Those awkward first days...with Feliway?

[miri]

Hi there!

I've been reading through the wealth of experience available here, and think you may be able to advise me! We have recently (a week ago) extended our cat family by two 5 month old rescue kittens. They are gorgeous. However, our lovely, docile 3 year old moggs are not quite as enamoured with the them, which I guess is understandable...

So. The kittens are in a separate room with all their bits and pieces, and although one of them, Guinness, is quite a bold little boy, both him an his brother, Scrumpy, spend most of their time hiding. Scrumpy has only just started to come out for food, then he scuttles straight back to his hiding place under the sofa. We have managed to engage them both in games, but only at arms length. I've managed to give Scrumpy a little fuss for the first time today (a victory!), but generally speaking contact is minimal, despite our efforts.

Loki and Freya have caught glimpses of the interlopers and aren't pleased: we've had hissing, which is completely out of character. The rescue centre recommended Feliway, so I trotted out to get two diffusers. Feliway seems to make the kittens listless and dopey, and the big cats currently don't want to enter the other room where we have Feliway plugged in! I can't find info on side effects, so it's all very curious...

I appreciate introductions take time and patience, but I'm keen to get this right so that the newbies and the established moggs can live in harmony. I'd really appreciate any advice you can give and am also interested in hearing about your experiences with Feliway...it's hard to put faith in something you can't smell!
Thanks in advance!
Miri

[Elaine]

I'll be honest, I havent had a great deal of success with feliway although others have. Rescue remedy can also be of some help, a drop on your fingers and gently rubbed into the ear tips is best, you can put it in food/water but it smells which can often make the cats refuse food/water.
Introductions, I would do alot of scent swapping. Swap bed and or bedding between kittens and older cats, rub all cats down with the same soft cloth. You may even want to try slowly placing food bowls closer and closer to the dividing door, once all are comfortable with this then perhaps leave the door open a little while feeding. As soon as one has a negative reaction, you've gone too far too soon so just back it up a bit until all calms down again.
Socialising the kittens, try sitting quietly on the floor in their room, read a book/watch telly/listen to radio, anything, they are curious creatures and will eventually come to nose around you, just allow them to gain confidence.

[angieh]

Hi Miri - I would say that the scent swapping that Elaine describes above works by helping the cats to accept each others' smells and that's a great way to make introductions easier. Of course your new rescue kittens have their own problems and possibly haven't been socialised much. It sounds as if you are taking that slowly and patiently and really that's the best way. Allowing your cats to see each other, even through a barrier (such as a baby gate) so that it's not a total surprise when they come closer. All parties safe and not feeling threatened and slowly slowly. Good luck. Please let us know how you progress.

[Velvet]

Feliway isn't instant, you would hope to see results within three weeks, sometimes by about a week there may be some slight improvements. I would say the sleepiness of your kittens is just them settling into a new home and routine and not a result of the plug in. If they seem very listless and sleepy I would take a trip to see your vet just to make sure all well. When they do begin to interact with each other don't turn the Feliway off or remove them. I personally would keep them insitu for around 3 months.