Both the Feliway and Comfort Zone pheromone diffusers are designed to make your cat feel calmer, less anxious, and generally a pleasure to be around. If your cat is having issues like feline aggression or urine spraying or if they have been hiding, then using a pheromone diffuser can help.
If you’re looking for the most effective pheromone diffuser on the market, then the Feliway diffuser is the one to choose. This has thousands of positive reviews and has been clinically proven to work in scientific trials.
The Comfort Zone diffuser is a good choice if you’re looking for a cheaper model that lasts longer before the diffuser needs to be replaced. However, although it uses the same active ingredient as Feliway and at a higher concentration, users note that it doesn’t seem to be as effective for some reason.
The Feliway diffuser is the most popular option on the market today, but you might find that the Comfort Zone diffuser appeals to you more. Let’s take a look at both of them in more detail.
Difference Between Feliway and Comfort Zone: At a Glance
Let’s look at the key points of each product.
Feliway
Area covered: 700 square feet
Refill needs replacing every: 30 days
Diffuser needs replacing: every 6 months
Active ingredient: 2% analog of feline facial pheromone
Cost: $$$$
Comfort Zone
Area covered: 400 square feet
Refill needs replacing every: 30 days
Diffuser needs replacing: every 12 months
Active ingredient: 5% analog of feline pheromone
Cost: $$
Overview of Feliway 30 Day Starter Kit Plug-In Diffuser
Feliway is probably the best-known name when it comes to pheromone diffusers that help keep your cat calm and comfortable at home. This brand has the highest number of reviews across all the sites that it’s sold through, so you can take that as a sign that it’s popular and seems to work for most cats!
Feliway diffusers release an artificial form of the facial pheromone that cats use to mark their territory and to feel safe in their “zone.” If your cat seems to be displaying behaviors linked to stress, like aggression, hiding, urinating outside of their box, or over-grooming, then using a Feliway diffuser can help increase their feelings of calm by increasing the level of pheromones in the air.
This diffuser is easy to use. All you need to do is plug it into your electrical outlet and let it work its magic! The refill needs replacing every 30 days.
Pros
Covers 700 square feet
Scentless for humans
Clinically proven
Number-one veterinary recommended brand
Works for nine out of 10 cats
Easy to use
Cons
Expensive
Not safe for use around pet birds
Diffuser needs to be replaced frequently
Not recommended for multi-cat households (Feliway has a MultiCat diffuser for this purpose)
Overview of Comfort Zone 2X Pheromone Formula Calming Diffuser
Comfort Zone uses the same facial pheromone as Feliway in their diffusers, but at a concentration of 5% rather than 2%.
The theory behind this diffuser is exactly the same in that it releases calming pheromones into your cat’s immediate surroundings. This helps reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, reducing potential problem behaviors.
Pros
Higher concentration of synthetic pheromones
Better value for money
Diffuser only needs replacing once a year
Easy to use
Cons
Each diffuser only covers 400 square meters
Doesn’t work for all cats
Need multiple diffusers for large homes
Not recommended for multi-cat households
Difference Between Feliway and Comfort Zone
Cat Diffuser Area Covered
Edge: Feliway
The Feliway diffuser covers 700 square meters, and the Comfort Zone only extends to 400 square meters.
Cat Diffuser Refill Replacement
Edge: Both
Each diffuser needs replacing every 30 days, so in this respect, there’s no difference between them.
Cat Diffuser Price
Edge: Comfort Zone
The Comfort Zone diffuser pack is significantly cheaper than the equivalent Feliway product.
Image Credit: dongwon3164, Pixabay
Cat Diffuser Durability
Edge: Comfort Zone
Comfort Zone recommends replacing the diffuser unit once a year for maximum effectiveness. Feliway suggests replacing the diffuser every 6 months.
Cat Diffuser Active Ingredient
Edge: Both
Both diffusers use synthetic feline facial pheromone. Feliway uses a concentration of 2% and Comfort Zone 5%, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that a higher concentration provides more effective results, so we’d say in this case, the results are even.
Cat Diffuser Efficacy
Edge: Feliway
Both Feliway and Comfort Zone state that clinical trials have proven the effectiveness of their respective products. Neither the Feliway nor the Comfort Zone websites seem to provide links to these studies, which is odd if they’re as effective as they claim to be. We would expect the scientific research to be clearly displayed.
Doing our own research, we found clinical trials showing the effectiveness of Feliway here, but we can’t find an equivalent for Comfort Zone. If you know of one, let us know!
Bear in mind that pheromone diffusers might not work in all cases nor with all cats.
Comfort Zone Feliway Reviews
We spent a fair amount of time examining what users have to say about both the Feliway and the Comfort Zone diffusers.
Both products get good reviews, with the overwhelming majority of users recommending both. As they’re incredibly similar products that use the same active ingredient, many of the reviews are similar for both products.
Some users of Feliway suggest that within hours, their aggressive cat had become calm and easy to handle. Others say that it took up to a week for effects to become apparent, but after that, it was a great success at helping their cat feel calmer and less anxious.
Some users found that the diffuser does heat up considerably, and as it’s meant to be plugged in continuously, they were worried that this might cause the diffuser to overheat. Feliway recommends only plugging the diffuser into grounded outlets and replacing the unit once every 6 months.
Comfort Zone also has many happy customers, although more users mention that the effectiveness can be hit and miss. Some users noticed a difference in their cat’s behavior in a short space of time, while others didn’t notice any positive effects at all.
The same comments were made about the diffuser getting hot. Some users found that if the diffuser was plugged into an outlet high up on the wall, oily residues were left on the ceiling. Other users commented that they can detect a faint oily smell from the Comfort Zone diffuser.
Feliway is the better option out of these two diffusers, mainly because it’s clinically proven to work in nine out of 10 cats and it gets more positive reviews than the Comfort Zone. It also covers a larger area of your home.
The Comfort Zone diffuser does offer better value for the money for the initial diffuser and refill pack. Also, as you only have to replace the diffuser itself once a year, it works out cheaper in the long run. But as it doesn’t seem to be quite as effective as the Feliway, you might find that it doesn’t affect your cat. It also covers a smaller area.
Christian is the Editor-in-Chief of Excited Cats and one of its original and primary contributors. A lifelong cat lover, now based in South East Asia, Christian and his wife are the proud parents of an 11-year-old son and four rescue cats: Trixie, Chloe, Sparky, and Chopper.
