Did you know that Heather is also a cat behaviorist? In Philadelphia, cat behavior problems are common. Many people think that that’s just the way cat’s are, but did you know that many cat behavior issues can be solved? Heather is experienced with biting, litter box issues, inappropriate vocalizing (think 3am food yells), sibling rivalry, and many other problem behaviors.
In honor of National Cat Day, we’d like to let you read this incredibly lovely testimony written by Renee R of Villanova. That’s her cat Sweetie at the top of this post!
I adopted a three year old feral/community (extremely friendly) kitty. She had just been tagged and neutered. I was told as the couple dropped her off uh, she bites! So true. Friendly and a biter. I just couldn’t trust her and was actually frightened of her. My vet thought the cat had great potential and referred me to Heather. Miracles can happen. Heather being our miracle. She called me back immediately. After giving her a run down on phone, she made suggestions to try and then I made an appointment in two weeks. Most importantly, she made me feel upbeat and hopeful that it would be alright.
When she came she immediately went to kitty and explained kitty had been on her own outdoors for three years, she had to learn to trust to me. The entire hour was spent with Heather working with kitty and with me! She developed fun exercises for us to do together. Oh yes Heather’s initial suggestions over the phone had immediate results, and then when Heather came she devised a program for us to do. She then came back in another two weeks and saw our progress (huge) and made a some fine tuning. She stressed keeping up with exercises being the goal. I’ve had 18 cats over last 40 years and I have never had so much fun. Heather made me mindful of the time kitty and I have together.
Also, I thought I was lucky, my feral kitty never scratched furniture or me. Heather taught me importance of scratching and having scratch pads for kitties and how to get kitties acclimated to them. Kitty is so much happier now. I’m happier, my fear is long past. It’s comforting to know should anything change Heather is just a call away.
Check out Sweetie and her mom playing:
So if you’re looking for a cat behaviorist in Philadelphia, look no further than Pawsitive Reinforcement. We highly recommend a visit to the vet before consulting a behaviorist, as many problems may indicate an underlying illness that should be ruled out first. Also, if you’re looking for more general information on managing some common cat behavior problems, check out this website https://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/cat-behavior.