How I work as a cat behaviourist

I only work on referral from your primary care veterinary surgeon; this is to ensure continued care and communication between your cat’s medical and behavioural care team, and to ensure any potential medical problems have been ruled out by your primary care vet before referral. You can download a form for your vet to fill in here

Once your vet has referred you and your cat(s) to me (alongside your cat’s medical history), I will send you a behavioural history form to complete prior to the consultation. This will give me a detailed description of the behaviour(s) you are concerned about, along with your cat’s previous history and current living arrangements; you will also be sent a house plan to complete, which will give me a visual aid to your cat’s environment and the location(s) of the undesired behaviour. Once I have assessed your cat’s medical and behavioural history, I may also request photos and videos to help me see what your cat is actually doing, and to help make a behavioural diagnosis. 

Once I have evaluated your cat’s behaviour from the information you have provided, and established the most likely emotional motivation(s) behind the behaviour, we will arrange a consultation appointment either at your house or online, depending on your location. This will usually be around 1.5-2 hours in duration, where we will go through the behavioural history, hopefully confirm a behavioural diagnosis, and then together we will form an individualized behaviour modification plan that takes into account both your cat’s needs and yours. Unfortunately, there are no “quick fixes”, and trying to achieve the desired behaviour will require an understanding of your cat’s emotional needs, as well as time, commitment and patience on your part. 

Following the consultation, you will be sent a comprehensive behaviour report detailing the problem, the motivations behind the behaviour and what can be done, and listing the areas to focus on in order of priority, so that you know what are the most important things to do.

A summary behaviour report will also be sent to the referring vet surgeon.

Your behaviour package also includes a follow-up consultation (up to 1-hour duration, which may be online) and email support for 3 months.

Additional visits/remote consultations can be booked at additional cost if needed.

The cost for the above package starts at £350 (dependent on location and case complexity). This may be claimable through your insurance policy.