My neurotic boy choses to claw at the bedroom carpet when he’s annoyed. Which is almost always. These were recommended to me. Do they have any actual value in correcting this behavior?
My friends swear by them, I had no luck whatoever. You’re talking about Feliway, right?
I recently tried the pheromone collar on one of my cats, who is completely neurotic, while trying to introduce a new cat in the household. The collar did settle him down a bit, and made him more loving and acting less threatened. He walked around acting and looking like he had just smoked a joint. However I had to stop use after only a couple days, because it turned out I was allergic to the collar.
I haven’t tried the plug-in Pheromones but my vet said that like Catnip some cats are affected by it and some aren’t.
It’s definitely worth a try. Check out the Feliway website to get their descriptions of how/when/why it’s best used. Your boy sounds like a lateral scratcher, does he have lateral scratching surfaces you’ve given him that are acceptable? You could try cleaning where he’s been scratching with an enzyme/bacterial cleaner that will remove the scent he’s placed there, and put a lateral scratcher over the area or really close and see if he will go for that instead. He will keep going back to it if that’s his preference and it’s the only spot that works for him.
They started using Feliway spray at my vet’s office, and it calmed my cat right down. He’s normally a holy terror at the vet, a hissing, spitting 16 pound ball of rage. A spritz of Feliway and he was a totally different cat.
Thanks all, I had purchased an off-brand pheromone spray, just to try and no results. I’ll look at Feliway more carefully. He has a scratching pole not far away, and he destroys it about 5 times a year (I replace it) but he won’t be collared, and as he goes out, I don’t want him too calm. Lateral scratcher? Like of of those pads? Unfamiliar with that term. The pole is in the living room about 15’ from where he’s doing this. He always does it when he’s especially annoyed with me–the other cat comes into the bed when I’m sleeping or I won’t get up and feed him quickly enough, but sometimes for no reason that I can discern.
To a cat, 15 feet is pretty far, especially if they have a favorite spot to let out their frustrations. A couple feet is about as far as you can go for the cat to maybe think that’s close enough. Lateral = horizontal scratching. Some cats prefer it over vertical, or prefer one method for venting and another for exercise or marking. You can try a carpet remnant over the spot, something with a stiff enough backing that he might take to it, or a welcome mat, or acardboard scratching box, or a scratcher that’s more sturdy and made for long-term use in the horizontal position. If he takes to any of these things over that spot, you could then try to gradually move it over a month or so, a few inches every few days.
I have three cats, a mom and her two kids. When I brought the two kittens home (the sister, Sophie, had the calicivirus and so both had to be watched for a little while before I brought them home to join their mom), Sophie went under my bed and hid there for three days. This was with her mother around! (Mina must’ve crawled under there to feed her – they weren’t weaned yet.)
Anyway, the only time she did come out, she, well, piddled on my sofa. She was just a neurotic little mess, poor thing. Just too many changes, too fast, I guess. Anyway, my vet suggested the Feliway plugin, which I got the next day, and it was like–boom! Sophie became social and never went in an inappropriate place again. Neither Sophie, Mina, or Therblig (the brother) acted ‘high’ or doped out or anything. IIRC I kept it plugged in for a month or however long the thing ran until it was empty. But i know I never needed to replace it in ten years.
So, yeah, I’m a big proponent of the stuff. I just wish they made it for humans!
I have two cats that quite suddenly, after seven blissful years of peaceful coexistence, decided to beat the living hell out of each other. I’m guessing the younger got wind of a hint of weakness from the older, and decided a regime change was in order.
This went on for weeks. The Hood Ornament was more obnoxious than normal because I couldn’t sleep at night, what with all the tearing around and yelling and hissing. Most unpleasant, that.
I got two pheromone collars, and doped up my cats. That worked, and after two days they were back to normal… more or less. The little bastards were highly relaxed for about two weeks, and then it was back to being combative. A few more rounds of doping, and they got over whatever their issue was.
So… yeah, I’m all for it when the cat is going funkinuts.