How do I find a cat behavioralist?

March 15, 2007 2:29 PM

How do I find a cat whisperer/pet behavioralist in Santa Barbara, CA? Is there some sort of association or something out there?

The kitties won't stop peeing on the rug. The vet's office was of no help in stopping the peeing or recommending a behavioralist. If I am going to pay someone big $$$, I'd like some verification that s/he is qualified. GoogleFu has failed.

posted by k8t to Pets & Animals (10 answers total)

Response by poster: behaviorist! - my googlefu still failed.
posted by k8t at 2:31 PM on March 15, 2007

here is some stuff.

When you find one, please post your cat-whisperer experience. I am a bit shaky on believing in that therapy.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 2:42 PM on March 15, 2007

not a snark, btw.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 2:42 PM on March 15, 2007

You could try contacting local rescue groups - since they often work with animals with issues, they might have someone they use that they can recommend. My vet recommended a great behaviorist who works at the local university, but I know at least one of my area rescues has her on a list of resources as well.
posted by thejanna at 2:44 PM on March 15, 2007

Not to derail, but what exactly did your vet try? I had a cat who was peeing where she shouldn't and I tried **everything** (more litter boxes, different litter, Feliway, enzyme cleaners, vet check for UTI, a cat psychic), and the only thing that eventually fixed her was a course of Valium. She got 1 mg twice a day for a month. The vet can prescribe it, s/he'll probably have to call it in to a people pharmacy. It needed to be brand name Valium because apparently the generic was more likely to cause an adverse reaction. She stopped the peeing in the first few days of treatment and never started again, even after she stopped getting the pills.
posted by robinpME at 2:59 PM on March 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Wow RobinpME - interesting! The vet did a workup on each kitty - no UTIs. We've changed litter, clean it all the time, etc.

Maybe I'll call the vet and ask.
posted by k8t at 3:07 PM on March 15, 2007

I second contacting your local rescue groups. Another shot might be to contact your nearest univerity School of Veterinary Science and ask them for a recomendation. They are bound to have an animal psychologist on the team somewhere. Someone in that position will be most able to give you a run down on valid qualifications and training techniques. Most of all, make sure the person you pick uses motivational/humanist training techniques. If the potential candidate mentions anything along the lines of "punishment" - run a mile.

Good luck K8t and those piddling kitties :)
posted by Arqa at 3:08 PM on March 15, 2007

Animal behaviourists are sometimes vets, and many vets will at least know of behaviourists. So yeah, call the vet and ask.
posted by biscotti at 4:34 PM on March 15, 2007

You may have already tried this, but my vet suggested an open box (no cover), no liner, and clumping non-scented litter. No problems since we made the switch. She said that in studies, cats (in general) prefer those litter box conditions.
posted by mingshan at 10:55 AM on March 16, 2007

Clomicalm (pills) worked for my kitty. Feliway most definitely did not.
posted by Gortuk at 11:53 AM on March 16, 2007