Substitutes for Feliway for Cats

Feliway is a synthetic product designed to mimic the facial pheromones that cats use to mark their surroundings as safe. Feliway can be used to calm a cat who is showing signs of stress through undesirable behavior, such as inappropriate spraying or scratching. Alternative remedies exist for pet owners who wish to take a more natural, stronger or less expensive approach.

  1. Rescue Remedy

    • Impatiens essence is included in Rescue Remedy to ease irritability.

      Rescue Remedy for pets is a flower essence manufactured by Bach. Rescue Remedy is made the essences of five flowers: rock rose for terror and panic; impatiens for irritability, nervousness and tension; cherry plum for fear of losing control; Star of Bethlehem for trauma, shock and numbness; and clematis for clarity and alertness.

    Nutri-Vet Pet-Ease

    • Lavender is one of the main ingredients in Nutri-Vet Pet-Ease spray and diffuser.

      Nutri-Vet Pet-Ease makes a natural calming product containing a blend of essential oils of lavender, sweet orange, bergamot, cinnamon, clove, thyme and juniper berry. Like Feliway, it's available as either a spray or a diffuser. Nutri-Vet also makes a paw gel which combines passion flower extract, chamomile and catnip. Another option offered by the company to calm cats is tuna-flavored soft chews, which contain the active ingredients dried hops, chamomile, ginger root extract, taurine and tryptophan.

    PetAlive PetCalm Formula

    • Passionflower is an active ingredient in PetAlive PetCalm Formula.

      PetAlive PetCalm Formula is a natural anxiety remedy containing skullcap flower, passionflower and kali phos (potassium phosphate).

    Zylkene

    • Zylkene is made from a protein found in milk.

      Zylkene is a food supplement made in England from a protein found in milk. The active ingredient is a peptide that binds temporarily to receptors in the brain for a calming influence similar to tranquilizer drugs like Valium.

    Prescription Remedies

    • Your vet can prescribe kitty versions of anti-anxiety meds like Xanax.

      A veterinarian may prescribe a number of medications to help calm a cat, including buspirone (Buspar), diazepam (Valium), amitriptyline (Elavil), clomipramine (Clomicalm), fluoxetine (Prozac) or megestrol acetate (Ovaban).

    Acupuncture

    • Acupuncturists are available for pets as well as humans.

      Some pet owners have also reported that acupuncture has helped their cat's behavior problems. The website of The American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture has a directory of licensed animal acupuncturists in the United States.