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Divine Felines
Reading my cat is really difficult so I was very happy attending this workshop on cat behaviour! The information wasn’t just gold dust; it was glitter painting a sparkling picture of cats with (individual) behaviour patterns and characteristics which, once again, shows me the greatness of God in His creations!
The Course
Indeed, unlike the other courses I’ve attended that are organised by Stichting Dierenlot, this one lasted a whole day. I suppose this might be an indication of how complicated cats are, and yet Miranda Geerlings, a qualified cat behaviour specialist at 4cats presented oodles of factual, practical, and even historical feline information in an easy to understand manner…and bear in mind I was listening in Dutch! š
The course started with an explanation of how cats originate from the African Wildcat. From this perspective, Miranda made it easy to see how cats retain many behavioural traits from their ancestors.
Other golden nuggets of information seem obvious as I type them; cats bring their hunted prey inside because it’s a safe place to eat. Cats are solo eaters because a mouse isn’t big enough to share. But as logical as these behaviours are, without knowing the reasons behind them, they had previously been a quirky cat feature for me!
Every cat has one thing in common with every other cat; they are all unique. And they live in different conditions in different environments. Miranda accounted for that too, providing advice for cats in catteries where things (and cats) aren’t always as easy to manage as they are at home.
And if that wasn’t enough, there was also specific advice for people taking part in the course, for example, on how to encourage a cat to use the litter tray inside instead of outside, how to collect cat urine for a urine analysis at the vet, and in my case, relieving my stress about leaving a ahem…puppy-eyed, sad-looking cat alone when I leave the house.
All that said…
There was a massive downside to following the course: I missed my cat all the way through!
Hearty Acknowledgements!
Thanks to this course I’ve gained a valuable insight into why cats behave the way they do! I’m sure there’s a lot more to learn about them, but in any case, I feel much better equipped now to listen (and see) what a cat is trying to tell me!
Many thanks again to Miranda at 4cats for giving the workshop, Stichting Dierenlot Academie for organising and making it available, and Dierenambulance Nederrijn for letting me volunteer there so Iām allowed on the course! š
PS: Miranda’s website has a load of downloads with useful information! š
More About Miranda / Meer Over Miranda
Een puur kattenmens, dat is auteur Miranda Geerlings. In Nederland was zij Ć©Ć©n van de eersten die haar praktijk als gediplomeerd Kattengedragtherapeut combineerde met een Trimsalon, exclusief voor katten. Miranda vindt het geweldig om haar kennis over te dragen en is Hoofddocente Kat bij Trimschool Nederland.
Haar motto: “Elke kat is uniek en dat maakt ze geweldig”
