Rebecca said:

I have always loved animals and started my first pet sitting business at my parents hotel when I was 8. Since then, I've worked in various animal businesses and spent the last 6 years doing animal based courses, with my last one being a masters in clinical animal behaviour at Lincoln. The reason I've decided to go into this industry is because of my current dog, my staffy, Dug. We rescued him from a puppy farm and since then he has been fear aggressive with other dogs. I've always wanted to learn more about his behaviour and how to help him and I found it fascinating! He's now a lot better. We still have a lot of progress to make but the bond I've created with him is amazing. If I can help other dog and cat owners learn to understand their pets and create that bond, I would be very happy!

https://www.rebeccapartoon-animalbehaviourist.com/

Monique Feyrecilde BA, LVT, VTS (Behavior) is a veterinary technician

Check out her book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooperative-Veterinary-Care-Alicea-Howell/dp/1119130522 

You Tube for excellent videos on nail trims and other: https://www.youtube.com/c/TeachingAnimals

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361643427259075

And website here:https://www.teachinganimals.com/

Debby Lucken is a fully qualified dog trainer with the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers and dog behaviourist with the International School of Canine Psychology. She is a member of the Pet Professional Network, ICAN International Companion Animal Network, the Pet Professional Guild, the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants, INTODogs and The Dog Welfare Alliance.

Moreover, Debby has designed a successful protocol to overcome the fear of dogs in kids, which all of the KAD Approved Professionals are qualified to use.

Debby is based in Poole, Dorset, with her husband Gary, their daughter Molly, their 2 doggies Wilco the Pug and Winnie the Golden Retriever and Mario the cat.

Dorset is where Debby runs her dog training and behavioural sessions under the name of Pocodogs, however she delivers lessons and webinars globally (she is also bilingual, speaking English and Italian, which allows her to help more professionals and dog’s handlers around the world).

We're delighted to speak to veterinarian Dr Sarah Caney about our feline friends. We discussed carrier training, how to help your cat feel safer at the vets and about how to care for our older cats. 

Dr Caney's website is here.

Her books can be looked at and purchased here.

Dr Caney's interesting and insightful cat cafe podcasts can be heard here.

Please fill in her survey which is studying arthritis in cats from an owners perspective. Thank you.

Elaine Henley is a dog and parrot behaviourist and trainer. 

She is a Registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist (ABTC)

Find out more at: https://www.dogbehaviour.org.uk/ 

Claire is an equine behaviour consultant and trainer and an equine body worker. She specialises in working with unhandled equines and equines who have experienced trauma but will undertake any aspect of behaviour related issues. Bridleless riding is another passion of hers and she is enjoys helping horse and human to develop their relationship using as little tack as possible.

Hannah Capon MA Vet MB MRCVS, winner of the 2020 Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Impact Award, the 2019 Ceva Vet of the Year and finalist in the 2019 Petplan Vet of the Year, is a first opinion veterinary surgeon in the UK. Recognised for her tireless work on Canine Arthritis Management (CAM) an online education and support service for owners of arthritic dogs and professionals that care for them.

CAM began as a simple Facebook page in 2015 where Hannah would promote earlier identification and thorough multimodal management plans. Now it boasts a flourishing service run by a team of veterinary professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to help owners. CAM has become an unstoppable force. A respected website full of downloads, like the unique Home Safe tool (#itsmyhometoo), a large social media presence through Facebook, Instagram, twitter and YouTube. An online shop stocking awareness merchandise, owner education and other canine essentials. An education provider for first opinion practices, as well as dog groups, paraprofessionals and owners. An inspirational campaign group to raise awareness of the serious nature of this disease (#yourdogmoreyears)

CAM has worked with numerous industry partners but are especially proud of recent work with Hills Pet Foods creating a 12 part webinar series that had 1300 sign ups within the first 3 weeks of release.

Check out her website: https://caninearthritis.co.uk/

Here is the link to the Animals paper: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/2/318/htm

Ingrid Johnson is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant (CCBC) through The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC).

Below are links to a variety of Food Puzzle help to compliment the topics we spoke about:

Food Puzzles: A Beginners Guide to Getting Started

Implementing Foraging as A Feeding Protocol

So, You Think You Have A Master Forager? A Guide to Increasing the Challenge

A Food Puzzle Tutorial: Getting the Most Out of Your Food Puzzles

Food Puzzles for Cats

Ingrid owns and operates Fundamentally Feline and provides behavior consultations worldwide for clients experiencing behavior challenges with their cat(s). In addition to behavior consults, Ingrid publishes educational content on her website, manages Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and Instagram pages, makes her own line of feline foraging toys, scratching posts, vertical space, and litter boxes. She lectures nationwide on cat behavior at veterinary conferences such as AAFP, VMX, ACVC and the like. She is employed at Paws Whiskers and Claws, a feline only veterinary hospital, as a tech, groomer, and office manager and has been working exclusively with cats since 1999.

In the Fall of 2016 a paper she co-authored, Food puzzles for cats: Feeding for physical and emotional well-being, was published in the JFMS (Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery) and to compliment it she co-developed a website called FoodPuzzlesforCats.com. To date it is the most popular and widely downloaded paper in the history of the journal! Ingrid’s home, cats, and environmental enrichment expertise has been featured on Animal Planet’s Cats101 show. She filmed for the website WebMD and has created a series of educational How-To videos of her own, viewable on Fundamentally Feline’s website. She is Co-Director of Paw Project-Georgia, working towards ending the cruel practice of de-clawing cats.

Cat Fancy magazine’s 2008 “Home Issue” showcased her feline friendly accommodations and the aesthetically pleasing ways you can provide for your cats innate basic needs while still having a home the humans can enjoy. Ingrid is a huge advocate for enrichment and is determined to thwart the belief that one’s home will look unsightly in efforts to provide it.

Ingrid shares her home with husband, Jake, six rescue cats, and Sebastian, a rescued Great Pyrenees Dog.

Find out more about Ingrid's work at:

https://www.fundamentallyfeline.com/services/consulting/

https://www.fundamentallyfeline.com/services/medicating-consults/

Obesity is now a key welfare concern for veterinarians. The PDSA Paw reports states that 8% of dog owners say their pet has gained weight during lockdown. This figure is higher than cat (6%) and rabbit owners (3%). We caught up with Vicki to discuss this important topic.

Vicki is a small animal vet, currently working for a charity she has been practicing for 8 years. Vicki is studying towards a MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour. As well as all of these titles, Vicki is a wife, mum to three free-spirited (feral) children ( Vicki's words hehe) , and lifelong companion to a complex pup, Molly, their 11.5 yr. old JRT.

Here are links and references to what Vicki and Lisa spoke about:

PDSA Paw report

Body Condition Score

CAM website

ISFM (i-catcare)  

Daily Energy Requirments

References (if you like to read!)

Hamper, B. (2016) ‘Current Topics in Canine and Feline Obesity’, Veterinary Clinics of North America - Small Animal Practice. doi: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2016.04.003.

Lewitt, M. S. (2019) ‘Feline obesity and diabetes: A One Health perspective’, CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 14. doi: 10.1079/PAVSNNR201914017.

Lund, E. et al. (2006) ‘Prevalence and risk factors for obesity in adult dogs from private us veterinary practices’, International Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine, 4(2).

Tarkosova, D. et al. (2016) ‘Feline obesity - prevalence, risk factors, pathogenesis, associated conditions and assessment: A review’, Veterinarni Medicina. doi: 10.17221/145/2015-VETMED.

Wakshlag, J. and Loftus, J. (2014) ‘Canine and feline obesity: a review of pathophysiology, epidemiology, and clinical management’, Veterinary Medicine: Research and Reports. doi: 10.2147/vmrr.s40868.

White, G. A. et al. (2011) ‘Canine obesity: Is there a difference between veterinarian and owner perception?’, Journal of Small Animal Practice, 52(12). doi: 10.1111/j.1748-5827.2011.01138.x.