Testimonials
Chi and Indie
We adopted our two girls as kittens, separately, and thankfully they have always shared a lovely relationship, playing, grooming and napping beside each other. That is until December 2021 when disaster struck. On boxing day Indie suddenly started yowling and showing extreme aggression to Chi. The cats were both in the living room, a room they both enjoyed playing and relaxing in, we were completely taken off guard and totally shaken at what was occurring. We immediately separated the girls and sought advice from a family friend who is a vet. We kept the girls apart and began researching what could have happened and how we could fix it. We got feliway plug-ins, feliway spray, we were advised to swap the scents of the cats with blankets, we fed them on opposite sides of the door.
It was an absolute nightmare, the vet didn’t know what else to do, we were referred to the first behaviourist who didn’t really have a clue, we had to wait for 3 months for this appointment. All the time my daughter was almost a prisoner in her room while we attempted to live keeping the girls apart. We resorted to calling Cat Protection as we thought the only answer would be to rehome one of our girls which was absolutely heart breaking as both had a very poor start in life. Prior to us adopting her Indie had to have her front leg amputated when she was only 8 weeks old so the thought of rehoming either one was traumatic. I really wasn’t happy with the outcome of the first behaviourist and was determined someone must be able to help. I asked my vet to refer us to another behaviourist and that’s when we were introduced to the wonderful Kim. I actually feel emotional just writing this as meeting her literally gave us our life back.
Kim received our referral and immediately gave us an appointment which made us feel confident in her commitment to helping us. Prior to the zoom call Kim had asked for walk through videos of our home showing the cats living conditions, she knew the layout of our outdoor spaces and she asked us to fill in a detailed questionnaire. I felt that Kim was totally prepared for our call and was incredibly empathetic and caring in her attitude to our situation. Within minutes of the meeting beginning Kim had diagnosed the issue. She gently suggested immediate changes we should make to things we hadn’t even thought of, explaining the situation from our girl’s perspective. Kim was understanding, caring and supportive to us and this gave us confidence that the process would work. She sent a detailed report, a shopping list and instructions to follow. It was mind blowing how quickly things began to change. It was hard work and at time stressful, my daughter followed Kim’s instructions to the letter and I’m more than delighted to report the girls are now back together!! We can’t believe it! They play together, groom each other, go to their catio together, sleep together, it’s incredible!
I feel like we now have a much better understanding of how to meet the needs of our girls and this has improved all our lives. Kim we are so indebted to you, you are one of the most professional, kind, dedicated, gifted women I have ever had the pleasure of working with, you genuinely care for those you help, and your continued support is invaluable. I can’t recommend you highly enough, my only wish is we’d met you sooner.
To anyone reading this, this woman performs miracles. Her expertise and knowledge of cats and their behaviour is immense. Don’t give up hope!
Thank you with all our hearts.
Ronnie & Reggie
We got in touch with Kim seeking help with our two 10-year-old rescue cats, after Ronnie had gradually developed severe aggressive behaviours towards Reggie to the point that we eventually felt we had to separate them altogether. Both of them were clearly unhappy, with Ronnie visibly angry and agitated, and Reggie nervous and losing his confidence. After weeks spent researching aggressive cat behaviour and an unsuccessful trip to the vet where we were advised that we should consider rehoming Ronnie, we felt we were running out of options and were heartbroken at the idea of parting ways with our beloved boy. Desperate for an alternative solution, I came across Kim’s website and felt cautiously optimistic to see client testimonials having had similar problems to us, and how Kim had helped them.She replied to my email within the day, and she made space to fit us in within the fortnight.
I instantly felt positive following our initial email contact with Kim, she was so friendly and sympathetic to our situation – she gave us plenty of homework prior to our consultation, which gave us confidence about the detail in which she looks at her cases. We felt at ease on our video consultation – Kim is so warm and approachable, and clearly a true expert in her field. We loved chatting with her, and she made many suggestions to help our boys that were tailored to our situation and their individual issues. We clicked off our consultation with a shopping list and a new sense of hope, and arranged to check in with Kim weekly for 6 weeks once we were equipped and ready to put our plan into action.
We couldn’t believe our eyes, when we started to see improvements from day one – after weeks of fighting and living in a hostile atmosphere, both cats were visibly calmer and more relaxed. It only got better from there – we followed Kim’s instructions to the letter and checked in with her weekly to let her know how we were getting on, always met with further support and encouragement. Our much-loved
boys went from being unable to be in the same room, to playing together and being snuggled up on the sofa with us purring, within just a few weeks. The atmosphere in our house has completely transformed, and we feel so lucky to have two such happy, confident and affectionate cats.
We are so grateful to have found Kim, and her help and support has been life-changing for us. There was never a moment where she made us feel bad or like it was our fault that our boys weren’t getting along, and any changes that we did have to make were delivered in a constructive, positive way, rather than criticising us for the things that weren’t quite right – so not only has she looked after and helped our cats wonderfully, but us too!
Her consultation prices are incredible value for her knowledge and expertise, and the amount of time she has put into helping us. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone having behavioural issues with their cats, as she genuinely wants to see her clients and their cats succeed and is truly exceptional at what she does. Our beloved boys are so happy now, and we will be eternally grateful to Kim for helping us to create such a lovely, harmonious atmosphere in our home.
Minni
When we rescued Minni from a life on the streets in Australia, my husband and I had very little knowledge of cats, we just knew this little toothless lady was meant to be ours. However, when we got back to England, and she started to go to the toilet in rather inappropriate places (mostly my parents’ lovely soft rugs) we had to reluctantly confine her to the bathroom at night and knew we needed to get some help from an expert. Not only did she toilet inappropriately, but she was the laziest cat we’d ever met and only gave us any attention when it was time for food. Little did we know that these restrictions we had put on her were affecting her ability to enjoy a normal, natural cat life.
Enter Kim who, in our eyes, is a real-life superhero. We filled out the thorough questionnaire, excited at the prospect of what might change but not getting our hopes up too much just in case it didn’t work. We had our consultation with Kim and spent two hours chatting through the questionnaire and all of Minni’s quirks, and a few days later we received a detailed behavioural plan to implement for Minni over the coming weeks, which Kim aptly named #freeminni.
It is not an exaggeration when I say that within a day of implementing the changes to Minni’s litter tray, we had zero accidents outside of it. In fact, we now often find that she has just gone in for a potter around in the new soft sandy litter and then gone back to bed. She no longer sleeps in the bathroom, she now happily snoozes at the end of our bed and has access to every single part of the house, without any fear from us that we will wake to any mess! She has access to food all day and now visits us when she wants to see us, rather than when she needs something, and she is finally playing with her toys and enjoying her life – though she does still love a good snooze.
What else can we say. Kim, you have changed ours and Minni’s life dramatically and we will be eternally grateful. We will be coming to you for any future advice, and we tell anyone who will listen about how you helped #freeminni.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Alf
Our eldest cat, Alf, had an extensive history of anxious behaviour and stress-related idiopathic cystitis. We had attempted numerous environmental changes and exhausted medical options such as prescription antidepressants and anxiolytics. Giving him up was not an option for us but it was very apparent that he wasn’t ever able to adapt to a multi-cat household.
We were referred to Kim on the recommendation of our vet and the change in Alf since her consultation has been nothing short of miraculous. Kim’s treatment approach took into consideration not only Alf’s individual needs but also those of the other cats in our home and their interactions. As a result, in addition to the complete turnaround for Alf, the other relationships between the pets have also markedly improved; proving that Kim has a global and holistic understanding of cat behaviour. As an added bonus, we can now sleep the night through for the first time in ten years. We couldn’t recommend Kim more highly and wish we’d sought her out years ago!
Arthur
I first contacted Kim on a recommendation from one of my work colleagues, in regard to my cat Arthur’s inappropriate urination. Arthur has a history of cystitis and we had recently moved into my partner’s home. I did everything I could think of to ease his stress with the move. This included gabapentin tablets, Feliway plug ins etc. He seemed to settle in well at first, a lot better than I imagined!
We then had a lot going on with converting the garage, hence building work, loud noises, then had a large housewarming. We also had trouble with neighbourhood cats coming in through the open window, which we left open to allow Arthur outdoor access until we got a cat flap installed. His inappropriate urination started somewhere in the middle of all this.
As a veterinary nurse I ran every test going on him to check for underlying health issues such as UTI’s etc. I bought extra litter trays, water bowls you name it! I even tried new medications and diets to help with stress, but unfortunately the problem persisted. My main concern was this was going to result in a blocked bladder, which is a serious condition for male cats, if we could not get this sorted.
Kim put me at ease straight away, from her first email I knew she was the person to help with Arthur’s problem. She was really responsive and gave us many different pieces of advice to take on board. She explained things in a way I had never thought about. The main issue we established was the neighbourhood cats and their impact on Arthur’s home life. We implemented all the modifications Kim suggested, and straight away we noticed a massive improvement and the urination stopped completely almost instantly from all these changes.
Arthur is now a much happier cat in general and I can’t thank Kim enough for all her help. I have recommended her to work colleagues and clients, and all her knowledge and advice has been able to help me pass this on to other people.
Kim would be my absolute first choice for cat behaviour advice in the future!
Ziggy & Koko
Our two lovely indoor Burmese cats, Koko and Ziggy, who had lived harmoniously together for six years, suddenly started fighting with each other and Koko started spraying around the house. Apart from the upset caused by witnessing this aggression, dealing with the spraying, separating the cats and managing the situation around the house quickly became all-consuming and very stressful. It seemed to take over our lives!
The vet carried out various tests on Koko to rule out anything physical but as all the tests were negative, she suggested it was a behavioural problem and said we should try consulting a Cat Behaviourist. We were fortunate enough to contact Kim. After filling in a comprehensive questionnaire and sending various videos of our house and garden we had our first Zoom call with Kim, after which she sent us a very detailed report identifying likely causes and suggesting a range of practical strategies, we should introduce to solve the problem.
We can recommend Kim very highly. In addition to her clear love of cats and very impressive professional expertise, experience, and insights she has provided us with calm, clear and patient advice and guidance throughout. Building a strong sense of trust and personal involvement have been important features for us. Her wise perspective, very positive outlook and good humour have been invaluable and at times she has supported us as much as the cats themselves! At one particularly low point, we were seriously considering having to take the heart-breaking decision to re-home at least one of our boys. Kim’s expertise and support at that crucial time gave us the way forward and the encouragement to keep going. Since then, we have made clear progress and are now optimistic about the future.
Kim is a highly knowledgeable and experienced professional with a relaxed, open, and supportive approach to solving problems for both cats – and their owners. We can certainly highly recommend her.
Haru
We’ve always been a multi cat family, having anything up to 7 living together at one time. We now have only Felix & Bob who we’ve had since they were kittens, they’re 12 and 11. They’re not best buddies but they do get on and live harmoniously with each other.
We were aware of a local male stray cat who was about 5 years old and unneutered. He suffered a pretty bad leg injury and we decided to get him neutered and rehome him. Having had so many cats live together before with little difficulties, we just decided to let the 3 of them get together after a short initial introduction. Pretty soon Haru was chasing Bob & Felix at every opportunity, stalking them and spraying about the house. We ended up with a household of three scared, stressed cats…not to mention adults! Doors were constantly having to be kept closed to keep them all separated. We were all desperately unhappy and sad, even at a stage of thinking we would have to give Haru up, which was devastating to us, but we just couldn’t see a way forward.
That’s when I came across Kim’s website and thought ok, let’s give this a try, it’s our last hope! Wow, so glad I made that initial call. Kim was super friendly and made it clear straight away that this was about all 3 cats, not just Haru. She gave us insight into not only what Haru would be feeling as a cat who had previously lived for years in a very territorial situation, but how Felix & Bob’s life was upturned with this new arrival.
During our zoom consultation, Kim suggested plans which we both agreed were achievable. She provided a very in-depth report which was simple to follow. This provided us with the confidence to make changes in how we handled situations, as well as some suggestions which proved absolutely invaluable. We had faith in Kim and stuck by what she had suggested. I can’t say it didn’t take a lot of hard work and patience but nothing Kim had given us to do was impossible for us to see through!
We’re now 2 months on from our initial consultation and can’t believe how things have improved. Things are much calmer and doors are open again which is such a relief. Haru has also now stopped spraying around the house…..phew! It’s still early days but things are so much easier for all of us now. We’re simply continuing to apply Kim’s suggestions where necessary and seeing continuing improvements in their reaction to each other is priceless….Haru sleeping beside Bob or walking past Felix without incident….these were impossible to have imagined 2 months ago.
Finding Kim’s details and contacting her was the best thing I could ever have done. We weren’t sure what to expect or even that it would work, however, I’m happy to say we were proved totally wrong. Thanks to Kim and cat-astrophes, Haru’s happily settled into his forever home with Bob & Felix.
Testimonial update
Well, we’re now 4 months on and are totally amazed at how things have settled. We no longer keep doors closed to ensure the cats are separated and they now wander around the house freely with no restrictions. We’ve even often found Bob and Haru lying together sleeping soundly without a care in the world! We’re now in a situation where the stress has gone, the boys are happy, we’re happy and the difference is WONDERFUL!
The result from working with Kim and cat-astrophes has far exceeded our expectations. When we started this process, we didn’t think this outcome was possible but, with sound advice from Kim and a little patience, it is.
Thank you!
Maggie
I would qualify Maggie’s toilet issues more of an inconvenience than a serious problem. It would happen at inconsistent times (sometimes every three days, sometimes nothing for weeks). Nonetheless, it had to be dealt with as it was coming to a point where clothing, rugs, throws and carpet were starting to be damaged from the soiling. I adopted Maggie while I was a student in China and brought her back with me to France, my homeland, when I finished my studies and eventually brought her with me when I moved to the UK. She is a sweet, loving, and joyful American Shorthair, always up for shenanigans, snuggling and belly rubs. The problem started about two years ago with a couple incidents here and there but then grew exponentially over the months.
I started to look at solutions online and tips from local vets. But nowadays you can find anything and everything when it comes to tips and opinions and can’t really make a decision on what’s the right thing to do, and more than often, those tips make things worse. One day, after a series of incidents and seeing that none of those internet tips are working, I decided to look for further help. My vet immediately recommended Kim, as another vet from my practice had similar issues with her cat and Kim made miracles with her.
I managed to get an appointment quite quickly. Kim’s PA, Audrey, has worked hard to accommodate the best date for me and reassuring me about the process over the phone. The two hours consultation with Kim felt like talking to a friend as she is such a warm and caring person. She is so knowledgeable about cats; I am pretty sure she was a cat in another life! Even though the consultation was done remotely, she immediately understood the bond I have with Maggie with the help of a questionnaire and videos of her environment. Thankfully, Kim is quite experienced in cat toilet issues, and she had a rather positive outlook on the situation with Maggie. She gave me great advice to deal with the soiling and how to change Maggie’s problem behaviour. In addition, the report given by Kim after the appointment is exhaustive and the plan to apply is quite precise and on point with the situation. Finally, my insurance being a bit difficult at first, but Kim offered her full support and paperwork so I could get a swift refund from my insurance.
It’s now been two and a half months since I started to apply Kim’s solutions, and apart for one toilet incident early on, there has been nothing since, so we both agree to call that a massive win! In addition, the cleaning tips she gave me somehow repaired the damage caused on the carpet and it’s like nothing ever happened! I cannot thank her enough for her help, and I definitely recommend her services. It well worth the investment.
Dimka
I am very grateful to Kim for helping me to address my Siberian cat, Dimka’s, compulsive tail biting problem which started quite late on in 2020. When I look back on it, he had been through a lot that year as a result of the pandemic and our home situation changing. He was starting to get more difficult during my online meetings, but things came to a head with the tail biting. He was pulling out fur from his tail and seemed obsessed with this. It was hard to understand and stressful to see.
I got in touch with Kim as I had a book of hers and had also read an article by her some years ago in a magazine. She was really responsive and was able to put the behaviour into the context of the pandemic and the changes at home (things I had not appreciated as being such big stressors for this cat). She said it was a problem that would likely get worse if we didn’t deal with it and made space for us to be able to have a consultation. This chimed with my own feeling that I needed an expert for this problem as it was proving too tricky to try and deal with by myself. I liked the fact that she had specific qualifications and expertise, and how she was able to communicate clearly with me about this specific problem. She put a lot of time into understanding the details of our case. She also thought about the case from a breed point of view. I feel she really looked at all the angles. I trusted her judgement and threw myself into following the plan she set out for us. I felt sure that if I put the effort in and followed her advice properly, and kept at it, that we would be OK in the end. At the same time, I was very grateful for the follow up weekly support and the encouragement from that. For me, a big part of it was feeling that a “problem shared was a problem halved” and I was not having to cope alone with a situation that was stressful for both Dimka and myself.
We made really good progress and very much turned the corner within the follow up period. I don’t see a compulsive cat now. His tail is also now looking better fur-wise. By following Kim’s instructions, I have also learned more about Dimka – things I hadn’t realised before. It has changed the way that I see him and react to him. I felt that Kim was able to see the problem from Dimka’s perspective and has been able to show me the personality of my cat. I’m glad for this too as – with the pandemic changing our home life and with home working – it turned out that Dimka and I actually needed to re-write our relationship.
In short, I’m very grateful that I got in touch with Kim, and quickly. Dimka seems much more relaxed and at ease with his world. There is a time and place for getting the experts involved and this was definitely a time for that. Kim was really good to work with and very clear. I am so glad we found her – it was absolutely the right thing to do in this case.
Monty & Mika
After the death of one of our two cats, we decided to get another to keep our then 12-year-old tortie Mika company. We adopted an energetic 7-year-old Monty who’d bounced around a couple of homes due to no fault of his own. We followed all the advice available for integrating a new cat to the household, but things were bleak, and Monty kept attacking Mika. This resulted in her tiptoeing around our house carefully in fear of encountering him, as well as staying confined to one room the majority of the time.
Our vet could only offer so much advice – which we’d already followed – so I asked to be referred to a cat behaviourist for help. It was covered under our pet insurance so came at no cost to us. We were put in touch with Kim and had a consultation arranged within a few weeks. Kim was friendly, helpful, non-judgemental, and clearly very qualified. She gave us homework and tips to help improve our hostile household.
Immediately there were noticeable changes, and we were delighted that the attacks stopped. It’s now been nine months since we had our consultation with Kim and things have gone from strength to strength. Unbelievably, Monty and Mika have now bonded, and we have witnessed them kissing. Watching them be in close proximity to each other without issue is honestly so surprising given how bleak our situation initially seemed.
Giving up Monty was never an option for us. Pets are too often given away or rehomed when things don’t work out as expected. A consultation by a qualified cat behaviourist like Kim and some simple changes can make a world of difference and exhausting all possible options is a must.
I’ve already told many people about Kim’s services and our experience, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone.
Ginny & Squidge
We introduced a second cat into our household and on the surface, things seemed to be going well. However, after a short time both of our lovely cats were urinating outside their litter trays. We were back and forth to the vets and were given some really unpractical advice to try and resolve the issues. It got to the point that we were desperate as our first cat now refused to urinate in the litter tray and was urinating all over our home. This was causing a lot of tension and upset in the household and to make matters worse we also had a new-born baby.
After being highly recommended to get help from Kim, we reached out to her, and it has been the best decision we have made. Words cannot express how much Kim has transformed our lives. This may sound dramatic, but if you’ve had experience of your cats refusing to urinate in their litter trays you will know the damaging and all-consuming impact it has on all involved. On the lead up to our consultation we were really anxious that potentially our new baby was upsetting our cats (who are also our babies) however Kim reassured us that she didn’t believe that our baby was the issue. Kim requested that we sent her over a lot of information, and it was clear at our consultation that she had spent a lot of time getting to know us and our cats and then geared her recommendations around our life. The thing that we appreciated most was Kim did not just provide us with a list of things to do, she explained why the changes would work and got us to see things from our cat’s point of view. This is something that is invaluable as we now understood why the changes were important.
We put Kim’s recommendations in place, and this immediately solved our litter tray issues, much to our delight. Kim uses a holistic approach and although we went to her regarding litter issues, she also identified some other areas we could change to help improve our cat’s quality of life. We were oblivious that how we fed the cats was actually really stressful for them, so we have again taken Kim’s suggestions on board and the cats just seem so much more content and this in turn is making our life easier.
I feel every cat owner would benefit with a chat with Kim as undoubtably her knowledge and passion will enrich your cat’s life.
Thank you, Kim.
Macy & Kohl
Our two three-year-old siblings Macy and Kohl were constantly arguing all day and late at night when we were trying to sleep. We tried everything and had to keep them separated much of the day and night. We could not understand how two bonded siblings just stopped getting along. A very stressful situation indeed.
We were so happy to find Kim who was so amazing and thorough in her evaluation of the situation. She gave us insight and strategies to tap into their natural instincts and allow them to feel happy and content in our home.
The strategies worked! We noticed Kohl really mellowing out the first week and gradually the fighting has stopped. We are so relieved to have found Kim and are well on the road to a peaceful household again. Don’t give up on your fur babies. Seek out Kim and with dedication and a willingness to support your cats, harmony can be restored.
Beesley & Matilda
When we moved to a new house, our British Shorthair cat Beesley turned on our Ragdoll cat Matilda, when they had always been best friends for years previously. Matilda literally couldn’t walk past or look at Beesley without him hissing aggressively at her. This went on for months and was truly heart-breaking. We tried plugins, separation, pills and a myriad of other things and were at the end of our tether.
We were referred to finding a behaviourist and we talked to several. We knew Kim was for us as she used Beesley’s name frequently, referenced what we were saying when replying, was very patient with us and our situation and we just had a lovely warm feeling about her.
She’s extremely thorough, we filled in her very lengthy questionnaire, provided her with our evidence and she went away and investigated for us.
The Skype call was lovely, you can really tell that Kim cares about what she does and is a real cat lover. She gave us lots of steps to take and we were to keep her updated in the coming weeks. Within a few days of following Kim’s steps, we saw big changes and the cats – they rebuilt their friendship, there’s no more hissing, they nap together, groom each other and the atmosphere in our home is so much more relaxed!
I would recommend her to anyone, she’s absolutely wonderful!
Thanks for your time and effort and taking on our case Kim.
Cosmo & Millie
I contacted Kim in February 2022 about my cat Cosmo, who had had long-term toileting issues, when I was feeling desperate and needed help. I adopted Cosmo in 2015, and later adopted my other cat Millie in 2017, which is when Cosmo’s toileting problems began. I think that adding another cat to our household caused him stress, which is why he first began urinating outside the litterbox. At first, he would just do it occasionally, but it became more and more frequent. When we moved to Edinburgh from Michigan in September of 2021, he completely refused to urinate in the litterbox at all and would only go on the floor. Over the years I consulted with my vet, I changed litters many times, I moved litterboxes, and I changed his food to a special UTI diet, but nothing seemed to help.
I felt awful because Cosmo is a wonderful cat, and I believed these problems to be stress-related and behavioral- he’s not just a “naughty” cat. I wanted to make changes that would help him be happier and make better toileting choices (also I wanted my carpet to not smell)! Before I called Kim, I had put down a bunch of “pee pads” on the floor, as this was the only thing that could protect my carpet.
Kim was compassionate, detail-oriented, and thorough. She sent me a questionnaire to complete about the cats and requested a video of my home in order to get a feeling for the kitties’ environment. When I met with her, it was clear that she had reviewed these materials thoroughly. She was kind and understanding of my concerns and developed a plan that she felt would address my cats’ needs.
I fully implemented Kim’s plan about a week after she sent it to me, and Cosmo has not urinated on the carpet since. Typing this, I am still a bit in shock. This was such a long-standing issue, that I had basically resigned myself to, and now it is no longer an issue at all. My house no longer smells because Kim recommended a cleaning regimen, there is not a pee pad in sight and, best of all, my cats both seem happier and less stressed.
I am so grateful to Kim for her help and would highly recommend her to anyone with a cat. It is clear that she is passionate about helping both cats and their humans live their best lives. My story is proof that she can help even with incredibly challenging, longstanding issues.
Thank you, Kim! We are so so grateful for your help!
Bob
We have four cats, Oscar, Splodge, Bob, and Nick. From the start Bob had occasionally peed outside his litter tray but once he was going outside things seemed to settle down and it was rare (but not unknown) for him to pee in the house, usually on his bedding or ours. As a result we kept him out of the bedrooms by using cat flaps that would let the other cats in.
In the autumn of 2021 Bob suddenly seemed much more reluctant to go outside and he started to pee more often in the house. We gradually limited him more and more and by the time we contacted Kim he was restricted to a small area of the house. While he seemed to go out less and less, he had developed the habit of disappearing for 24 hours at a time about once or twice a month.
With Kim’s help we changed our strategy and within a period of months, Bob’s behaviour had completely changed. Kim helped us to understand how our attempts to control his behaviour were actually backfiring and stressing him out more. As a result, we made drastic changes to the position of his food, access to litter trays, daily routine and so on, all as recommended by Kim.
The change in his behaviour was stunning. He is now allowed access to all areas of the house; he has stopped soiling his (and our) bedding and plays with the other cats. He still goes out for brief periods but has stopped disappearing for a day at a time. The change in atmosphere in the house is amazing. All four cats are much closer, they play together, sleep together, and groom each other.
We really can’t thank Kim enough. Not just for the big changes in Bob’s behaviour, but also for the countless small things that we no longer need to worry about (leaving cardboard boxes out, leaving jumpers or coats in the hall, leaving doors open, etc.). There was always a background worry with Bob which has now disappeared. He is much happier and so are we.
We would recommend Kim’s services to anyone – she really helped us to understand how Bob was feeling and reacting, and through that to make the necessary changes that have corrected his behaviours, but more importantly, made him a happy and contented cat.
Bramble
Kim is amazing!
My female cat, Bramble, suddenly started to poo outside her litter tray. I tried everything I could possibly think of to try and change the behaviour and after she was given a clean bill of health at the vets, they suggested that a cat behaviourist would probably be the next step. I did an internet search and came across Kim’s website. Kim replied to me very quickly and sent through a questionnaire for me to fill about Bramble’s behaviour and the set-up of where everything cat related is in my home. This was followed up with a Zoom chat and a detailed action plan with what we had discussed over Zoom.
As soon as I put all of Kim’s suggestions in place, we had instant success! Bramble has used the litter tray everyday, and my other cat Oreo also seems happier with the changes.
On top of this, Bramble seems much more confident than she was, quite possibly as she now doesn’t have any toileting stress. The changes also seem to have helped any tensions between Oreo and Bramble.
It is such a relief to know that each day I now only have to scoop the litter trays, rather than clean the areas that Bramble had preferred!
I cannot recommend Kim enough.
Thank you!
Clearwater
We received an enquiry from a breeder that our family knows if we would be willing to take in an 18-month-old Maine Coon who had accidently got pregnant and consequently ended up losing her litter in a difficult situation that meant the cat was now fearful of humans and suffering obvious trauma. When we got Clearwater, she was clearly mentally suffering, underweight and just froze with fright anytime we went near her, to the point she was soiling herself in terror. Once she discovered she could hide on top of the kitchen cabinets, she stayed up there all day only quickly popping down to use the litter, eat and play when we were all in bed. After a few months of no improvement, and her now getting aggressive if we tried to go near her, we decided to contact Kim as a last resort before we gave her back to the breeder as it was clearly no life for her.
Kim was so helpful and understanding from the start, and reassured us we were doing nothing wrong, which was a massive help as we felt this was somehow our fault. She recognised instantly that Clearwater was clearly a playful cat, as evidence of her night-time antics showed, and advised the best way to get her to engage with us. Her report clearly stated the steps needed to take to get her to trust us and more important, to get her to come down from her hiding spot.
It has been 2 months since we contacted Kim, and not only is Clearwater down and playing, but she is also letting us very occasionally pet her and even comes to bed and makes biscuits on us and falls asleep at our feet. Whereas Clearwater is not yet 100% fine with us; the transformation is incredible and more than we hoped so soon. Still following Kim’s’ guidance, I have no doubt Clearwater will live her life with us as a happy, healthy pet who is finally enjoying all the things a cat should be enjoying, none of which would be possible without Kim’s advice!
Dexter
We adopted Dexter from a friend who moved abroad end of last year. Since coming to our house, Dexter started spraying around the house and urinating on our beds, something that never happened with the previous owner. We’ve researched online, read books, took him to vet (who prescribed various drugs to make him less stressed), engaged cat whisperer etc., unfortunately nothing worked.
After 8 months of failed attempts, and numerous cleaning and scrubbing of pee, we decided to give cat behaviourist a go and found Kim on the APBC website; she’s one of the very few behaviourists who specialises only in cats. We are completed a very detailed questionnaire with information of the house, Dexter’s daily routines, activities, spraying locations and frequencies etc. prior to the 2h consultation (Kim suggested that this should be as detailed as possible so that she had a clear understanding of the issues). The consultation itself was very insightful, Kim was professional, knowledgeable, and patient; she explained the probable root causes in detail, provided ample solutions, and answered all the questions I had. I’ve learned so much about cats and what’s going on in their fascinating little brains during our conversations!
The consultation was followed up with a detailed 20-page-report, highlighting in detail what we discussed and what her suggestions were. We’ve followed religiously the recommendations from her (some made us crack up as they seemed unbelievable, but we followed through with complete faith!), and hey presto! Dexter stopped the spraying and inappropriate urination, it’s like magic and a true miracle! We are so pleased with the result and would recommend Kim to anyone who might be struggling with cat behavioural issues. This is the best money we’ve spent on Dexter, and he seemed so much happier!
Cookie & Crumble
What can I say about Kim? She is an absolute cat genius! We sought her out after developing sudden problems with our 2 boys which got really bad at one point. They were fighting and peeing everywhere, and we really couldn’t see an end to it until we met Kim. She really challenged the way we looked at our cats and spun almost everything we thought we knew on its head. Some of Kim’s suggestions went totally against the grain of what we thought but we put our trust and faith in her expertise and knowledge. Within 24 hours of implementing Kim’s suggestions, we could definitely start to see changes in our boy’s behaviour and by day 3 the peeing and fighting totally stopped. We have remained a pee free and fight free home since and now have 2 boys who live contently side by side happily enjoying each other’s company.
Toby & Finley
We had 2 Persian litter mates Bertie & Toby but unfortunately, we lost Bertie to Kidney Failure aged 12. Toby was so lonely without him, looking for him & shouting for him and we knew he needed another buddy. We had always wanted a dog, but Bertie was such a timid boy we knew he would never have coped, so rather than get another cat for Toby we decided to get him a dog brother.
With Toby being 12, elderly and bringing a puppy in to his home I knew I needed advice to make sure I got it right. I had watched numerous you tube videos & read so much on google but they all contradicted each other, and I changed my mind so many times until I spoke to Kim! THE best thing I did in the whole process.
We had an initial consultation where Kim asked me about Toby, his personality, his health, our house, family etc to really understand & be sure it was fair to bring a puppy into his life, my decision was based on Kim’s advice, if at the end of the call she had said it was a risk I wouldn’t of done it, Toby was who mattered !
We literally followed Kim’s advice to the letter ( much to my husband’s annoyance as he wanted to give in & break the rules a few times ) but we didn’t, we stuck with it and we now have a very happy Toby who absolutely loves his dog brother.
One of the things advised was to not Finley upstairs, that’s Toby’s safe place where he can go & chill if he wants some peace, so Finley sleeps in the kitchen & we pull the door too. Some mornings when we come down, he is in the living room because Toby has been down & opened the door to let him out.
If you are thinking you need advice then honestly get in touch with Kim, we are so, so grateful to her & would HIGHLY recommend her, she’s a genius!
Ellie
We contacted Kim after experiencing aggression problems from our much loved 13-year-old cat. She had never been aggressive to people before (only other cats!) Despite being very loving most of the time she had started (it seemed to us “out of the blue”) to bite people. This started initially with her biting a family friend at our home and then after some months went by, she started to bite us (not gentle bites but deep bites). This started to happen every few months and we couldn’t see any trigger for the behaviour. We had initially taken Ellie to the vet to make sure there were no underlying health issues, and she was given a clean bill of health. After a few of these bites had happened we were at a loss to know what to do or how to deal with these attacks which were becoming severe, and on one occasion needing hospital treatment as the bite became infected. Our vet then suggested that we contact a cat behaviourist. After much searching online and reading various testimonials, we decided to contact Kim which turned out to be very much the right decision.
Kim asked us to get a referral from our vet and we then completed a very thorough behaviour questionnaire and provided details of Ellie’s daily routine. Due to the problem being aggression Kim very kindly rearranged her diary and we made an appointment to have a consultation via Skype.
We had a very thorough 2-hour online consultation, and it was obvious that Kim had read the history thoroughly and she was very well prepared. Kim really knew what she was talking about, and we felt that finally we were getting some help to move forward. We were provided with a comprehensive behaviour modification programme which we have followed as closely as possible, as we really want this to work.
Ellie is now a calmer cat and we have thankfully had no repeat of the aggressive behaviour since our consultation a couple of months ago. Kim’s expertise and knowledge in the field of cat behaviour made us feel reassured and gave us confidence that the outcome would be positive. If you are hesitating, we really would recommend using Kim’s services. We felt that we were speaking with someone who really understood the issues and had lots of experience.
Lily & Lotus
We contacted Kim to help us to move houses with our 2 cats, Lily and Lotus. It was a very big change for the cats as we were moving from a ‘farm’ setting where the cats had lots of land to wander and hunt to a small house on a road with a small garden. One of our cats, Lotus, is quite nervous. He got scared and hid under the sofa every time a car drove by our road. Doing their business was also a challenge, before moving the cats did all their toilet trips outside and in the new house, they had to use an indoors litter box.
I am very happy to say that Lotus has developed an unprecedented interest in cars. He has been spending more and more time watching the cars driving by from the window. We now often wake up with that ‘delicious smell’ (oh dear) of a litter box well-used during the night.
I don’t think all that would have happened without Kim’s help.
I could not praise Kim more; she not has only helped us help the cats to go through this transition, but she has also managed my anxiety towards the cat’s wellbeing with the biggest patience in the world. Thank you very much Kim! We are very grateful for all the help and support you have given us.
Dexi
I got in touch with Kim seeking help with my 18-month domestic short hair cat Dexi. I got her from a local animal aid charity. They didn’t seem to know too much about her, other than having been bought from a website by a member of the public who then gave her straight to the charity. It seemed that her and her brother were both being sold online for £30.00.
I got her when she was 8 weeks old, and from a very young age she was probably showing signs of play aggression, but I was very unaware, and unfortunately, I have played a part in her play aggression. It got to a stage where she was so bad, I was thinking of rehoming her. Every day she would jump up at me and aim for my head and face and never intentionally hurting me but causing injuries, nevertheless. There was a whole month where I was unable to sleep as she would start to attack me during the night. I really was at my wits end.
After speaking to Kim, I quickly realised what I had to do, and all of what she told me fell into place. I put all into place everything that Kim advised, and she responded really quickly. Kim was very easy to talk to. Happily, things have turned around and Kim has tapped into her cleverness, and we now have a new feeding and play regime that keeps her happy and occupied most of the day. And crucially I now have uninterrupted sleep! Kim advised me to keep a diary which has proved to be very useful. We can go for days now without an incident and things continue to improve. I have even booked a holiday!
I cannot thank Kim enough for her advice and crucially her patience and belief in me. Whenever I emailed her, she was always quick to respond and always very encouraging. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is having issues with their little fur babies!
Snow & Snarf, and Ruby
Kim has been a fantastic help to our two cats. One is a bit of a bruiser who gets stress anxiety fighting for his territory and the other is super shy and likes to hide up chimneys if distressed. When we first came to Kim, she was able to help us get their issues sorted out very quickly much to both our satisfaction and that of the cats I suspect!
So, we were keen to get her input before introducing a new puppy to our home and cats. I write this whilst one cat is happily sleeping about two feet from our sleeping puppy. The other is still less keen on our new family member but not distressed by her either, so I’d call this a win only four weeks in!
We can’t thank Kim enough for her input.
Mishka
When we moved house our 9-year-old cat Mishka started having fights with the neighbour’s cat every few weeks, getting very seriously bitten. I was at my wits end not knowing what suddenly got into him. It was so much not like him! He settled in the new house well, was in good health and I just could not work out what triggered this behaviour! After 6 or 7 fights, bites, antibiotics, pain relief, an abscess, sleepless nights, and near nervous breakdown on my part, I consulted our vet and started looking for cat behaviourist and came across Kim’s name.
Kim was very quick to respond, friendly, approachable, and very responsive. She even managed to get us a space in her very busy schedule sooner because of the urgency of our problem. Prior to our skype consultation I filled in a detailed questionnaire on Mishka’s behaviour, health, environment, eating habits, likes and dislikes, and the details of the fighting.
Our online consultation was very detailed, friendly, and relaxed. Kim is a very good listener and has an ability to immediately reassure you. Kim advised that despite what I saw, the aggression was coming from the neighbour’s younger and stronger Bengal cat. Kim advised on some immediate changes to Mishka’s internal and external environment, including, dietary changes, setting up some vantage points in the garden for him, and even play, recommending the toys Mishka would like and setting out a playing routine. A longer-term solution was to cat-proof the garden.
Implementing these changes made an amazing difference within couple of weeks! Mishka is a much happier and more relaxed cat and amazingly does not seem to be so hellbent on going out to seek the intruder! We also now have a playing routine of 10-15 minutes every evening, which is an amazing achievement because previously Mishka would only play for couple of minutes and then look scared and run away, so we didn’t play with him often worrying it upsets him. We now feel much happier as cat owners because we now not only talk to Mishka, brush, and cuddle him but also help him follow his hunting instincts and keep him fit and healthy from the feline psychological point of view. Thanks to Kim’s advice and insight we are a much happier and relaxed household.
Bebbie
We initially contacted Kim in desperation. We had a huge problem with spraying which seemed to be getting worse despite trying so many things to try and solve it. It seemed like our house flooring and furniture was getting ruined bit by bit. We couldn’t leave anything lying on the floor because it would be sprayed on. We had started wrapping furniture in cling film!
We were initially a bit sceptical about the remote consultation, but it actually worked very well. Kim had obviously taken the time to look thoroughly at the info we provided before the consultation, so she had a good understanding of the situation.
There has been a miraculous improvement since we made the changes Kim recommended. There used to be 1-2 spraying incidents per day, but now we have only had none the last 5 weeks! Everyone is much happier, and we can now relax in our own home again! We would highly recommend Kim to anyone who is in a similar situation.
Kabson & Kitto
We have two male cats, Kabson and Kitto. They both have been healthy and happy over the last five years. Unexpectedly, Kabson started having urinating issues in late 2019. We did lots of online research, experimenting with a ton of suggestions, all trying to understand the root cause. We also tried our Veterinarian’s guidance and went through many litter trays and litter types as well as calming supplements without success.
We started taping puppy pads to the wall all over our flat to catch his urination issue. At that point, we were averaging about 3 to 4 pads disposal daily. It was very exhausting, frustrating, and stressful. As much as we love our little guy, we were willing to do whatever it takes to care for him. As an alternative, our vet recommended that we seek help from a behaviour therapist. With our extreme situation, we were skeptical whether virtual treatment would be effective during Covid-19 restrictions.
Kim’s onboarding process was simple. We provided her with a detailed questionnaire, videos and photos prior to our Skype consultation. When we received Kim’s very detailed and thoughtful plan, while a bit intimidating and needed lots of patience, we were willing to take a leap of faith and go all in.
The first week without puppy pads was nerve wrecking. It felt like living on edge where we could not take our eyes off of Kabson and the wall. To our surprise, Kabson made significant progress in a short period of time. He only had one mishap in the first week and another in the following week for the entire six weeks period.
We were thrilled the plan worked so effectively and amazed on the progress. We are delighted to have Kabson back more confident and happier! We are so grateful and truly appreciate Kim’s expertise in the plan and her ongoing support.
Ollie & Pebbles
Kim has been invaluable to us. We got Ollie and Pebbles from a rescue home when they were approximately 2 years old; they met in the rescue home and aren’t related but are very close. Ollie is a very anxious boy having come from a home of 17 cats with very little or no handling as a kitten. The home visit vet said that he is the most anxious cats he’d ever seen and when we heard this, we knew we needed an expert to help us so that he gradually felt safe in his new home.
Our first appointment with Kim happened to coincide with Ollie starting to overgroom himself and the advice Kim gave us reversed this issue before it got out of hand, and the fur has now largely grown back on his legs. Kim has also given us guidance in clicker training Ollie so that we can get him to put himself in his cat transporter of his own accord! This will make the process of going to the vets a lot less traumatic! The training started with us getting Ollie to sit on command, I had no idea a cat could do this! We have also been training Pebbles, so she doesn’t get left out and it is such a bonding experience for us, both Pebbles and Ollie absolutely love it!
Every milestone with Ollie is amazing. With Kim’s advice we have made our home a happy environment for the cats and us to live a lovely life together!
Jurgen & Klopp
We’re lucky to have found Kim because without her help, we would have continued to endure our cat’s 4.30am wake up calls. Kim also helped us prepare and persist with the introduction of a new kitten into our house of one very dominant adult cat. Both the early morning wake ups (complete with continuous banging on our bedroom door by our 6kg British Blue) and the relationship between cat and kitten have improved significantly.
Kim took a thorough approach to prepare for our consultation which helped maximise our time together. In doing so we came away with a far greater appreciation of the psychological and emotional needs of our (indoor) cats. We followed Kim’s guidance and with her support, now enjoy a more peaceful life with our kitten and cat. And we now get some decent sleep!
Renzo and Lula
We approached Kim to help us in introducing a new kitten to our one-cat household both because we’d worked with her previously and knew how excellent she was but also because we know how tricky it can be.
And what can I say, she gave us brilliant advice and an easily implemented step-by-step plan – even helping us out when our new kitten turned out to be unexpectedly shy. We’re just over two weeks in now and our new kitten is fully integrated into the household and well-accepted by our older cat.
It was so worth the time and money spent to get this right. We’re all really very grateful to Kim and would recommend her in a heartbeat. Lula and Renzo say thanks!
Inca, Merlin and Ciri
Having lost our dear cat Bean to cancer in April 2020, we decided to adopt two rescue kittens 6 months later to keep Bean’s 12-year-old sister, Inca company. Initially things were okay – we introduced them slowly and it was fine for 3 months. Then quite suddenly Inca began to spray all over the house on a daily basis. I had read all there was to read about trying to break the behaviour, but nothing was working. To compound things further, the little female kitten had begun to follow Inca all over the house and would place herself between Inca and the litter trays, causing Inca further distress. At a loss of what to do, I contacted Cats protection, who suggested I look at The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) website, which is where I found Kim and thank goodness I did!
Following a couple of email communications, we agreed to have a remote consultation, which lasted a couple of hours. She listened to my story and understood that I could not bear the thought of giving any of the cats up for rehoming. It was such a relief to speak with someone who had complete confidence that we could improve the situation with just a few adjustments to our daily routine. She suggested a few things I could implement immediately and followed up a few days later with a comprehensive plan detailing everything I needed to do to make Inca feel safe again. There were times when I wanted to deviate from the plan, but Kim was always there to encourage me to stick with it and things slowly began to improve. It’s now 5 months since the consultation and Inca hasn’t sprayed in the house. She has grown in confidence and all 3 cats now sleep on my bed together – something I never thought I would see.
Thank you, Kim!
George
We contacted Kim at the end of our tether with the behaviour of our lovely boy, George. We had occasional problems with him going to the toilet outside of his litter tray, which we would usually “clean up and carry on”, but when the issue started to occur every day, we knew we needed expert help. To add to the situation, we’d recently had a baby girl and wanted to make sure that the issues were sorted out before she was able to get around the flat by herself.
Kim took the time to understand our situation fully, asking questions and for photos and videos to really get to the root of our issues. We loved talking with her on our consultation and really felt that she had compassion for George and his problem, as well as commitment to help us improve the situation.
Kim warned that it may take a while for George’s behaviour to change but I’m so pleased to report that there was an instant impact from her recommendations. She also warned that it may be some undertaking on our part but as we were committed to make improvements, it didn’t feel like too much of a challenge. George has embraced the changes that we made and seems a much more content and relaxed cat. We are over the moon with George’s progress and loving life as a family of four!
Milo & Mittens
We contacted Kim in desperation as our cats could no longer be in the same room together. The hostility seemed to come out of nowhere and any attempt of reintroduction ended in very stressful, aggressive attacks from Milo to poor little Mittens. When we met Kim, by zoom, she immediately gave us a confident hope that we could change things. She assured us that Milo and Mittens would become friends once again. After following her detailed 6 week plan their reintroduction was, thankfully, successful. Now the two cats live in harmony once again! We are confident that we could not have achieved this without Kim’s expert guidance and care.
Thank you so much Kim!
Lyra
Dear Kim
I cannot tell you how much you have helped our Burmese-cross cat Lyra.
From being a cat that constantly urinated all over my nice sofas and floors, and who sat sadly with her head on a radiator all day, she has become a happy cat who runs after her toys, eats and sleeps and only uses a litter tray to urinate. She is a changed cat!
Thank you so much – she is definitely much improved, and my house no longer smells of wee – but of hyacinths!
Fawkes & Wolfie
We contacted Kim as a last resort, we were desperately worried we were going to have to re-home our little fluff ball Fawkes. We got he when she was 8 weeks old and were surprised when we picked her up, she looked like a foetus! The plan was to take her home and introduce her to our 2-year-old cat Wolfie. We were under no illusions that introducing cats would be straight-forward however as we were both starting work again and spending more time out of the flat (post pandemic) we felt that Wolfie could really benefit from having a companion.
Initially things looked quite positive, Fawkes was a fearless little girl and Wolfie, although a little confused, seemed unfazed. After about 2 weeks the problems started, we could see Fawkes becoming more needy and was constantly craving our attention. We thought this was just hyperactive kitten behaviour but then she just stopped using the litter tray! We tried all sorts of things, seeking advice from vets, friends with cats and reading anything we could find online. We tried different brands of litter, larger trays, more trays, telling her off, ignoring her, giving her extra attention, nothing seemed to be working. We even got the vet to run urine and blood tests to check there was nothing medically wrong with her. As well as ruining the carpet in the bedroom and laminate flooring, the atmosphere in the flat became toxic! Wolfie was incredibly unhappy with the whole situation and grew far less affectionate, for me and my partner, the longer it continued the more stressed we became and the less sleep we managed to get.
Kim gave us a questionnaire to fill out and asked us to provide any information we can, floor plan of the flat marking her favourite peeing spots, little videos of her, feeding patterns etc. We did this over a few weeks and then had a substantial online consultation. Kim seemed to know exactly what the problem was. My partner and I had no doubt that she’d hit the nail on the head, it would take a lot of work, but we knew what we had to do.
We’re pleased to report that results started happening after about a week or two, one little achievement started a domino effect and we’re currently on a two-month streak of no peeing. Both Fawkes and Wolfie appear happier, and my partner and I are finally experiencing the joy and happiness of having two cats!
Lexi
Kim was recommended to me by my previous cat behaviourist who had retired. Being a multi-cat household, I was very nervous about judgement and this being considered the most influencing factor on my cat’s behaviour. Did I have too many cats? Would I be told to rehome Lexi as an only cat? However, I found Kim to be so calming and reassuring. She only had praise and encouragement for me which immediately put me at ease. I felt that there was someone genuinely there to help me and not throw criticism.
Lexi was one of my last rescues into our fur family and we never experienced problems with her even when she was first introduced to the other cats. Then we had some stormy weather and found that Lexi had become super anxious and timid and was constantly being stalked by Poppy who became aggressive towards Lexi. Lexi took to hiding under my bed as well as peeing and pooping under my bed. Then the inappropriate urinating spread to on my bed. Having had an older cat who suffered from FLUTD, I knew immediately I needed help. Having ruled out medical issues, Kim came to our rescue. The suggestions she made were a little frightening to begin with as I was very nervous about challenging Lexi’s confidence issues. My fears were unfounded as everything Kim told me to do worked. Lexi is no longer stuck under my bed, and she ventures out to investigate other surroundings. The inappropriate scratching and toileting have stopped, and she uses the litter trays around her, as well as the feeding stations which is something she had stopped doing.
I have found that all of my cats in general are much happier. The staggered feeding stations have encouraged my cats to hunt and use their natural instincts more. It is so lovely to see Lexi playing again.
Thank you, Kim.
Renzo
When we came to Kim, we were at a total loss about what to do with our boy Lorenzo. Since he was a kitten, he’d lived happily with us and his older companion Rossi, but after we lost Rossi quite suddenly in the Autumn, he’d quickly become confused, distant, and unhappy (and was exhibiting plenty of difficult-to-deal-with attention-seeking behaviours too).
We filled in Kim’s form and arranged our consultation – and within minutes of chatting to her I knew we’d done the right thing. She had an immediate handle on what was going on and it was so cathartic actually to talk it all through with someone who understood. She gave us a plan to implement – nothing complicated, but all things we’d have never worked out for ourselves – and literally within the week we started to see improvements.
6 months later and I’m so grateful to Kim for her expertise and insight. We have a happy boy again, and the difficulties we were facing due to his demanding behaviours have completely disappeared. The session was worth its weight in gold and I’d 100% recommend her to anyone struggling with their own cats in a similar way.
Thanks Kim – don’t know what we’d have done without you!
Callie
I adopted Callie last November and within a month she started peeing on my bed. By January it was a weekly occurrence. Enter Kim. Kim came up with a detailed behaviour modification plan specific to Callie that involved easy changes to Callie’s environment and our routine with clear explanations of the reasons behind all of the changes. It is now almost 6 months on, and Callie has not had a single accident! She is one of the sweetest and cuddliest cats and loves that she gets to sleep curled up next to me in bed every night now. Callie and I would not hesitate recommending Kim to anyone!
Benito
We deeply love and care for our three cats. We were decidedly upset when one of them, Benito, started showing aggression towards our lovely calico Nadia. Benito was constantly anxious, appeared depressed. The vet ruled out any underlying physical conditions. We bought every cat behaviour book and watched every video we could lay our hands on, but no matter what we tried, Benito kept getting worse. He started overgrooming, spraying indoors, became lethargic yet full of nerves, and Nadia eventually grew so scared of Benito that she was no longer comfortable being at home in his presence. She couldn’t relax either, constantly worried about another lash out from her brother. We felt so desperate to help our lovely cats and we were heartbroken with the prospect of possibly having to give one of them up for adoption. The cats were so very far from happy, and we were afraid we might be running out of options to make them feel well and mentally balanced again.
We worked closely with our vets, and it was them who recommended getting in touch with Kim. We reached out for her helping hand, drawing from her excellent reputation as a cat behaviour expert.
Before our consultation we were asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire that allowed Kim to understand the problem with a great depth and look at the situation through the cats’ eyes.
The Skype consultation was beyond excellent. Kim is such a warm person with such an incredible expertise. She explained exactly how to approach the issue and lead to its resolution- we were given a detailed insight into our cats nature, needs, psychology and emotions that went way beyond all the knowledge we acquired. The advice was clear and every change needed was explained, everything tailored specifically to our household and our situation. We felt so reassured and recharged with hope. We also received written modification instructions to ensure we can refer to the proposed solutions. Kim has a fantastic approach that roots itself in respecting cats’ natural habits and behaviour. We started implementing the needing changes right away and within the next 24 hours we could already see Benito’s behaviour change for the better. We were stunned. It only got better from there. Benito and Nadia became much more relaxed faster than we would ever expect.
Throughout the next six weeks we were asked to provide Kim with weekly updates on the situation, to which she provided further reassurance and advice.
I cannot praise Kim’s expertise and approachability enough. She guided us towards what we thought might be completely impossible- a peaceful home where our cats feel calm, confident and balanced (and so do I!). I am very impressed by Kim’s knowledge and we are full of gratitude over the help we have received.
We cannot recommend Kim’s services enough! If our cats could speak they would thank her as well.
Mark & Freddie
We were having several behavioural issues with our 2 Siamese cats Mark and Freddie. It all started with Mark getting into a couple of fights with a Neighbour’s cat which then caused him to become anxious in our home. The main concerns being his constant pacing though out our apartment and his spraying in several areas, and then Freddie started to spray too.
Our vet fortunately referred us to Kim. Through our initial correspondence with Kim we had to send her very detailed information documenting everything that has been happening with our boys. We sent over the layout of our apartment and garden and everything she needed to know to gain a full picture of our cat’s daily routine and the problem areas. So when we had our Skype consultation with Kim she had a total understanding of our home and our situation. We spoke with Kim for over 2 hours through Skype and by the end of the call we felt so confident that she could help us. Her sheer understanding and experience of dealing with cats was incredible and also her love and passion of cats showed through too.
After our conversation Kim had given us a program to follow and we had to implement several things in our home. We did everything that Kim advised us to do over a few month’s and it all worked!!
Mark is now in a far better head space completely, he very rarely paces and both of them have stopped spraying -Hallelujah!! Kim really knows her stuff! She was also really lovely to work with too.
We thoroughly recommend her and her incredible work.
Thank you so much Kim
Halo
My Burmese kitten, Halo (called this because he looked so angelic when I chose him!) was driving me insane. He was really aggressive and attacked me all the time, which I found really upsetting … and painful. I have had Burmese kittens before, but never hyper-active like this. He was so bad that I very nearly returned him to the
breeder because he was ruining my life. Instead of Halo, my brother said I should have called him Diablo!
In desperation I turned to Kim and found her understanding, professional and encouraging. She sent me a detailed questionnaire to complete and asked for a plan of the house and its rooms, plus where the food, water and litter box were kept, etc. We then had a two hour Skype call, when she answered fully all my questions and she had thought through a plan for me to relax my manic Burmese kitten, to make him a better living companion.
This was followed by a very well-produced report (as an ex-consultant myself, I recognise a good one when I see it). This covered all the discussion we had had and listed out her recommended regime to address my problems. Finally, she said that she would like a weekly report from me on progress and that she would be happy to answer any other questions which arose.
All this was for a fee which was half the fee of another cat behaviourist I contacted before commissioning Kim.
Halo is now one year old and, as I had hoped, a wonderful companion, with a naughty sense of humour. I will always be grateful to Kim for helping me to solve what was a really difficult and upsetting problem, with such patience and understanding.
I was so impressed that I took the trouble to give Kim’s details to my vet, so that he could recommend her to his clients. I could not recommend her more highly.
Jinx & Janie
I contacted Kim a couple of months ago when I was at my wits end with two very nervous and unsettled cats. There had been a big change in all of our lives along with several underlying and external factors. Janie was eliminating outside of the litter tray and spraying and Jinx’s behaviour towards Janie was deteriorating as he struggled to deal with being bullied by another cat outside. I felt like I’d tried everything, and it had even got to the point when I dreaded coming home from work as I just didn’t know what I was going to find. As soon as I spoke to Kim, I felt reassured that it was fixable. I implemented Kim’s suggestions to the best of my ability and the results have been wonderful. Janie hasn’t had any accidents since I started following Kim’s instructions, she is increasing in confidence and the relationship between the two cats is steadily improving. I can’t thank Kim enough for all of her help and support and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone with cat problems!
Greta, Agnes & Percy
We contacted Kim after we adopted an older cat with no known history and wanted to settle him into our home. Percy didn’t get on with are current two cats Greta and Agnes and was chasing them out and seemed to take a real disliking to Greta who only came in to eat. Percy also meowed during the night and this was hard going he seemed very unsettled unless he was close to me. Kim was very thorough in obtaining as much background information as possible and speaking to our vets. After gathering all of the information she was very prompt in in arranging a Skype call.
It was clear Kim had spent time in reading all the notes I had provided. She had a very good insight to all of my cats and provided structured advice that fitted in with our lifestyle and tasks we could fit in around work. She then provided a fully written action plan and steps to be implement and followed. It was clear after a few weeks it was helping with Greta coming in more. This was helped with the weekly email communication and guided advice and followed. We are now at the point where all cats can be in the house and even venturing into the same room with no chasing or hissing. Kim’s insight and knowledge has been amazing and helped us create a happy home again.
Once again thank you!!
Daisy
Things had become really bad with Daisy and I was desperate to avoid the heart breaking step of having to rehome her, or her not coming back one day. One of these outcomes was inevitable. Her quality of life was awful and I was getting more and more upset and worried. Due to her extreme reaction to my partner Alex, she spent the entire winter living outside under a bush. She would only come into the house late at night for a “smash & grab” for food, or if Alex wasn’t there. If she happened to be in the house when he came home from work or downstairs she would bolt. She would also toilet on the floor, and urinate on her cat beds and various soft furnishings. It was heartbreaking. My beloved pet was spending more time away from the home and was seemingly terrified of Alex. We would argue about what to do about it, it was all very stressful! The vet tried to medicate and put her on anti-depressant medication. This did nothing.
The weird thing is that it wasn’t always like this. When I first starting seeing Alex and he would come over to the house, Daisy was quite friendly with him. Slowly but surely though she tolerated him less and less until things hit rock bottom. Then thankfully I was referred to Kim.
I honestly can’t believe the change in Daisy and also Alex. However I describe it, won’t do the transformation justice. I have my gorgeous cat back and Alex can interact with her now.
After a thorough Skype consultation and then very detailed report from Kim, we made various changes to Daisy’s environment. Nothing major, just changing locations of water bowls, allowing access upstairs and keeping her in at night to name a few. Alex gives her most of her meals now and Dreamies are his secret weapon. I have no idea how this has all worked, but Daisy is happy, and will happily play and be fussed and stroked by Alex. It’s like magic! We can’t thank Kim enough for her help. We’re both still utterly gobsmacked at the transformation in Daisy. She’s a happy, snuggly, sleepy cat again who loves to play.
Zusa, Ziggy & Thunder
I contacted Kim earlier this year as I was having aggression problems with one of my cats. This meant we were trying to live our life with cats living in separate parts of the house. This was increasing the stress in both cats and humans, and we were very unhappy as were the cats.
Our session with Kim was via Skype was like having Kim in our house! Previous to the session I had sent lots of information to Kim about our house, our routines and our Tonkinese cats. Kim gave us lots of advice in the session, and answered all my questions; we were surprised by how much we were doing right, but even more surprised at what we could be doing better. The plan for the next 6 weeks was clearly explained to us by Kim, I was very worried about the whole re-introduction of our cats, but Kim gave me confidence that if we followed her steps all would be well.
We received a full report from Kim a couple of days later, this became my instruction manual! It was extremely helpful to know that Kim was at the end of the phone if we struggled with things. We gathered the items Kim had listed then put the plan into action. Amazingly all 3 cats slept on our bed with us from the first night we put them back together! There were some tiny hiccups in the following few weeks, but nothing the new behaviour methods we had learnt could not resolve. Our house is totally different now, we have all the doors open and lots of different hiding, sleeping and eating places for our furry family.
I cannot thank Kim enough for getting our household back together!
Poppy
Poppy and I have been together for the past eight years and it has been a rocky relationship to say the least! She started weeing outside the littler tray three years after I got her from the rescue centre, and to this day I cannot pinpoint the reason for it. For five years I struggled and tried the advice from my vet and none of it helped. Poppy would spray against the wall and it would go all over the floor. She then started weeing on my bed so I would have to put my duvet and pillows away during the day and bring them out just as I got into bed – she even weed on it once while I was in bed. I was very unhappy to say the least and I was very worried about our relationship and was concerned that I was starting to get angry at my cat. I tried everything under the sun. You name it and I had tried it.
I move into my own flat and I started searching for help on the internet and found Kim. The testimonials sounded almost too good to be true. From the moment I had a Skype consultation with her she made me feel like she would go to the ends of the earth for me and Poppy. She had the loveliest way of taking my problem with my cat, and making me feel like Poppy and I would tackle our problem, and the problem had a solution. After six months of hard work she finally stopped weeing and we now have a much closer relationship.
I cannot desribe the gratitude I feel towards Kim, suffice to say that you are putting your problems into very able hands!
Miki Blue-Eyes
We discovered that our 12 year old Siamese cat (Miki Blue-Eyes) was spraying urine regularly indoors. Absolute horror and shock at this discovery. I have had cats all my life and know how meticulously clean they are. Miki being no exception to this! (We found out later that cleanliness had nothing to do with this). I literally tried EVERYTHING and felt desperate. Our Vets confirmed that there was nothing medically wrong with him and they were also at a loss for what to do.
I read every blog online, bought books etc, but nothing I did helped the situation, in fact Miki started to spray almost daily. It was really stressful and caused tension and upset in the house. I became paranoid about odours and stopped inviting friends round. I didn’t want to go on holiday or even to work, as I knew what may be waiting for me on return.
In sheer desperation (probably with a glass of wine in hand) I remembered reading a book on cat behaviours many years ago, so Googled it and sent a desperate email to the author. I didn’t expect a reply, but I got one. After chatting to this lovely lady, she recommended Kim. She informed me that Kim was highly qualified, very experienced and a lovely person. If anyone could help me, she could……SHE WASN’T WRONG!
I contacted Kim immediately and she must have sensed my desperation, as she moved her busy calendar round to fit me in. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, but was impressed by the amount of detail required for the assessment. We were given a very detailed plan of action to follow and Kim, in her warm, smiling and calm way, made us feel that everything was going to be okay….She only works through vet referrals, so I had contacted my vets prior to starting any of the changes.
It has now been over 4 weeks of no spraying. I cant actually believe this day has come. My husband and I worked really hard and followed all of the plan to the letter. It wasn’t difficult or expensive, just small changes to our daily routines.
Kim has made our house a happier place. Anyone who is experiencing similar cat problems, be reassured that help is a phone call/email away.
Thank you so much to this lovely lady!
Ollie & Billy Boy
Kim is one of those rare people you meet in life who has a complete understanding, non judgemental and empathy about us humans and animals. She was totally thorough in her research about us and our cats before she even knocked on the door. Our Vet was most impressed with Kim, as she wanted to know all health issues etc, to give a better all round picture.
When our top cat Suet died of cancer, and our new house being built on our property, we started to experience a very complex and stressful problem with our feline family. We thankfully found Kim. She flew down from Glasgow to Suffolk for the day to help us (dedication I think !!!!).
Kim is such a warm and friendly person that you immediately feel relaxed. Her knowledge way surpasses any trolling on the internet….why your cats are peeing everywhere, aggression, no top cat, some hiding away etc.
With Kim’s ideas, post support and our dedication we are almost back to normal. No more inappropriate peeing, the cats are getting along, Ollie is now top cat (though a little laid back), Billie Boy is now out from underneath the kitchen cabinets and we have a stress free life back.
Thank you Kim!!
Millie & Dexter
I’ve had my little cat Millie since she was 9 weeks old, she is now 18 months old – and she is so wary of people – even me – that I decided to look into trying to get her help. Thank goodness for Kim at Cat-astrophes. We made an appointment for a home visit and Kim came along to meet Millie.
I was very impressed as Kim was so thorough, didn’t miss a thing that was going on and asked loads of questions to try to get to the bottom of Millie’s behaviour as she has never been badly treated – after an extensive visit of around 2 hours Kim had given me lots of advice but told me not to worry about remembering it all as she would send me a behaviour plan to start working on. The one bit of advice that I was able to start immediately was to feed Millie by hand so that she would see me as the provider of food and I have to say within about 3 days this had made a really big difference and Millie went from being a cat who barely came near me to one who was running into the living room and waiting on the sofa for me to bring her food in! All of the advice that Kim gave me has been an immense help and I do feel that Millie’s fear is reducing. She seems to be more confident and relaxed and is definitely acknowledging my presence in her life as someone good instead of running away from me.
Kim sent me a Behaviour Plan covering all the points we had discussed and has been in touch regularly for updates – she is so understanding about the problems I have with Millie and extremely encouraging when I let her know of our progress. She gave me such great advice about things I would never have thought of with regard to interacting with Millie and I am hoping in time my little cat and I will have a strong bond and that one day I will be able to send Kim a photo of Millie curled up on my lap!!
I cannot thank or recommend Kim highly enough and would recommend anyone who is having any kind of behavioural problem with their cat to contact Kim because she really is an expert and can give you advice and tips that will help your relationship with your beloved kitty. She really makes you feel that she cares about you and your cat personally and wants to help as much as you want the help!
Thanks Kim!!!
Blakey & Louie
We are both very experienced cat owners and have always adopted cats no-one wants to take on because of behavioural or medical issues. Blakey was no different he came with several issues but he had adopted us within seconds of meeting him. A negative encounter with the dog at introductions starting a series of behaviours that escalated to the point that after a year we were considering having to get Blakey re-homed as he was stressed and his behaviours escalating.
We contacted Kim in a final bid to get strategies to help us change our behaviour and help Blakey and Louie live together. Kim’s visit was detailed like the plan that was produced – we followed the plan to the letter which is absolutely essential. Kim’s intervention is not a quick fix there is no such thing we moved at Blakey’s pace and started to see incremental change, let them bed in and moved on to the next strategy. Sometimes we went backwards and got some advice and started that bit again. All the effort is paying off we have a happy kitty with a little swagger in his step a confident cat who is very much part of the whole family.
We cannot recommend Kim enough her service is non-judgmental, honest, and open with workable strategies that work.
Leo
We have an overly aggressive 6-year-old male Bengal who over the past 3 to 4 years has caused quite a lot of upset and consternation within our neighbourhood, especially to our neighbours and ourselves of course. He is generally fine, lovable and a real character, the problem being that he can’t tolerate other cats and will attack and at times viciously injure them.
We have been unaware of the extent of the problem until gradually learning about his exploits through more and more stories from the general neighbourhood. He was generally going into all available cat flaps, spraying randomly in houses, attacking the neighbours two younger cats, plus others down our road and the adjoining roads., causing grief and vet bills.
So over the last 3 years (when communication with the neighbours was still a viable option), we had tried one or two containment options, – putting up garden fencing, arranging curfew hours, so when he was out the next door’s cats were in and vice versa, getting him a chicken run pen, taking him out on a long lead (nightmare). All options were not water tight or proved ineffective.
So we decided to opt for 3rd party help and looked up a cat psychologist, and chose Kim Houston – it proved (and is proving) to be a highly worthwhile venture. She spent an afternoon with us detailing his territory, movements, feeding regime, how he fits into our lives, likes\dislikes, personality etc.
Within a week or less we had a detailed report back from Kim, giving us plenty of suggestions for moving forward. The main one (which we hadn’t thought practical) was to cat proof the garden around the patio area. A few companies supply and fit the specialised fencing. I measured up the area, ordered it online and fitted it myself with help, to save on expense.
The fencing has now been erected for 9 months and we can say it has been a great success. It has proved to be fool proof i.e. he has never broken out. The area is approx 6 x 4m. Kim thought this would be large enough for him, I had serious reservations as he had been used to patrolling a wide area on the streets. We have stuck with it and gradually he has become more and more predictable, lovable and almost a house / lap cat. It has been a long process but worthwhile.
Also, although we now have to use trays and cat litter …he has adapted reasonably well and has stopped spraying inside the house. We also use a five-meal timed feeder, which works well, he can therefore ‘feed himself’ early in mornings and when we are out at work. He also plays with a few favourite toys; the feeder idea and more toys were also suggested by Kim.
So all in all we a getting a contented pussy cat and a far happier neighbourhood.
Thanks again for all your help.
India, Jammu & Kashmir
In May 2016 I homed two kittens of 10 weeks old (brother and sister), bringing them into a home where I had two cats of 19 and 6. Sadly my 19 year old died shortly afterwards, but the kittens has already been accepted and settled well. This continued for the next 5 months with all three cats playing and sleeping together, washing each other, etc.
This all changed suddenly when in the middle of a play chase and mock fighting my oldest cat, India, appeared to be unintentionally hurt, possibly by a misplaced claw. Quite literally, in the space of 60 seconds she completely turned on the two kittens, hissing, spitting, ears flat, teeth bared, chasing them constantly. I thought it would “blow over”, but things just got worse. India would not tolerate the kittens anywhere near her. I could not leave them shut up together when I left the house and I had to sleep with India shut into my bedroom at night as I could not trust her alone with the kittens overnight. India became more and more agitated, the kittens were increasingly frightened of her and I became more and more distressed.
In desperation I consulted my vet, who recommended and animal behaviourist, hence my contacting Kim. After completing a questionnaire and sending her photos of my home showing sleeping areas, litter areas, etc., and having a telephone consultation, Kim recommended several measures including a lot of changes to the environment (to enrich and stimulate the cats), a natural calming product, and also using Royal Canin Calm Diet biscuits to supplement the cats wet food. We also discussed several strategies and keeping a daily diary to send to Kim on a weekly basis, regarding behaviour, any “incidents”, progress, etc., followed by a second telephone consultation.
Things started to improve gradually and have continued to do so; within 3 weeks India and the kittens were fine to share the same space, occasionally playing together, washing each other, etc; there is a vast improvement in such a short space of time.
I don’t believe this would have happened and happened so quickly without Kim’s help, suggestions and support, which is ongoing. I am extremely grateful to her for resolving a situation that was becoming increasingly stressful for both the cats and me. I would recommend consulting Kim without hesitation.
Siamese Madhouse
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Kim! I was sure I was completely mad even contemplating having 4 Siamese (especially as indoor cats). But Kim was brilliant and guided me every step of the way. Her easy to follow instructions made it foolproof for me to follow and there was no expensive equipment needed. I made my own mesh door when doing the intros and all has gone well. As you can see from the photo – we have one big happy family. Thanks Kim – you’re a star!
As a follow up, 8 months or so later – one of my cats, Arwen, has recently had a few issues upon maturity (not with the other cats – something seems to have spooked or upset her). Again, Kim has been on hand to help out. She’s a great person, and really knows her stuff. Have cat problems? You need Kim, trust me! Your feline friends will thank you!
Molly
What can we say about our wee darling, well she is beautiful but challenging as Kim politely put it, but adorable no matter what she does.
We got her from Cats Protection when she was eleven weeks old and not long after she began to wee all over the house, in particular our bed, this went on for around two months until we contacted Kim who came to our rescue. Thankfully she came to our home and told us what to do to remedy the situation and within days our little girl was using her litter box with no accidents anywhere, what we had been trying to “fix” Kim did with one visit, brilliant.
Next Molly developed separation anxiety and began following me (her mum) everywhere which did not worry me at first, but as the holiday season was approaching I began to worry about how we would be able to go away. Once again Kim came to our aid and came back to our house to study Mollys behaviour, she set out small tasks for me to do which would help our wee pet to be less stressed and low and behold it works. Kim is a very knowledgeable lady and really knows her stuff, apart from sorting out our baby, she is a lovely person and does everything she can to help. What else is there to say except eat your heart out Halle Berry, we have the real cat woman here in Glasgow the amazing Kim Houston. Highly recommended.
Sapphire & Arnie
How can we ever thank you for the help and guidance you gave us. We came to you as we had problems with out new kitten, Arnie introducing him to our little girl Sapphire, who is a Savannah. Sapphire is a very loving kitten of about 9-months old when we thought about a playmate for her- how wrong we were.
The day we bought Arnie home, sapphire wasn’t too bothered for the first hour, then Sapphire reacted like a demon cat. She flew from floor across sofa and attacked Arnie. We were so upset. We tried again to introduce them but Sapphire attacked him again. When she attacked Arnie for the 3rd time and dragged him across the floor with his neck in a killer instinct, we knew we had problems and thought we may have to get either rid of Arnie or Sapphire.
After a lot of thought and desperation and feeling really alone, I looked up cat behaviour specialist, thinking this was going to cost huge amounts of money and was very sceptical that any one could sort the problems that we had with both the cats.
We found Kim and what an extraordinary lady, I cannot say how fantastic this lady is. I contacted Kim and she said that she could help. She did say it would take dedication from us, and some hard work. It started with a telephone conversation where Kim took details for both cats, their habits, feeding and environment. Then we were asked for photos and layout of our property, and any videos that we were able to capture.
We worked through the behaviour modification plan, and Kim was with us step-by-step, we started to notice changes in sapphire. Kim said that after a few months of dedication she would personally guarantee that Sapphire and Arnie would get on IF we followed her advice. We were Dutiful students and YES after 3 months PEACE at last restored!!! Sapphire and Arnie are now best friends, sleep, eat, nap, play, groom, each other. I must say I would not of thought this possible and would like to THANK KIM, she is the most patient, understanding, knowledgeable, person I have ever come across and would always say if you have problems with 4-legged friends then KIM’S your lady.
Thanks Kim!!
Bob
I got Bob as a 7 year old rescue cat, I was his second attempt at rehoming. Bob was very aggressive and every attempt to approach him was met with hissing, scratching and biting. He would spend most of his time outside, even in the coldest winter. If anyone came into the house he would run away growling, and was nervous of my other rescue cat, Google. Bob just seemed to be a very unhappy cat. After 18 months of reading cat behaviour internet sites and trying various approaches , I felt I would just have to accept that was Bob’s personality……..then I found Cat-astrophes!
After completing a detailed history of Bob, Kim visited us at home. Kim spent a couple of hours observing Bob and listening to the issues, then diagnosed petting aggression. Kim explained why Bob behaved the way he did, and took time to explain how I should interact with Bob in a way he could understand. Within a couple of days Kim emailed me a very thorough yet easy to follow Behaviour Modification Plan to use, and responded quickly to my texts / emails for advice and progress reports.
Within a few weeks the results have been quite simply amazing, with visitors even commenting on how friendly he is! Bob now spends a lot of time indoors with me, following me about the house “talking” to me. He loves snoozing in front of the fire, jumps up onto the sofa next to me and has even been found sleeping on my bed next to Google. Bob is now a friendlier, more relaxed cat who seems content with his life, everything I wanted for him.
Kim’s approach is professional and conscientious and she was genuinely as pleased as I was with Bobs progress! I know Bob would not be the cat he is without Kim’s help, and when I come home from work to be met by Bob purring at me I feel so grateful to Kim! Bob and I cannot thank or recommend Kim highly enough, the work she does is amazing!
Katie & Molly
Dear Kim,
I just wanted to let you know that things are really good with the girls now. They are getting on better than ever! As I am writing this, I can hear them playing with each other upstairs. This is now a daily occurrence for them. There has been absolutely no hostility between them for a very long time and I’m pleased to say that they are very happy cats!
It is an absolute joy to be around my girls, every single day and I can’t thank you enough for all your help and support to get their relationship back on track. I honestly never thought that we would be where we are now! I’m really looking forward to our first Christmas together in this house, that is now such a happy home for all of us.
Thank you so much!
Skittles
I adopted Skittles when he was about 10 weeks old. He was found on the street and ended up on his own in a cage at SSPCA. When I got him he developed a bad habit of peeing, on my bed, when I was in it, to the point that my duvet was soaked and I was having to take to laundry every couple of days. Kim was able to identify the route of Skittles problems and gave me a very thorough plan to work with. I implemented the plan and within a week of starting the plan he only peed on my bed once. It has been a couple of months now and Skittles now pees in litter box like he should and only comes on bed for cuddles.
Thank you so much Kim!
Max
We asked our vet to be referred to Kim after our cat, Max, started showing aggressive behaviour towards our female cat, Honey, and was attacking us too. We had moved to a new area and he was getting into fights and scraps with the neighbourhood cats, and then coming home and taking it out on us. He was also suffering many cat bite injuries and abscesses. The attacks escalated to the point where we simply did not know how to deal with him anymore, and it was having a negative effect on Honey and our stress levels.
Kim spent a great deal of time on our case, helping us to understand why Max was behaving in this way. We had assumed he was being a bully outside the house as well as inside, but Kim explained that it seemed he was being bullied so the changes we made needed to be sympathetic to his circumstances. Kim’s behaviour modification report was incredibly detailed and was indispensable for the first weeks of treatment. Kim advised us how to make our garden more Max-friendly to discourage other cats (and it’s worked) and also what changes to make within our house and to our routines to assist Max better with what he was experiencing. With the help of all this and a small amount of mild medication both cats are now much happier, and we have really started to enjoy having them around again. It wasn’t always easy, but it was most definitely worth it. Max is much calmer and Honey is a lot bolder, so balance has mostly been restored.
Throughout the whole process, Kim was extremely supportive. We had some tough days, and she was always at the end the phone to reassure and advise. She warned us there would be setbacks, and there were, but she always helped us out, and now we feel much more able to cope with Max if something doesn’t go entirely right. Kim was very realistic about what could be achieved, and always took the time to explain the bigger picture as well. We cannot fault the work that she has done for us, and the difference that it has made to all of us, and for that we will always be very grateful.
Ptolemy & Cosmo
We felt that our 18-month old male Egyptian Mau, Ptolemy may benefit from some feline company so we decided to get another cat, Cosmo a male Abyssinian kitten. We did lots of research and had a plan in place for Cosmo coming home. However things did not work out as we had hoped and after a couple of weeks we realised that we were going to need some help, so we contacted Kim. We were concerned that our two cats would never get along.
Kim came for a home visit and afterwards put a behaviour modification plan together for us. Kim was always available via text, email or phone with helpful advice and assistance. With time and patience and Kim’s support and advice Ptolemy and Cosmo are now the best of friends.
Thanks Kim!
Monty
We asked for Kim’s help after our lovely but slightly crazy boy Monty had behaviour that we could no longer cope with. Although he had a sweet nature and obviously loved us, he had a tendency to bite and scratch at our hands and feet to the extent that we couldn’t let our niece and nephew (and scared adult family members!) in the same room as him. We also worried about letting him outside where children were playing.
Kim came to see us and was the perfect balance of caring but professional. She instantly diagnosed that his problems stemmed from being separated from his mum and brother too early and that he had predatory play aggression. We received a very thorough behaviour plan just a couple of days afterwards which was easy to stick to and saw good results very quickly. Sometimes it’s the simple adjustments that make all the difference. We were also advised that a little friend (playmate) for Monty might be beneficial, which we were really excited about. Unfortunately, Monty was killed by a car like so many cats only a few weeks after we met with Kim, but we’re so glad that we were able to improve the last few weeks of his life. We think about him all the time and often refer to ‘Uncle Monty’ to our 9 month-old tabby kittens Minnie and Murray.
Meeting Kim has been beneficial to us and our pets in many ways.
Thank you Kim.
Skittles & Starburst
I have already written a review for Skittles (black cat) on how Kim helped with his toileting issues. When I brought starburst into my family it was because Skittles needed a friend after my dog Angel was put down because he started acting depressed, not eating, throwing up and within 24 hours of having Starburst skittles was absolutely fine.
However Starburst came with her own problems, I rescued her from SSPCA ( same as Skittles) but I was told that she came from a hoarders house which was a 2 bedroom flat with over a 100 cats in it. She was very unsociable, hissing and spitting anytime I got near and hiding if there was anyone else in the flat. After a week I contacted Kim because of the fab work with Skittles and through my homework from her I have been feeding her by hand and after 4-weeks she will now sit in my lap and be in the same room when other people are in (which never happened before). It may not seem much but she seems much happier and even allows me to stroke her.
Kim is fab and would recommend her to anyone
Fliss
It is with confidence that I write a recommendation for Kim Houston’s services as a Feline Behaviourist. We enlisted her help when our 6-year-old Persian cat, Fliss, had become increasing fearful of her pet carrier. It was a necessity that she used her carrier as she was diabetic and had to take regular trips to the vets. However, over a period of a few months she became totally unapproachable when we tried to put her into her pet carrier. If we tried to catch her, she would try to bite and scratch us. The situation became very stressful for all the family.
Kim’s visit at our home was most enlightening. She listened as we described our situation. Kim then established realistic and achievable objectives. This was followed up with an invaluable treatment plan (Behaviour Modification Plan). We immediately put into effect Kim’s suggestions and within a short amount of time saw very good results. It has now been 4 months and Fliss is happy and able to enter her pet carrier without any complaints!! She has had several trips to the vets and willingly enters her carrier for the journey. Life seems so much easier!! Kim has continually been supportive and has kept up communications and provided prompt responses to my questions. Fliss is doing fabulous and I’m so relieved to know I can leave take her to the vets now without stress to either of us!
Thank you, Kim”
Cheryl
Cheryl, our gorgeous little girl, had become aggressive towards us after a confrontation at a window with a neighbourhood cat. After a weekend full of attacks we were not even able to approach her, it was so distressing to us. After many sleepless nights we contacted our veterinary surgeon, who kindly gave us Kim at CAT-astrophes details. After filling in a case history, we arranged an appointment and Kim came out to visit. After a very thorough discussion of all incidents in Cheryl’s history we were given a plan to follow.
We followed Kim’s advice and were soon able to interact happily with our cat again. Cheryl has improved immensely and although she has occasionally displayed a little aggression over the past nine months, we feel we have our little girl back. Having Kim’s support and advice for that time has been invaluable. Over those months Kim has passed on information to us that has helped us work with Cheryl daily on her behaviour. When we see signs of aggression or any other behaviour issues arise in Cheryl, we now have the knowledge and skills to handle her calmly and effectively. We can gladly say that we now have a happy and very loving cat that snuggles, purrs, and plays with us again! We cannot thank Kim enough for her help and support throughout these past nine months!! What amazing help at a time when we needed it more than ever!
Evie & Elliot
We adopted Evie with her friend Elliot from a local cat rescue centre and had been told of her sad history, having been found abandoned in a plastic bag. While we expected her to be nervous, we thought that she would settle with time and encouragement but it soon became apparent Evie would need professional help.
While Elliot settled quickly into his new home, Evie was very distressed, spending the first five days with us up the chimney and only coming down at night to use her litter tray! When we did manage to get her out, any attempt by us to approach her was met with growls and spitting, poor Evie was terrified.
We enlisted Kim’s help. Her help was invaluable; she visited us at home, gave us advice, a plan to follow and some herbal medication which helped to build up Evie`s confidence. It has been a slow process, but Evie is much more relaxed and confident with us now and continues to improve daily. She is still frightened of strangers, but will on occasions come into the room to “have a quick look” at visitors before disappearing again. We have also managed to get her to the vets for vaccinations, something I never thought we would manage.
Best of all, we have heard Evie purr recently, she will climb up and sit next to us, even getting on our knees. This improvement, I feel would never have been achieved without Kim’s excellent advice and support. We cannot recommend her highly enough to anyone with an cat with behavioural problems.
Daisy & Daphne
We got Daisy and Daphne in December 2009. They are two sisters from the same litter and up until April of 2012 they got along great. At this time, Daphne took not well and had to go for emergency surgery. When she came home later that day is when it all kicked off.
Daisy started attacking her sister and they had to be split up. Over a week, we were able to get them back together. A month later, we sent Daisy to get dressed. When we brought Daisy home is was role reversal. Daphne started attacking Daisy. Very vicious fights and once again they had to be split.
We tried to introduce them slowly but nothing we tried seemed to work. This was over two months and we were starting to think we would have to split them up.
After trawling the internet, we came across Kim’s website. Kim came out to our house, was introduced to both our girls and spent time discussing the various options and things to try to get the two of them back together. We also discussed what probably caused the fighting in the first place. Kim made some suggestions, which we carried out. This was not an overnight process. Kim was available day and night via the phone and text to give advice when things weren’t quite working. It took from August until late November 2012 but all good things come to those who wait and whilst on holiday, we were sent a photo of the two girls sleeping in the one bed. Result.
We were able to move the two of them to our new house December 2012. We have had no problems since.
Thanks to Kim’s advice and support we were able to keep our two girls together.
Jazz
I have 3 cats, I love them and have always tried to ensure that they have what they need to be happy. When one of my cats, Jazz, became sick with stress related cystitis, I was devastated; I couldn’t understand how this had happened and I thought he would need to be re-homed to a cat free house.
My vet suggested a consultation with Kim, initially I felt guilty, is this something I’m doing wrong? I love my cats and want the best for them and I realised that there is no shame in asking for extra help, its more important that Jazz has what he needs.
Kim was really nice, she spent time looking at Jazz medical history and his environment. Despite having already implemented a number of additional resources, Kim was able to suggest some more idea’s which would enhance his environment and reduce his stress. I’m really pleased I spoke with Kim as she put my mind at rest and answered many of my questions.
Jazz is now looking much happier and relaxed, I’m so pleased my vet recommended speaking to Kim!
Lily & Otis
When we called Kim, we were at our wits end. One of our cats, Lily, was refusing to come home as her brother, Otis, would attack her and chase her away. Despite being siblings, our cats did not get on at all.
Kim was so reassuring and really took the time both over the phone and during a home visit to get to know exactly what the problem was and what was happening. We were given a very detailed and comprehensive behaviour modification plan to follow and I am delighted to say that it has worked. Lily and Otis are now able to share the same space without being aggressive and we are able to enjoy our cats again.
Thanks Kim, your help is so appreciated!