Understand Feline Behaviour to better manage cats of all types and sizes.
- Self paced course, start any time
- Strong support from expert, highly qualified tutors out of both Australia and the UK
- Learn to understand cat behaviour to better care of your own pets, or lay a foundation for working in the pet industry
- This course is also excellent professional development training for anyone working in the pet industries
Course Structure and Content
There are 8 lessons in this course:
1. Nature and Scope of Cat Psychology
- Introduction
- Terminology
- Cat Industries
- Differentiating health and behavioural issues
- Feline Diabetes
- Kidney Disease
- Stress
2. Cat Senses and Communication
- Understanding Cat communications
- Sounds made by the Cat
- Body Language
- Smell
- Hearing
3. Understanding Natural Behaviour in Cats
- Aggression
- Scratch Fever
- Cat Behavioural Development
- Biological Rhythms and Sleep
- Sexual Behaviour
- Maternal Behaviour
- Eating and Drinking
4. Behavioural Disorders/Abnormalities
- Nature or Nurture
- Sensitive Periods
- Neurological Development
- Sleep
- Play
- Cat Temperament Tests
- How Breeds Differ
5. Basic Training
- Aggression
- Redirected Aggression
- Maternal Aggression
- Idiopathic Aggression
- Dealing with Aggression
- Housebreaking
- Inappropriate Elimination
- Excessive Vocalisation
- Geriatric Dysfunction
- Controlling killing of Wildlife
- Eating Disorders
- Abnormal Suckling
- Separation Anxiety
6. Obedience Training
- Forming Habits
- Train them Early
- Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning
- Socialisation
- House Training
- Grooming
- Bathing
- Scratching
- Catching Vermin
- Tricks
- Discipline
7. Cat Behaviour Management
- Cat Doors
- Microchipping and Registering
- Coming when Called
- Energy Release Activities
- Neutering
- Drug Treatment
- Nice Smells
- Getting Used to a Cage
- Managing Climbing
8. Operating a Cat Business
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Course Duration: 100 hours
Lesson Aims:
- Understand cat psychology and apply that knowledge to manage and influence the behaviour of cats.
- Describe how cats think, and discuss the relevance of understanding cat psychology to people.
- Explain how cats communicate; and formulate an understanding of possible ways that a human may communicate with a cat.
- Understand behaviours that are natural, hence predictable in cats; and learn to read signals that cats give.
- Explain how cats develop behavioural characteristics throughout stages of their life.
- Describe commonly occurring behavioural problems in cats.
- Describe techniques for training cats Implement measures to manage the behaviour of cats.
- Develop knowledge on running your own cat business.
Examples of Cat Behaviours and their Meanings
Cats can among other things, communicate using body language.
A cat that increases the overall size of its body by stretching and standing as tall as possible it is attempting to intimidate its rivals or a perceived threat.
Arching can be a sign of aggression and fear.
Lying on its back with chest and stomach exposed denotes trust and comfort.
Lying on its side – A cat may also lie this way so it is able to defend itself with all four claws.
Slow blinking indicates relaxation.
Open mouth with no teeth showing suggests playfulness.
Flattened Ears indicate the cat feels threatened and may attack.
Pricked ears indicate the cat is interested on what is going on in the environment around it. Pricked ears coupled with a raised head shows dominance and coupled with a lowered head shows submissiveness.
Cats may also touch noses as a way to greet other cats. Some cats will rub their faces along their owner’s hands, cheeks, ankles, legs etc as a way to show affection. It also can sometimes be a way for the cat to mark their territory, as it can leave a scent from their scent glands, which are located in the cheeks of cat. This natural behaviour can sometimes become an owner-reinforced habit as the initial rubbing from the cat will often be followed by attention and petting from the owner.
Sometimes cat will do a head bunt – bumping someone with the front of their head – this also demonstrates affection.
A lowered head is a sign of submission.
Cats may lick their owners and others. Cats lick each other to groom and bond them. Licking is usually only done between animals who know each other very well. They may lick humans for the same reasons – to groom them and to show them attention and care.
The tail also demonstrates a signal to others.
- A tail held up suggests the cat feels confident and happy. It can be used as a friendly greeting to humans and other cats.
- A quiver at the top of a raised tail indicates extreme pleasure.
- A half raised tail shows less pleasure. As it rises it indicates growing interest or pleasure.
- A low tail demonstrates unhappiness.
- A stalking at will hold its tail low to the ground, moving it quickly from side to side.
- A slowly swinging tail can be a way for a cat to search and monitor what is around him/her.
- But a twitching tail can show a cat is hunting or irritated.
- A cat twitching its tail from side to side may be on the point of scratching or biting.
- Whilst a larger twitching can show displeasure and unhappiness.
- A scared or surprised cat can puff up their tail and also the hair on their back may stand up. A cat demonstrating this may turn the body sideways, so as to increase its size showing to whatever has upset it.
- Some cats will also twitch their tails when playing.
Cats with no tail, such as the Manx, will still move their stub in the same way as if they had a whole tail.
Why Study Cat Psychology?
Apart from better understanding your own pet cat, cat psychology and training can be used by a variety of people, including –
- breeders
- veterinarians
- veterinarian assistants/nurses
- behaviourists
- cat trainers
- cat rescue workers
- cat health workers
- zoo keepers dealing with big cats (eg. lions, tigers)
