The Invisible Graffiti of the Feline Universe

by Malcolm Riordan

Peer into the mysterious world of our domestic cats: the invisible ink of their scent graffiti marks our walls and furniture right beneath our noses.  When your cats rub against you, they are not just demonstrating affection (or soliciting food), they are also, in fact, tagging you.  As well, in those states of obvious  feline contentment  when your cat rubs the side of his/her face on the corners of furniture or walls, your cat is tagging its environment as being a friendly, familiar, feel-good comfort zone. No fear here. Home sweet home. 

Skin-associated glands on the side of a cat's face produce and secrete a whole range of chemicals called pheromones. Pheromones are chemical signals produced by animals—including us—for the purpose of subliminal interspecies communication.  Pheromones emitted by an animal can affect or change the behavior of other individuals of the same species.  Who can deny the subconscious tugs we feel around certain others?

For cats, feline facial pheromone (FFP) is a feel secure, friendly-vibe pheromone.  It produces a happy, calming effect of ease, contentment and increases the confidence of the individual. Your cat's cheeky graffiti is simply the feline version of labeling their environment, confirming their territory and decorating it as being reassuring, safe and familiar.

Although catnip is not a technically a pheromone, the behavioral effects it elicits in most cats should convince you of the power of vaporous chemical signals.

French scientists working for Sanofi Animal Health in the mid 1990s were able to isolate, identify, and then synthesize analogues of these feline facial pheromones.  Dr. Patrick Pageat, a French veterinarian, animal behavior specialist and scientific researcher, has been at the forefront of this since the first isolations of FFPs in cats.

The results of Dr. Pageat's first study were presented in an international forum in 1996. Within a year, his resulting product, Feliway, became available.  Feliway is a synthetic version of the feline facial pheromone, and it has been marketed since 1997 for its demonstrated calming effects for cats in stressful situations, as well as to positively modify feline behavior.  It is undetectable to the human nose. 

Feliway's listed, tested and proven uses are:

To stop or to prevent urinary marking and scratching  
To provide comfort in an unknown or stressful environment (cage, car, boarding, new house, introducing a new factor in existing environment, etc.)
To alleviate inter-cat aggression within the home and to alleviate anxiety disorders (overgrooming, interstitial cystitis).

With this ingenious and innovative product of science, cat owners can now manipulate their cats! This turnaround is fair play, and perhaps a long time coming.

Feliway is available as a spray for use on surfaces within the home and also, more recently, in a room air diffuser device. It is not to be sprayed onto cats, please! It is to be applied strategically in their environment as described in the product information.

Multiple studies done over the last 15 years demonstrate the effectiveness of Feliway used properly.

Avoid the allure of using it with a sense of it being a magic potion.

It is best to confirm with your veterinarian that a medical problem is not causing the symptoms or behaviors concerning you.

Look at the big picture.  Cats have very specific needs which must be met in order for them to feel comfortable. They prefer privacy, or at least need unfettered access to privacy. They need to feel, in their own special cat way, that they have unrestricted/ free access to their important resources—food, resting/sleeping areas, play/hunt areas, and litter boxes or outdoor toilets. The food place, the sleep place, the elimination area—each place must seem safe and private to them, just as for the path they must take to get there.  Deficiencies and changes in this environment, even ones that seem irrelevant or subtle to us, can threaten your cat, disrupting the harmony of the territory, stressing her out, harshing his mellow.  This then sets the stage for behavior problems.

Realize that Feliway is a fascinating product that can aid in doing wonders to adjust your cat's aura. Yet first and foremost we should attend to the basic foundations cats need to achieve the full glory of their still unexplained felinity—and to get back to sleeping a good 18 hours daily.  Stress?  What stress?

Cat Images Used Courtesy Barock Schloss

Woods Rafter Cat Image on Banner by Malcolm Riordan.