👀 When you feel like you’re being watched, and you turn around to see… 🐶😹
#gotafeelingsomebodyiswatchingme
👋🏻 Hello!
I am back to seeing clients today after a lovely long break over the festive period!
Happy New Year everyone 🎊
💖 And what a treat for me come back to working with one of my very favourite dog & caregiver teams 🐶
🐾 M has the most wonderful family, who support him beautifully to give him a great quality of life 😊
🪮 ✂️ Today, we were working jointly with our groomer, & we all planned, prepped & supported sweet M through a fantastic session 💪🏻
✅ Using really careful environmental set up & human-dog interactions, plenty of positive reinforcement - mindfully placed to help M be successful, & with the right veterinary support, we had such a great session! M stayed calm, engaged & appeared to enjoy his grooming & all the gentle attention 💚
What a star 🌟
🎉 Well done Team M 👏🏻 Enjoy a well-earned rest sweet boy 💤 💝
👍🏻 When we work together, slowly & carefully, communicating well & putting the pet’s wants & needs at the heart of what we do; & we work around pets to ensure their emotional & physical comfort allows consent & a feeling of safety - which is sooooo important in necessary care interactions - GREAT things can be achieved 😄
#loveitwhenaplancomestogether
#teamworkmakesthedreamwork
❓How do you think your pet feels about grooming & husbandry handling? How do you support them to feel safe & happy? 👇🏻
🤶🏻 Merry Christmas!
And tips to help your pet(s) this festive season 🐾🎄
#itstheirhometoo #letsleepingdogslie #advocateforanimals
🗣️ Managed to grab some time to upload these lovely client reviews 📝
🥰 I am so grateful to my lovely clients, who care so much for their beloved pets, & have put their trust in me to support them with their behaviour & training concerns 💝
❣️ Seeing all this in one place really made my heart glow! ❤️🔥
🥹 Of course it’s gorgeous to get nice feedback – who wouldn’t be delighted with that?! But – for me – the most important piece of this is a) that caregivers have had a good experience in my care, & b) – even more vital – their pets have made progress & are living better lives because of the time, care & effort that have gone into helping each of them in an individualised way 💪🏻
🐾 I love what I do, & it’s the “why” that really makes feeds my passion: better welfare for cats & dogs, & strong human-animal bonds 🥳
🤔 Of course, behaviour work is hard, & not every case has a “fairytale“ ending, but the process, collaboration & consideration that goes into trying can often create much better welfare outcomes for pets & their people, with caregivers being involved in shared decision-making along the way ☺️
https://www.inspiringpets.com/client-reviews.html
🚽 Heard the phrase “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down“?! 💩😹 Commonly used to save water & encourage us humans to be more ecological in our toileting habits 💦
💡 That’s all fine for us - we can make our choices re flushing, but cats are fastidious in their toileting habits, & we should be aware of their desire for cleanliness
😿 Many cat behaviour cases I see involve house soiling. This can have many causes – from medical to anxiety to frustration to territoriality to latrine provision to inter-cat politics to human-cat interactions, and more – it can be complex! I often do a lot of detective work, bringing the art & science of clinical behaviour work together to help individual cats & their people 🔍
❗️House soiling in cats can be a common reason for the human cat-bond to break down, puts cats at risk of punishment, rehoming or even euthanasia, so it can be serious 🙀
✅ Keep it clean! There is a lot to say about litter tray management, but one of the basic considerations is cleanliness! We definitely don’t want to leave anything to “mellow“ in a litter tray!
👉🏻 Trays should be washed every 7-14 days, depending on how many cats are in the home, how often the tray is used, what type of litter is used
👉🏻 Trays should be emptied completely & the litter disposed of, then wash it with washing-up liquid, give it a good scrub, then thoroughly rinsed and dried
❌ Avoid highly perfumed products, or those which may be toxic to cats, e.g. phenolic compounds
👉🏻 Between washes, clumps of litter (urine) & faeces should be scooped & removed at least twice a day. If you are available to offer “butler service“, scooping every time your cat toilets is even better!
‼️ Many cats will not toilet in a tray that already has urine or faeces in it, & some will not pee where they poo or vice versa - so many choose to go somewhere else if the tray is not clean (I don’t blame them - I wou
🤔 When you buy your older cat a raised bowl, to increase their comfort, so they don’t have to bend down to eat…
… And they treat it as a puzzle feeder, and end up bending down to eat anyway…! 😹
😻 Anyone else have any well-intentioned/kindness fails, where your pets have laughed in the face of your best attempts to support them!? Please share 👇🏻
#catswillbecats #catsincontrol #allabouttheindividual #showswhatiknow #happycaturday
🍂☀️ Summer has gone, but we have some beautiful autumn days to mooch about in the sunshine, & there are plenty of apples on the ground, and wasps to feed on them 🍎 🐝
🐶 🤔 I captured this moment of emotional conflict as Evie tried to gain an apple whilst avoiding the wasp!
💡 It’s a lovely example of emotional-motivational conflict. This is something we all experience, and we often see in our animals – it’s a state of “I want and I don’t want at the same time”
✅ This example is cute, & Evie has lots of choice and control - there is no need for me to do do anything, as she is able to use her own behaviour to manage the situation
❌ However, conflict can be very difficult for our pets, eg when they are in situations that they cannot control, or that are unpredictable, or that cause pets to feel emotionally distressed, or which do not allow some form of resolution for them
😿 Common examples are when a pet is trying to access something they want but cannot, or when they are trying to get away from something they are concerned about, e.g.:
- A cat that rolls over & exposes their tummy in front of you, & we tickle it (“I like you, but I don’t like that“)
- A dog that runs away when you pick up their walking harness (“I’d love to go for a walk, but I don’t enjoy the handling to put my harness on”)
- A patient at the vet clinic that lashes out “for no reason” (“I can’t escape or avoid you, & you are trying to handle me”)
❓ Have you ever seen your pet being conflicted? What did it look like, & how did you know? 👇🏻
🐶 Evie and I love to do scent games & training together 🧡🤍
👃🏻 It is a lovely calm, cognitive & empowering activity for our dogs. Any dog, of any ability can take part, enjoy it & be successful 😊
💞 We have no aspirations to compete or gain rosettes - we do it for fun & bonding, & love carving out time just for us 💖
At the mo, we’re working on 3 elements of fluency for our indicator behaviour:
➡️ Precision (what the behaviour looks like) – a hover at the odour source, or as close as she can get. I think it’s looking good! 🥳
➡️ Duration (how long she does the behaviour for) - I would like to her to hold the hover for >5 seconds, &/or until I click
✅ I vary the length of time she holds the position before I click – sometimes shorter, sometimes longer, then reward her 🍖
➡️ Distractions (being able to do the behaviour with things going on around her) – important so I can indicate that I have read her & believe she has found the scent, while Evie keeps hovering until I mark her
✅ I am speaking in a silly voice, & moving my hand (phone!) around, while she maintains her indication 🌀
💪🏻 And she is rocking it! 🔥
☕️ We train little & often, & grab moments while the kettle is boiling. This can be such a successful way to teach 😁 #QualityOverQuantity
🤔 Often the emphasis in scentwork training is on search/find, with cursory attention to the indication. Finding is the easy bit for most dogs! The indication is the last piece of the chain, so should be highly rewarded so the dog is paid for finding AND is also enjoying indicating 😊
💡 I love to teach various types of nosework to the dogs I work with, not just for mental stimulation & bonding with their caregivers, but also to add positives & build confidence - which can be so valuable in many of my behaviour cases. I also use it to teach a natural, enjoyable & engaging activity in the face of all sorts of environmental stimulation, & which
❓What is wrong with this picture? 😼
💩Not a sexy topic, but an important one for our cats 🐱
🐱 The sharp-eyed cat folk will spot what I saw when walking by this home – ie this litter tray in the porch 🗃️ 💦 💩
🤔 What do you think about it? Any loves or hates?!
❓ What do I love about it? Well, not a lot!
✅ To be fair, it had low sides, which means it is easily accessible, even for cats with mobility problems
✅ It was filled with a soft fine-grain substrate (it looked like soil), to a good depth
💡 Some cats prefer natural litter substrate, & all should have the opportunity to dig, so litter should be deep enough (min. 4cm) for them to bury urine/faeces, & it should be fine/easy for them to walk on & dig in
✅ It had open sides & 360° visibility
💡 Whilst all cats are individuals, & some do like hooded or covered trays, many do not, & it can make them feel vulnerable (esp. in multi-cat homes 🐈⬛🐈) or be off-putting if smells are trapped inside 😷
⁉️ What did I hate about it?
❌ It was very small
💡 Litter trays should be large enough for cats to get in & move without any part of their body touching the sides – ie about 1.5 times the length of the cat
❌ I could see it was dirty – implying that it had not been cleaned in a while… 🤢
💡 Litter trays should be checked & scooped at least twice a day, more if there are multiple cats or the cat is toileting more for any reason (inc illness), & they should be emptied/washed every 7-10 days (depending on how much use they get)
❌It was VERY exposed - not only was it in the middle of the room, surrounded by clutter - inc. a mirror 🙀 but everybody (dogs, cats, people) who walked by (or came to the door) could
see through all of the glass surrounding the litter tray
💡 Just like us, cats like to use a clean, secluded loo that feels safe, & where we are not feeling vulnerable – litter trays should be situated where the cat can see around them, bu
💖 Some great advice here from International Cat Care regarding the use of scent for cats, based on some discussions we have recently had on their Feline Well-Being Panel:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/6couvbpxcnNKGNqf/?mibextid=WC7FNe
🐱 👃🏻 Using scent for entertainment, engagement, & optimising the environment for cats can be really beneficial & fun. We must always consider the individual cat, in terms of what they will enjoy, how they might respond, whether it is safe for all around them, & also how we provide cat-safe scented items (some products are better quality, & more engaging for cats)
💡💰 You don’t need to spend much money to provide sensory stimulation. E.g., you could stuff an old sock with homegrown catnip for them to grip, rub & kick. Or sprinkle some valerian on a textured mat for cats to roll about on. A little can go along way, & it can really last if you keep it sealed 👍🏻
😻 We have just swapped Olive’s toys about – we keep a Ziploc bag of toys - one with dried valerian, & another with catnip. Every 7-10 days, we gather up some toys from around the house, put them in these bags, & fish some new ones out, so as to refresh the scent & have her enjoy them all over again!
Note the licking, biting, shaking, kicking, stretching, rolling, rubbing & self-grooming behaviours – whilst she is somewhat aroused, she is calmly & happily engaged in enjoying her newly valerian’d rat! 🐀 😁
🤔 Did you know that sensitivity to catnip is genetic, & – while 70-80% of cats will respond, some cats won’t even acknowledge it?! Also, there may be varying levels of arousal (or they may relax), & the response is largely involuntary. The response tends to wear off quite quickly, & then they no longer engage with the scent 😺
❓Have you tried catnip, valerian, tatarian honeysuckle, or a silver vine with your cat(s)? How do they respond? ⬇️
⚡️Fresh from a weekend of learning at the Canine Arthritis Management chronic pain symposium this weekend, this seems very pertinent… Over the weekend the Council put a top dressing on on our road, which includes a thick layer of sharp chippings embedded in the tarmac 🛣️
😣 This morning, on our short before-work stroll, we headed out of the house as usual, and this is what I saw…
🤔 Notice the lack of bounce, the tail & head down, the tight scrunched-up face, ears down, the wide-based gait and slow walking? See the moment she looks up at me & looses her balance? This is very far away from her usual confident, tail-up, curious and engaged jooshey approach to life…
❓So, what’s going on? Well – because she has elbow arthritis, if she is having to walk on spiky gravelly terrain, she will need to adjust her gait as it will be uncomfortable under foot. This will impact how she moves her joints, and her entire body, so we will end up with a very uncomfortable girl in that moment, but this is also likely to impact pain later in the day, & potentially cause all sorts of issues that will need to be sorted out by our wonderful physio over weeks to come if I allow this to continue. Of course, I did not!
✅ I immediately recognised that this was uncomfortable & difficult for her. How did I know? I looked at behaviour - she told me! I noticed all of the little pieces & put them together to recognise she was having a problem 🤲🏻
💭 However, she initially told me she wanted to continue! What - it hurts!? This is likely relates to the conflict of wanting to go for her walk, but it being painful to do so. We must always acknowledge that the presence of motivation does not equal the absence of pain…
💪🏻 So, until the road smoothes out again, we will be driving to the Forest, or taking her chariot, so that we can skip to the good bits of her walks without risking discomfort & harm 😊
💡 Pets’ moment-to-moment behaviour is telling
