Cat Behaviour Course

Lesson 1 • Sleep, Energy, and Activity Cycles

Covers crepuscular activity patterns, polyphasic sleep, and energy conservation strategies. Helps practitioners set realistic expectations for feline engagement and rest needs.

Lesson 2 • Evolutionary Origins of the Domestic Cat

Traces the cat's descent from solitary desert predators to domestic companions. Provides evolutionary context essential for understanding instinct-driven behaviours throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Neurological Basis of Feline Behaviour

Introduces brain structures governing emotion, memory, and reflex in cats. Links neuroscience fundamentals to observable behavioural patterns students will analyse later.

Lesson 1 • Vocal Communication Repertoire

Catalogs meows, chirps, trills, hisses, and growls with their functional meanings. Establishes the vocal foundation before integrating body language in later sections.

Lesson 2 • Postural and Facial Signals

Analyses ear position, tail carriage, body posture, and facial expression as communication channels. Builds systematic observation skills applied throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Chemical and Scent-Based Communication

Explains pheromone systems, scent glands, and marking behaviours as primary feline communication tools. Connects chemical signalling to territorial and social behaviour chapters ahead.

Lesson 4 • Reading Ambiguous or Mixed Signals

Addresses conflicting cues, context dependency, and individual variation in feline communication. Develops nuanced interpretation skills critical for applied behaviour assessment.

Lesson 1 • Feline Hierarchy and Territory

Examines how cats establish spatial hierarchies, time-share resources, and defend core territories. Directly informs conflict prevention strategies covered in later chapters.

Lesson 2 • Cat-Human Attachment and Bonding

Analyses attachment styles, secure base effects, and human interaction preferences in cats. Equips practitioners to strengthen human-cat bonds and identify attachment disorders.

Lesson 3 • Cat Relationships with Other Species

Explores interspecies relationships with dogs, small animals, and humans of different demographics. Prepares students to manage cross-species introductions safely and effectively.

Lesson 4 • Solitary vs. Social Feline Lifestyles

Contrasts obligate solitary behaviour with facultative sociality observed in feral colonies. Establishes the spectrum of social tolerance that informs multi-cat household management.

Lesson 1 • The Critical Socialisation Window

Defines the two-to-seven-week sensitive period for social exposure and its lifelong behavioural impact. Explains why early handling protocols are the highest-leverage welfare intervention.

Lesson 2 • Neonatal and Transitional Periods

Covers sensory development, thermoregulation dependence, and maternal bonding in the first three weeks. Establishes the biological baseline for understanding socialisation windows.

Lesson 3 • Senior Cat Behavioural Changes

Identifies cognitive, sensory, and physical decline effects on behaviour in cats over ten years old. Equips practitioners to differentiate aging changes from treatable medical conditions.

Lesson 4 • Juvenile and Adolescent Behaviour

Examines play behaviour, predatory skill development, and hormonal changes during weeks eight through eighteen months. Links juvenile patterns to adult behavioural tendencies.

Lesson 1 • The Five Pillars of a Healthy Feline Environment

Introduces safe space, resource access, play opportunity, positive human contact, and sensory stimulation as core environmental requirements. Provides the framework for all enrichment planning.

Lesson 2 • Vertical Space and Hiding Opportunities

Explains the behavioural functions of elevated perches, hiding spots, and three-dimensional territory. Directly addresses stress reduction through spatial complexity in the home environment.

Lesson 3 • Play, Predatory Outlets, and Foraging

Designs play sessions and foraging opportunities that satisfy the predatory sequence: stalk, chase, pounce, and kill. Reduces redirected aggression and boredom-related behaviour problems.

Lesson 4 • Litter Box Management and Elimination Behaviour

Covers substrate preferences, box placement, cleaning frequency, and elimination behaviour norms. Prevents the most common source of human-cat relationship breakdown.

Lesson 1 • Stress Physiology and Behavioural Indicators

Links the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to observable stress behaviours in cats. Builds the diagnostic foundation for distinguishing acute stress from chronic anxiety.

Lesson 2 • Environmental Modification for Stress Reduction

Applies enrichment and spatial design principles from Chapter 5 specifically to anxiety reduction. Demonstrates how environmental changes produce measurable behavioural improvement.

Lesson 3 • Common Feline Fear Triggers

Catalogues environmental, social, and procedural fear triggers with their behavioural signatures. Enables practitioners to anticipate and proactively reduce fear-inducing situations.

Lesson 4 • Feline Anxiety Disorders and Syndromes

Defines separation anxiety, generalised anxiety, and compulsive disorders with diagnostic criteria. Prepares students to recognise when behavioural intervention requires veterinary collaboration.

Lesson 1 • Elimination Problems: Diagnosis and Causes

Distinguishes inappropriate elimination from urine marking using location, posture, and volume criteria. Connects elimination problem diagnosis to medical screening and environmental assessment.

Lesson 2 • Conducting a Structured Behaviour Assessment

Provides a step-by-step intake interview, observation protocol, and written assessment format. Produces a complete, professional behaviour case record ready for intervention planning.

Lesson 3 • Compulsive and Repetitive Behaviours

Identifies wool sucking, over-grooming, pica, and repetitive locomotion as compulsive behaviour clinical presentations. Guides students in distinguishing compulsive disorders from medical dermatological or neurological causes.

Lesson 4 • Aggression Types and Assessment

Differentiates play, fear, redirected, territorial, and pain-induced aggression by trigger and behavioural sequence. Enables accurate aggression classification essential for safe intervention design.

Lesson 1 • Managing and Resolving Aggression Cases

Applies aggression classification from Chapter 7 to design safe, staged intervention plans. Integrates environmental management, desensitisation, and reinforcement to reduce aggressive incidents.

Lesson 2 • Evaluating Outcomes and Long-Term Planning

Establishes measurable success criteria, relapse prevention strategies, and long-term maintenance plans. Closes the intervention cycle with professional documentation and client handover procedures.

Lesson 3 • Learning Theory Applied to Cats

Reviews classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning as they apply to feline behaviour change. Provides the theoretical foundation for all modification techniques in this chapter.

Lesson 4 • Resolving Elimination and Compulsive Problems

Provides targeted protocols for litter box retraining, marking reduction, and compulsive behaviour interruption. Integrates medical, environmental, and behavioural strategies into unified treatment plans.

Lesson 5 • Desensitisation and Counter-Conditioning

Teaches systematic desensitisation hierarchies and counter-conditioning protocols for fear and anxiety cases. Directly applies stress and fear knowledge from Chapter 6 to structured behaviour change.