On Feliway, and thanks, Stephanie!

Upon arranging to return Olivia to Endicott, Stephanie (adopter, and now street cat rescuer!) asked if there were anything we needed.

About a month and a half ago, a friend and adopter, Nancy J., brought us two Feliway diffusers and a new refill. I have heard good things about Feliway but haven't used it myself due to the expense.

I decided to try it in our house first, so I could watch for any change in personality in our-fairly-benign-but-periodically-fractious cat population. Unfortunately, I started using it at the very same time that Jack left.

Utter peace reigned over the household. It was amazing. But a lot of it was the absence of Jack the Handsome Pest, who had insisted on intently staring at my nervous cats, and poking any cat who walked past him. All he wanted was for someone to play with him, but my cats are pretty stodgy and are past the romp-and-wrestle stage. "Play" around here usually consists of 5 minutes of frantic activity, followed by three days of sleep. With Jack in the house, the place was a constant sea of growls.

But with Jack in his wonderful new home, and the Feliway plugged in, our current seven cats settled into domestic bliss. Even Ditz (whom you have to meet to believe) and Squeak (the coward bully)were on their best behavior.

Best of all, we could hear little Norma the four-pound torti feral, romping around upstairs like a tiny thunderstorm, playing with toys. Norma? Play?

This past week, I noticed that Ditzy was starting to be a bit of a jerk again, and Squeak was wandering around the house yowling for no apparently reason. I figured the peaceful effect of Jack leaving us was wearing off, and my current cats were now ready to cultivate attitude again.

Today I received a package. Three boxes of Feliway from Stephanie! THREE! I checked the diffuser in my house and discovered why the cats were getting attitudinal again.

The Feliway was gone. The diffuser had run out. Was that the reason for the return of "attutude" to the Greene/Darling feline household?

So I consider the test to be a success. When I started it, my household became calmer, and the "Was It Jack or Was It Feliway" question was mostly answered by their reaction when the Feliway ran out. Now we'll see if they calm down again with the new refill.

But Stephanie didn't buy Feliway for my personal house cats. She bought it to benefit homeless cats. So I'm off to take the second donated diffuser and Stephanie's Feliway up to the cat room where the "big cats" reside. They are the shyest ones and could do with a little stress relief. I think I'll go purchase another diffuser for the cat facility (the cage room). I think two will be enough for the whole place. Also, outlets are limited up there. Fans, heaters, and lights tend to use up most of the existing electrical options.

I didn't want to start using it until I was sure there was some good in it. It's expensive stuff, and I don't want to throw my money, or anyone else's, out the window when the bucks could be used for vet bills. Also, what if throwing pheremones into the air actually STRESSED them more?

But it does seem to work if my household is any indication. Now I'll be interested in seeing how it works in the cat facility.

Thank you, Stephanie, and thanks Nancy J!