitised....

I used to take my friends grumpy cat to the groomer. And aged spray it on her finer and rub it on the inside of the cats ear. You could see her visibly relaxing. New groomer uses Reiki instead. 🙄

I didn't find feliway did any good.

There are different feliways so make sure you use the correct one ie not the one to stop scratching of furniture, sounds like you could have used that by mistake if boycat got aggressive with it.

Maybe ask the vet if they use anything for the pets left overnight in their care. My dcat was always relaxed in one vet but not another, turns out they did a quick spray in the cage of something and all cats had the happy faces 😂

The other thing is if the kitten or boy at are resource guarding. My dds kitten always hunted the girl at when she tried to use the littertray so make sure thats not happening. If she's hiding upstairs in one room put a spare littertray, water and biscuits nearby and be aware she can access without being glared at, hunted, play stalked etc.

I got Feliway Friends, which is the one for multi-cat households. It didn't help either time I tried using it, and we all thought it actually made things worse.

I don't think the vet uses anything, but I can ask. Apart from when she was spayed, she's never been at the vet's for longer than it takes to have her shots, so I have no idea whether anything they may use would work on her.

What I really would like is tips on how/where/when to effectively use the Pet Remedy.