Written by: Juanita
Unfortunately, this is not a love story. Its not even a like story. It’s a story of hate and disgust, it’s a story of blood and gore. And unfortunately it is true.

This is Gilbert. He’s a 4-year-old short haired grey tabby. He’s been known to be play aggressive which means after a couple of pats he would grab onto my hand while biting and rabbit kicking it. Ouch.

Meet Gilbert
Meet Scrappy

This is Scrappy. He’s a 6-year-old short haired orange tabby. Despite his name, Scrappy is a lover. Content to sit on your lap and purr for hours. That being said, Scrappy rubs other cat the wrong way. He was returned to his adoption group for failing to get along with others.

When Gilbert met Scrappy, it was hate at first sight. We kept them separated for the first few days, then supervised visits but the end result was screaming, hissing, scratches, pus filled wounds, and tumble weed sized clumps of fur on the floor.

As time passed, the frequency of the fighting slowed, but someone always had a scratch. Scrappy started over grooming leaving his belly stripped of fur. Help!

We turned to Feliway, it helps comfort and reassure cats by mimicking the natural feline facial pheromone that happy cats use to mark their territory as safe and familiar. We brought home a spray bottle and we would spray 1 pump once a day in the common areas of our house. The effect wasn’t immediate or highly noticeable right away but after a month I realized I hadn’t seen any tumble weeds of fur. Scratches were healed, and no glass shattering screeching was heard. When the spray bottle emptied, I replaced it with 2 diffusers. These plug into a wall outlet and last for a month. Refills are available to replace monthly.

We have 1 diffuser on each level of our house and while they aren’t going to curl up and groom each other, Scrappy’s tummy fur is starting to growing back. Here at the clinic we use Feliway as part of our Low Stress handling initiative for our feline patients. We strive to reduce the stress our patients could experience during a visit, Feliway in our exam rooms helps to calm and relax an edgy kitty.

If your feline friend is having some anxiety or behaviour issues be sure to ask us about Feliway. You can contact us via Phone (902-893-2341), via Email (info@trurovet.com) or in person (165 Arthur Street, Truro, NS).