Pet Professional Guild expands resources for feline behavior specialists

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - Feb. 2, 2016 - PRLog -- Based on results from the 2015-2016 National Pet Owners Survey, the American Pet Products Association estimates that, in the 79.7 million households with pets in the United States, there are about 85.8 million pet cats, versus 77.8 million pet dogs. A 2008 survey by the World Society of the Protection of Animals showed that cats outnumber dogs by 1 to 3 million in European households.

Since their launch in January, the feline behavior webinars have been extremely popular amongst both feline and canine behavior professionals. Topics on the agenda include commonly reported issues such as destructive scratching and aggression, as well as low stress handling, new introductions to resident cats and dogs, force-free nail trims, medicating and environmental enrichment.

In 2015, PPG formed its Feline Committee, comprising a group of feline behavior experts who are the driving force behind the new initiative. In standing with PPG’s mission to advocate for the voiceless and educate pet owners on the merits of force-free, humane, scientifically sounds training methods and pet care, the committee recently published its first advocacy handout, titled The Alternatives To Declawing. The aim of the handout is to educate cat owners as to why this inhumane, painful practice is banned in many countries. Instead, it offers realistic and practical options to modify the scratching behavior that is typical to felines (but often problematic to cat owners).

“The Feline Committee was created to promote cat behavior issues to PPG members, their clients and the general public,” said Jane Ehrlich, chairwoman of the Feline Committee. “Given that cats are the most popular pet in the United States, it is surprising that much of the research and veterinary school curricula are largely devoted to dogs. In addition to our educational initiatives, we hope to help correct that lack of species balance via a number of feline experts who will present at the PPG Summit later this year. Issues that commonly send cats to shelters, keep them in disfavor with their owners and/or run the risk of euthanasia, such as 'inappropriate' soiling, aggression and destructive scratching, will all be addressed.”

PPG’s second educational Summit will take place in Tampa, Florida from November 8-11, 2016.

About The Pet Professional Guild

The Pet Professional Guild is a 501(c)6 a member organization founded on the principles of force-free training and pet care. Its membership represents pet industry professionals who are committed to force-free training, pet care philosophies, practices and methods. Pet Professional Guild members understand force-free to mean: no shock, no pain, no choke, no fear, no physical force, no physical molding, and that no compulsion-based methods are employed to train or care for a pet.

For more information on PPG’s feline educational resources, see http://www.petprofessionalguild.com/Feline-resources. Feline Advocacy Handout The Alternatives to Declawing is available at http://www.petprofessionalguild.com/Alternatives-To-Decla...

For more information on PPG’s 2016 Summit, see http://www.petprofessionalguild.com/2016-Summit.