Elizabeth Waring on “Feline Fine? Understanding the cat’s world and what their behaviour tells us.”
Elizabeth is a cat behavioural specialist. She has worked at Cat’s Protection and Blue Cross, finishing her employed career at international Cat Care based in Tisbury. Although she remains in a consultant role for them, she now spends most of her time on her own pet behaviour and training business for private clients.
Her talk, charmingly illustrated with very engaging cat snaps, started with an analysis of cattiness, for example:
the biological drivers of their behaviour, what distinguishes them from dogs (apart from the obvious!), their independence, sensitivity to scents, how they communicate (with the exception of between mother and kitten, meows are only for humans).
and concluded with a brief look at problem behaviour. A key and illuminating consideration is whether what we perceive as problem behaviour is the cat’s problem or actually the owner’s!
She produced a wonderful picture of a cat showing where they like – and more importantly, don’t like – to be stroked and petted. Rule of thumb – stick to the head and face! Did you know that all cats purr? – including lions! And those mice and birds, apparently lovingly laid at our feet, are certainly not presents, nor do they indicate your cat is hungry; hunting is an intrinsic part of cat behaviour.
We ended up with a much better understanding of “what makes a cat a cat” and there was so much fascinating detail it engaged the catphobes as much as the catophiles.
Many thanks Elizabeth
Julia Holman