Has anyone ever used a cat behaviourist?

[Hexeex]

If anyone has ever used a cat behaviourist please could you tell me what problems it was for and how you found it? Did it help?

We have an excessively timid black cat. We were worried about her because despite living with us for 4 years, she always seems to be afraid. Constantly.

We took her for her annual vaccinations and at the same time had a behavioural assessment with the vet. She even had us draw a layout of our house and where food/water, litter and scratching posts were located.

In the end she said it wasn’t environmental but that she was “stuck” in fear. We medicated her and she’s much calmer and most importantly happier.

Having a vet behavioural assessment might work for you too?

What medication did you use ?

We did - our cat started peeing in the house. Our pet insurance paid for it once the vet had ruled out anything physical and wrote a report saying we should try it.

Cat behaviour lady visited the house for about 1.5 hours. Observed the cat, looked at all the rooms, recommended an extra litter tray and larger ones. Also recommended putting frosted film on the downstairs windows cause we're close to the road.

It did help us think about things differently but what actually fixed it was keeping the litter trays meticulously clean (clumping litter helped with this). She now only pees in the house if we have building work done but we can plan for that and out waterproof covers where we know she's most likely to go!

@EspressoMacchiato what kinds of behaviours was your cat showing?

For us im nor sure if a behaviourist could help or not. Basically I have a very nervous 4 year old rescue cat. I always wanted another cat but thought he wouldn't like it. However next doors cat came to live with us for a bit and he was fine with it! So we got another cat. However our new cats personality is different to the neighbours. The neighbours cat was chilled and didn't really pay our resident cat any attention. We have had our new cat for 6 months now and all she wants to do is chase our older cat. It's entirely friendly and playful but the older cat is TERRIFIED of this. He gets very stressed and has started becoming more aggressive towards her when she does it. However, she still carries on! If older cat stands still and hisses or swats her, she stops. As soon as he runs, she chases him again. She just won't stop chasing him.

I was wondering if a behaviourist might help us stop the chasing behaviour from the new cat? Or whether maybe it will just stop on it's own as she gets older and less playful. I keep them separate now because it really does affect older cats stress and anxiety having her constantly chase and dive on him and he starts screaming even though she isn't trying to hurt him, she really does just want to be his friend and play!

I don't want to re-home her because I KNOW that older cat is okay with other cats as long as they are calm. So if she would just stop chasing him, all would be fine. I'm just not sure if that's something that can be trained though

Your older cat shouldn't be in a position where he has to respond aggressively in his own home.

I'm not sure what a behaviourist would advise other than complete separation or constant distraction of the attacker.

No experience with behaviourists here, but we have successfully used medication (Zylkene) to calm down a negative dynamic between our two cats. They're brothers and got on fine as kittens, but as they got older, the stronger and more confident one started bullying his more timid brother. The 'bully' was more annoying than particularly vicious, but his brother was quite scared of him and spent a lot of time hiding under the bed. Six weeks of Zylkene for both boys and removing the bully every time he would try to sneak up on his brother have solved the problem and they're much happier together these days.

having her constantly chase and dive on him and he starts screaming even though she isn't trying to hurt him, she really does just want to be his friend and play!
The thing is cats are both prey and predator animals. Your new cat is showing predator tendencies and your old cat is showing prey. You are putting a human view on this by saying she only wants to play. Your old cat is screaming in terror. It is the equivalent of the local thugs jumping out at you shouting boo every time you left the house. You would be terrified too.

Go back to basics with separate rooms, and introducing their scent to each other via objects/litter trays and take your time. However if your old cat is that terrified it might be too late and only rehousing can fix it.

I know, this is why I keep them separate. When I first got the kitten I voiced my concerns on this and everyoneeeeee told me that my older cat would tell her off and she will stop. I tried to tell everyone that's not happening though, she won't stop! People said leave them too it and they will figure it out for themselves. I did not listen to this advice so they have spent the entire time separate. Every time we try the same thing happens, she chases him and he starts screaming. We scoop her up and separate them again. My older cat is fine, he seems just as happy as he always has been once shes out of sight. He doesn't hide or anything. But it's unacceptable still and I want to change it. I just don't know how and I need help.

I am really upset with how it has turned out. I followed all of the Jason galaxy videos etc and took ages introducing them. When I say he acts aggressively I mean hissing and growling. He's never scratched her or anything but I haven't let it get to that and don't want to. I want to sort it out. Is it at least worth consulting a behaviourist to help me before we consider rehoming?

I've used a cat behaviourist twice, once because I had a very timid cat who was being picked on by our other cat (behaviourist wasn't great tbh) and once when we had another cat who was attacking my husband every time he left the house, we had Vicky Halls come out who was fantastic and really helped, he became much more manageable and she gave us some advice about our timid cat too. Was expensive but both times claimed on the insurance