So occhiblu's wonderful calico, Zoe, is a twitchy little kitty. We had some cleaners in today and she hid and is totally stressed out now, stalking around. Even the least noise from outdoors will startle her, making her leap up and run around for a minute or two, trying to escape. When she gets very stressed out she will hide in closets or behind the stove.

She never misbehaves, sprays, claws furniture, pukes, or other undesirable cat behaviors - in that way she's an ideal cat. I just don't like to see her so stressed out all the time.

Would Feliway help with this? The bottle seems to suggest that it's mostly used for keeping cats from peeing in particular places, but it also "enhances a sense of calm." What do you catty people think?

I don't know anything about Feliway, but can't you just dose her with catnip?

Is this the cat who disappeared when you moved and turned out to be in your amp?

kitty prozac. i am not making this up. not a long-term solution, mind. sometimes it's the only way to break the stress cycle tho.

if she's already stressy, spraying her with something smelly might not help.

jumpy kitties generally would prefer that things remain calm and stable, so the more you can revert to that environment, the better. the old roomie's cat would get OCD related dermatitis and scratch himself raw anytime there was household upheaval (cleaners or moving type activity would definitely qualify).

does she respond well to human interaction from people she trusts? if so, i'd say a well-deserved couch potato session with lots o' petting and kitty treats would be in order.

s_r, catnip isn't exactly kitty weed. it affects different cats different ways. cats that tend to be high strung to begin with often get even crazier under the influence.

Feliway works pretty well for my two cats when they are stressed out. I used it in the hotel rooms as we drove them across the country for our move, and I definitely thought it helped much more than anything else I've tried.

I'd also say catnip might not be the thing - it gets one of my cats very hyper which is probably not quite what your kitty needs right now.

Feliway is pretty expensive though, but it seems to last quite a while.

Catnip might actually be a good idea -- she tends to get hyper-affectionate for a short period of time, then it makes her sleepy.

I assume they were vacuuming? She always freaks out around vacuums. I suspect she'll be fine in a few hours.

She's fine now, occhiblu; she's been sleeping on your laptop since about 1. I still wonder if Feliway wouldn't help with her overall "fraidy-cat" issues, though.

It's possible. The only place I've ever seen it recommended has been on MeFi, where it gets recommended a lot; but it's not like I spend much time reading about cat management elsewhere. :-)

Go for it, if you want.

I'm a twitchy kitty sometimes.

Seriously, "twitchy kitty" is a completely addictive phrase. I've been repeating it under my breath for the past hour.

To second Sil's observation: between Feliway and Rescue Remedy, Leo was downright serene during our cross-country drive. Inappropriate peeing was never a problem with him; he just wasn't very comfortable with disruption and motels.

Kitteh has her own personality. Do not meddle with kitteh. Kitteh is fine as kitteh is.