BehaviouRVNs – Details, episodes & analysis

Nicky Trevorrow BSc (Hons), PG Dip (CABC), RVN. Nicky works in Cats Protection's Veterinary Department at the National Cat Centre as a Behaviour Manager.

April is a registered veterinary nurse and has completed her ISFM Certificate in feline nursing. April currently works as a float nurse for Goddard Veterinary Group. April is currently undertaking the Colourful CPD Veterinary Nurse Consulting Certificate. She loves learning, developing new skills and being kept busy in her role. She is passionate about feline care and nursing and enjoys nurse consults as well as anaesthesia. April hopes to encourage veterinary nurses, students, and veterinary care assistants to have a voice and feel valued in their role. April shares her life with her handsome cat, Toffee.

In this episode, I speak to April about a brilliant article that was printed recently in VN Times, about Cat Friendly Clinics.

In this episode, I speak to Laura Watson, about cats and emotions. Laura is iCatCare’s Cat Welfare Assistant. Laura works closely with the Cat Welfare department, assisting in the creation and delivery of welfare-centric activities to positively impact the welfare of cats, both owned and unowned. Laura creates content for the charities social media channels iCatCare and ISFM (the veterinary division), newsletters, courses, congresses and campaigns and assists with programme delivery for the Cat Friendly Clinic, processing accreditations and reaccreditations. About Laura Laura qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2018 and has over sixteen years nursing experience in small animal first opinion clinics. She has always had a natural affinity with cats, having grown up with a myriad of rescue cats throughout her childhood, and her love of cats filtered into her working career with a passion to improve the welfare of cats within the veterinary clinic. This led Laura to complete the ISFM Advanced Feline Behaviour for Veterinary Professionals course with distinction in 2020 which helped her implement ideas to help their clinic become behaviourally centred for their care of cats and offer feline first aid nursing consultation to their clients. Laura was then promoted to Clinical Lead Nurse in her clinic and wanted to develop her feline nursing skills to confidently lead and guide her nursing team in the care they delivered to cats, which lead her to complete and gain a distinction in the ISFM Foundation Diploma in Feline Nursing in 2022.

This week I chat to Jo Clews about preventative behavioural care for dogs, such a wonderful topic. I learnt so much from Jo with this chat. "Hi, my name is Jo and I have been working in the veterinary industry for over a decade and have been a qualified registered veterinary nurse for 5 years. I got into behaviour through my little dog ‘Luna’ who is seen pictured with me. She was a very poorly RSPCA puppy that came into my old veterinary practice needing some medical attention, after getting her better I just couldn’t give her back, so she has stayed with me ever since! Having worked within the veterinary setting I was determined to not have a dog that ‘hated the vets’ and went on a knowledge quest for how I can best help my little friend when it came to the Veterinary environment. One thing was the annual Kennel Cough vaccination, I had seen many dogs fight and get scared by this. It had me thinking, there has to be a better way. So I went on the cooperative care journey, I managed to teach my dog a set of instructions and communications using the power of positive training to get her comfortable and happy with having a force free kennel cough vaccination. This then opened up the door to many things, including setting up my own desensitisation clinics and enrolling in my level 5 canine behaviour course. My mission is to educate owners just how the power of positivity can help their pets when it comes to preventative veterinary treatment and how we can best help their pets when they are at the vets." Jo's Facebook group ' Luna’s Cooperative Care

Alex qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1997 and has completed the ISFM feline nursing certificate, diploma and advanced certificate in feline behaviour. In 2023 Alex passed the advanced diploma in applied animal behaviour (feline) level 5 and is currently studying towards gaining the ABT (Animal Behaviour Technician) qualification. Alex currently works part-time for International Cat Care as the Cat Wellbeing and Behaviour Advisor and also as a self-employed lecturer and writer on feline behaviour and welfare. Alex is a member of the International Cat Care Feline Wellbeing Panel and has provided information about feline wellbeing to cat caregivers through her social media platforms under the name ‘The Cat Nurse’ since 2015.

Joy Shutt BSc(Hons) RVN C-SQP DipNCS(RVNCons) Joy lives for cats. She is the Cat Friendly Clinic Cat Advocate, Nurse Clinic Lead and Head Nurse at a first opinion practice in North Wales. With a degree in Bioveterinary Science and lots of experience with Cats Protection, Joy eventually came to the veterinary sector in 2014, qualifying as an RVN in early 2019. In 2022, she completed a diploma in veterinary nurse consulting but also enjoys perioperative nursing and schedule 3 surgical procedures. Joy is a volunteer BVNA Advocate, organising regional and online CPD events. She is also a veterinary nursing course marker for Colourful CPD and writes for veterinary publications. Somehow, she is also hoping to start a feline behaviour qualification in 2024. Joy does actually like dogs too and runs a Facebook group “North Wales Schnauzers”, who meet for regular walks and support the charity Schnauzerfest. As well as Frank, her miniature Schnauzer, Joy has a rescue cat who is newly hyperthyroid (typical) and three royal pythons.

Tabitha Kucera is an Elite Fear Free and Low-Stress Handling Certified Registered Veterinary Technician, VTS (Behavior), Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, and Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner. She is the owner of Chirrups and Chatter Cat and Dog Behavior Consulting and Training in Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys helping people better understand and relate to their animal companions which leads to a stronger bond and a more gratifying relationship between animal and human. She is a Fear Free certified speaker and coach, a Fear Free Practice Certification Consultant, host of the podcast, Tails from Vet Tech, and serves on the board of Pet Professional Guild’s cat committee. Tabitha has helped to develop training and behavior programs for various veterinary hospitals and shelters and works as a consultant for many shelters and private veterinary practices. Behavior Solutions for Dogs & Cats | Chirrups & Chatter Tails from a Vet Tech on Apple Podcasts

Lili Chin is an artist well known for her globally popular dog art,  while her work also includes cats and other species. Since 2008, she has been providing custom illustration and a catalog of art products for sale.    Lili Chin's dog behavior infographics have become a popular tool for dog training professionals, veterinarians, behaviorists, and welfare groups who advocate for humane animal training methods.   A partial list of prominent behaviorists, authors, and organizations that have used her art include the late Dr. Sophia Yin, Fear Free Pets, RSPCA, the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), and International Cat Care.   Her first book - Doggie Language: A Dog Lover's Guide to Understanding Your Best Friend - was published by Summersdale in October 2020, has been translated to multiple languages and has won two DWAA awards.    Her newest book, Kitty Language: An Illustrated Guide To Understanding Your Cat is available now, published by Ten Speed Press in Summer 2023.   Lili Chin is Malaysia-born and currently lives in Los Angeles with a writer-husband, and two rescued and bonded cats - Mambo and Shimmy. Her muse is her rescued, blue-eyed boston terrier, Boogie. (2004 - 10/20/2020) She loves making frozen desserts, listening to podcasts, and playing board games. ​ She is represented by Lilly Ghahremani at Full Circle Literary.

In this episode, I speak to Sarah Pointer, an exceptionally well-qualified crazy cat lady! After completing her BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour, Sarah began nursing in 2006 in small animal practice and qualified in 2008. She began lecturing at Warwickshire College across the BSc Veterinary Nursing and related animal programmes in 2013. Her specialist interests include emergency and critical care, feline nursing and behaviour as well as veterinary nurse education and training. In 2017 she undertook a PGDip in Academic Practice in Higher Education, and was admitted as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Rebecca is a Registered Veterinary Nurse currently based at RDSVS University of Edinburgh. She is currently a student at the Karen Pryor Academy “I took the jump to leave my job managing a restaurant to go back to college in 2013. I qualified in 2017 through the Level 3 Diploma route and since then have worked at the Dick Vets Small Animal Hospital. I always had an interest in training in some context because of my Dad's previous career as a dog handler, but like many things you never know what exists out there, who knew what a veterinary nurse was when I was in school. I have two labradors who have been my inspiration through my career choices or the chosen rabbit hole to go down to learn something new including my KPA studies. I am almost at the end of it now with my assessments at the end of October. “ https://karenpryoracademy.com/courses/dog-trainer-professional/