Dog and Cat Behavior Education

Cats defecating and urinating outside the box is one of the most common behavioral issues among cats. Unfortunately, house-soiling is also a leading cause of relinquished or euthanized cats. Contrary to popular opinion, cats do not do that to punish or spite their housemates! Instead, feline house-soiling is due to either a medical problem and/or fear, anxiety, and stress.

• Litterbox Lessons (size, location, litter, litterbox alternatives)
• How you can prevent housesoiling
• What you can do to help if this is something you and your cat are struggling with

This is a one-hour seminar designed to help pet owners prevent destructive scratching. Cats causing damage from scratching to furniture and other household items is a common complaint among cat owners. Although, this can be frustrating, it is important to remember that, scratching is a normal and natural behavior for cats. Even though the urge to scratch is normal, scratching places we feel are inappropriate is a destructive behavior, but one which can be easily prevented and managed. Topics discussed will include:

• Why cats scratch
• The best types of scratchers to buy
• Optimal placement of scratchers throughout the house
• Tips for preventive destructive clawing

Cats are amazing creatures. They are intelligent, curious, and active. Their lifestyle reflects the predatory skills and behaviors needed to hunt food in the wild. A cat’s day includes the need to rest, stalk, chase, pounce, kill, play, eat and groom among other things. When we don’t provide them opportunities to do these things, they get bored. Boredom can lead to a variety of problems such as destructive behaviors, aggression, anxiety, and more. We all want our cats to be living their best lives!

• What is enrichment and why it is needed
• Benefits of socialization and enrichment
• Practical application of enrichment and enrichment examples will be discussed that respect all 5 cats’ senses
• Feline Friendly Handling

As cats get older, they often have different considerations than when they were young, and small changes to their lifestyle can make make a big difference.

• Signs of common physical and behavioral changes associated with aging
• How you can keep your cat comfortable and minimize stress as they age
• How to make your home more senior friendly
• Enrichment for your senior cat
• Tips on medicating your cat

With each purring meowful and swaying tail, cats are communicating with us. Feline body language, how scents affects cats behavior, cat vocalizations, helping cats through communication, and ways you can partake in cat chats will be discussed.

• Words Matter
• How cats communicate
• Feline body language
• How to communicate with cats

In this session, I will discuss the effects and how to identify the signs of fear, anxiety, and stress in our cats. I will also discuss tools and handling techniques that can help reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in cats thus making the shelter, veterinarian and home an overall less stressful and happier place for cats, visitors, employees, and volunteers. When a cat’s fear and anxiety is reduced, animals will be more adoptable and more likely to stay in long-term, loving homes.

• Identify signs of fear, anxiety, and stress in cats
• How to teach your cat to love their carrier, love travel, and happily accept medications
• Understand the potential consequences of force-based handling techniques on cats and humans
• Learn basic handling techniques to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress for cats in veterinary clinics, shelters, and at home

Interested in a Hand-on Workshop? Contact Me for details!

Many animals feel fear, anxiety, and stress at their veterinary visits. Fear Free techniques help to limit that fear, anxiety and stress. With patients less fearful and stressed, they are easier to handle, we can obtain more accurate readings of vital signs, they recover more quickly, and clients, animals, and you are happier. Fear Free techniques such as considerate approach, gentle control, and a touch gradient can be used to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in our patients.

• What is Fear Free?
• Understanding fear, anxiety, and stress
• Tools to reduce Fear, anxiety, and stress (FAS)
• Gaining support for Fear Free in your hospital

Interested in a Hand-on Workshop? Contact Me for details!

With each bark, growl and wagging tail, dogs are communicating with us. Dog body language, how scents effect dog behavior, dog vocalizations and helping dogs through communication will be discussed. Topics discussed will include:

• Words matter
• How dogs communicate
• Canine body language
• How to communicate with dogs

As a certified cat behavior consultant and veterinary technician, I am lucky to bring a clinical eye to the home environment. Many behavior concerns have medical roots that would otherwise go unnoticed. Cats are unique in that they are both predator and prey animals. Due to this, assessing their pain is challenging not only for pet owners, but also for veterinary professionals. As veterinary technicians, it is crucial that we are able to identify pain in cats and communicate its significance to our clients.

Through lecture and video demonstration, this session will hone your pain assessment skills and provide you with the resources that you need to administer effective client and in-clinic questionnaires

Enrichment in shelter settings is incredibly important for cats. Keeping cats stimulated mentally is as needed as caring for their physical needs. Providing enrichment for cats and kittens in shelters can help decrease stress and unwanted behaviors that result from stress. It can also help to decrease illness. Happy and healthy cats are more likely to become adopted and stay in long term homes.

• What is socialization and enrichment and why it is needed
• Benefits of socialization and enrichment to animals, the shelter, and staff
• Practical application of shelter enrichment and enrichment examples will be discussed that respect all 5 cat’s senses
• Feline Friendly Handling

The sensory perception of dogs and cats is different than a human’s perception. They can be more sensitive to environmental stimuli than we are. We must take this into consideration as we cultivate our hospital atmosphere and culture. In this session, I will discuss practical tips and items that can be used immediately to create a calm and inviting environment for each individual client and patient.

Veterinary medicine is in a time of expansive growth and advancement for its technicians and nurses. For professionals that want a career outside of the typical hospital setting there are more paths than ever to utilize your talents. During this session we will discuss alternative routes for professional fulfillment. Increase your earning potential and gain the insight needed to start your own business, work as a consultant, and more!