Friendly Neighborhood Cat Behaviourist

🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇸Aaron, he/him, over 20. Formerly isthecatvideocute. Animal behaviour education and cat behaviour explanations. Always happy to explain anything related to cats and spread awareness

[localcatbehaviourguy]

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My name is Aaron, I'm a lifelong cat owner with animal behaviourism training (focused mostly on cat behaviourism) and some real-world experience helping cats and their owners figure out how to interact with each other. I've studied all kinds of behavioural issues and have diagnosed and treated quite a few in the field, though I am still relatively new at this. I also know quite a bit about dog welfare and some about dog behaviour, though not as much as cats, and I've studied on my own to learn a few things about exotics, though I'm not qualified to diagnose or treat those in any setting, even professional.

Disclaimer- I cannot, will not, and should not ever attempt to diagnose your cat here. Diagnosis requires actual real-life interactions with you, your cat, and your cat's environment, which includes any other animals or other family members, and many of the tests I run cannot be satisfied through simple videos or pictures. The most any cat behaviourist can accurately do online is say "Well, in cases I've experienced in real life, cats with these symptoms/behaviour patterns usually responded best to treatment for (behavioural issue) and here are some of the things they seemed to benefit from me doing," but I'm not diagnosing your cat. There's too much I could get wrong and that could lead you to treating your cat for the wrong thing and making the existing issue worse. If you need a cat diagnosed, take them to an IRL behaviourist who can interact with them in person to provide the best and most accurate care possible.

I am not qualified to diagnose health issues with physical causes. Think of me as almost a cat psychologist- a psychologist can't diagnose you with a brain tumor. This is why a behaviourist's first question will usually be "have you taken them to the vet over this," because it's best to rule out any physical causes before trying to treat a cat for a behavioural issue that may have a cause that I'm not qualified to work with. Take the cat to the vet first. If they give the cat a clean bill of health, then you take them to a behaviourist. In what I do, the vet's word is law. Physical issues are their wheelhouse, behavioural issues are mine. If they diagnose a brain tumor or whatever, that's something I am, again, not at all qualified to treat, so I can't help.

I also cannot and will not address issues of your personal cat's quality of life. That is something that always, always, needs handled by a professional who can actually interact with your cat to give you the information you need to make an informed decision. A vet will give you the accurate information so that you can make your choice based on what a professional who had actually interacted with your cat has noticed. There's no way I can give you an accurate answer in good conscience and it's not ethical for me to pretend I can. All of this is decided by people who actually interact with your cat.

I am also not qualified to work with exotics, even more minor ones like Savannahs. They're an entirely different thing I haven't been trained for and have only encountered once, and encounter I had to step back from because I was not qualified to help that cat. Some behaviourists, usually the older/more experienced ones, are qualified to help exotics, but I'm not one of them and will not pretend that I am. Exotic animal, you need exotic treatments. I'm strictly domestic. Properly caring for exotics would required specialized training that I don't have.

Well, what can I do? I can explain domestic cat behaviour, correct husbandry concerns, explain the importance of certain cat-related issues (interactions with small animals, outdoors cats, etc,) talk FACTS (not behaviour in a video, just the facts) about exotic animals, and answer questions you may have about your cat (I will tell you if something needs to be taken to an IRL behaviourist should that bridge be crossed.) I can, based on a fixed set of criteria, see if a cat video has anything that I feel is cause for concern, but I'm taking more of a "this is how this is wrong and this is how you can fix it" approach, rather than an "is this cute" approach.

No other discourse allowed. None. Zero. You want to talk human discourse? Send it to my main. I refuse to discuss anything that isn't animal-related on my blog. A few things to note

I am a transgender man

I am pro-euthanasia because some animals just need to be humanely put down

I am anti-outdoor cat and do not believe TNR or attempting to adopt out feral cats is effective or ethical

I am pro-zoo, sanctuary, reserve, ambassador animal, and working animal

I believe that exotics are not and cannot be (with maybe two exceptions in all of history) pets. If an exotic can't be in the wild, it needs to be at a zoo, reserve, sanctuary, etc. Not in your house.

I do not believe unprotected contact with megafauna is ethical. Zoos and exotic vets have safety measures in place because they know that a wild animal is always a wild animal first, and megafauna can easily injure, maim, or kill a human even on accident. If someone is interacting with megafauna or apex predators unprotected, they're stupid. Yeah, I said it.

I am firmly and unshakeably of the belief that all interaction with a wild animal needs to be handled by a trained professional. Yes, even pests like raccoons and foxes. Do not try to interact with them, don't feed them, don't do anything other than admire them from afar. Do you want rabies? Because that's how you get rabies.

I am firmly against any actions that habituate a non-domesticated animal to humans, unless that exotic is being cared for at a zoo and habituation takes place to avoid stressing the animal and help safeguard against potential incidents on the rare occasion someone does have unprotected contact with an animal.

Basically, unless you are a trained professional who isn't a fool, don't interact with non-domesticated fauna. Ever. At all. Period.

I'm big on rabies. I've seen it before- I was even once called in to treat a cat who had rabies, thank the gods I recognized it- and it's MAJOR. You will see plenty about rabies.

Vaccinate your animals

Cats are obligate carnivores who cannot survive a vegan diet.

Do not ever put a non-herbivore animal on a vegan diet. It will kill them.

I eat meat and believe that there isn't anything wrong with it when it's ethically-sourced.

I am pro-hunting within reason, pro-culling in ethical ways, pro-fur farming when done ethically, and extremely anti plastic fur or leather

Do not try this at home unless instructed to do so by an IRL professional.

[whydidisavethistomyphone]

[abz-j-harding]

[thegenderal]

even before i lived in a place with a massive population of feral cats decimating the wildlife i had read the studies and knew the data said that TNR did not work and we need to be trapping and euthanizing feral cats but now that i’ve lived in a place where there are an enormous number of feral cats it’s like, inconceivable to me that anyone supports TNR, not just for the health of the world but for the sake of the fucking cats

[thegenderal]

nobody will even acknowledge it not even in most conservation circles. We have a solution to a massive, massive problem that is more humane, cheaper, easier, takes less time, prevents animal suffering, and saves valuable members of our disappearing ecosystem. And nobody is even willing to theoretically acknowledge that it exists outside of a few very small circles.

[thegenderal]

it works. It works. It is better for the cats. It’s better for the cats. Living in a place where you cannot drive 10 minutes without seeing a new roadkill cat almost every single day really makes you think about how much suffering could have been prevented if we just dealt with the problem we have created. It’s not a pleasant way to go, being hit by a car. Or being ripped apart by a predator, or eating a poison, or starving to death, of dying of an infection, or an illness, or any of the hundred thousand ways an animal in the wild passes without human intervention. Euthanasia is simply falling asleep. It is fucking wild to me that saying you think we should take responsibility for our mistakes and ensure that cats fall asleep peacefully instead of capturing them and then hurling them back out into the world SPECIFICALLY in order to allow them to die in agony makes people treat you like a fucking serial killer.

[thegenderal]

And if you don’t care about cats dying in agony do you care about the world around you? There’s a species of bird we only know ever existed because someone’s cat brought home our only example. That’s horrific. We’ve lost so much biodiversity because we simply won’t listen to the research, which again, has proven that TNR is not effective.

[thegenderal]

a peaceful death is not the worst thing that could happen to an animal.

[thegenderal]

@cathartidae sources for ya!

Sources:

https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW468 “How Effective and Humane Is Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) for Feral Cats?” 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6523511/ “A Case of Letting the Cat out of The Bag—Why Trap-Neuter-Return Is Not an Ethical Solution for Stray Cat (Felis catus) Management” (also has a thousand references attached that are handy)

Not a reference so much as the human society actively admitting that TNR does nothing to decrease population, actively contributes to harming wildlife, and doesn’t actually help the cats in any way, just reduces some of the nuisance behavior that people complain about: https://www.animalhumanesociety.org/resource/real-impacts-trap-neuter-return

Unscientific from here on out as i don’t feel like trying to find the studies i read in like January of last year:

https://hahf.org/awake/the-trouble-with-trap-vaccinate-neuter-return/ “The Trouble With Trap-Neuter-Re (Abandon!) from the hillsborough animal health foundation, articles also link to studies

https://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/The-Evidence-Against-TNR.pdf from the american bird conservancy, has scientific articles quoted. 

[thegenderal]

Even More Sources on TNR being non-viable and ways that cats are impacting the world from birds to *hawai’i’s monk seals*

Animal Emergency and Referral Center of Minnesota. (2022, October 26). Indoor cats vs. outdoor cats. Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota. https://aercmn.com/indoor-cats-vs-outdoor-cats/

Campbell, V. (2017, January 25). The Obituary of the Stephens Island Wren. All About Birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/the-obituary-of-the-stephens-island-wren/

Castillo, D., & Clarke, A. L. (2003). Trap/neuter/release methods ineffective in controlling domestic cat “colonies” on public lands. Natural Areas Journal, 23(3).

Coe, S. T., Elmore, J. A., Elizondo, E. C., & Loss, S. R. (2021). Free-ranging domestic cat abundance and sterilization percentage following five years of a trap–neuter–return program. Wildlife Biology, 2021(1). https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00799

del Hoyo, J., Collar, N., Kirwan, G. M., & Sharpe, C. J. (2022, October 25). Guadalupe storm-petrel (Hydrobates Macrodactylus), version 1.2. Birds of the World. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/guspet/cur/introduction

Dickman, C. R., & Newsome, T. M. (2015). Individual hunting behaviour and prey specialisation in the house cat Felis catus: Implications for conservation and management. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 173, 76–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2014.09.021

Edge. (2019, June 19). Guadalupe storm-petrel. EDGE of Existence. https://www.edgeofexistence.org/species/guadalupe-storm-petrel/

Galbreath, R., & Brown, D. (2004). The tale of the lighthouse-keeper’s cat: Discovery and extinction of the Stephens Island wren (Traversia lyalli). Notornis, 51(4).

Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources. (2025). Feral cats. Feral Cats. https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invasive-species-profiles/feral-cats/#:~:text=Feral%20cats%20on%20islands%20have,kill%20approximately%202.4%20billion%20birds.

Loss, S. R., Will, T., & Marra, P. P. (2013). The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States. Nature Communications, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2380

McGregor, H., Legge, S., Jones, M. E., & Johnson, C. N. (2015). Feral cats are better killers in open habitats, revealed by animal-borne video. PLOS ONE, 10(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133915

Medina, F. M., Bonnaud, E., Vidal, E., Tershy, B. R., Zavaleta, E. S., Josh Donlan, C., Keitt, B. S., Corre, M., Horwath, S. V., & Nogales, M. (2011). A global review of the impacts of invasive cats on Island Endangered Vertebrates. Global Change Biology, 17(11), 3503–3510. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02464.x

National Research Council. (1992, January 1). Scientific Bases for the Preservation of the Hawaiian Crow. U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235935/

NOAA. (2024, August 29). Toxoplasmosis and its effects on Hawaiʻi Marine Wildlife. NOAA Fisheries. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/endangered-species-conservation/toxoplasmosis-and-its-effects-hawaii-marine

Read, J. L., Dickman, C. R., Boardman, W. S., & Lepczyk, C. A. (2020). Reply to Wolf et al.: Why trap-neuter-return (TNR) is not an ethical solution for Stray Cat Management. Animals, 10(9), 1525. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10091525

Reed, L. (2022). The effects of free-roaming cats on native wildlife populations. Wildlife Rehabilitation Bulletin, 40(1), 17–21. https://doi.org/10.53607/wrb.v40.250

Salano, E. (2024, October 5). Eliciting the effect free roaming cats have on Native Hawaiian wildlife using stable isotope analysis. UKnowledge. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/biology_etds/103/ 

Steele, J. H., Thorpe, S. A., & Turekian, K. K. (2009). Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences. Academic Press. 

science says it’s long past time to stop prolonging the suffering of feral cats, for the sake of the people, the native wildlife, and the goddamn cats themselves.

[boundless-ennui]

I was at a friend's house to check on carcasses I had macerating in his yard. A little grey cat ran up to me, yelling her head off in friendliness and wanting nothing more than to be pet. I had nothing to give her but let my friend know he should catch her since she was so friendly. I am ashamed to admit I didn't give her much thought beyond that, finishing my work and giving her a last pet before going home.

My friend told me how he'd seen her before but she always vanished before he could catch her. He works far too many hours and is always tired so he couldn't prioritize catching this cat.

Three months pass with no sign of her. I go back with my partner to check on carcasses and this same little grey cat appears. This time, however, a tooth has been snapped off and her tongue is so badly cut that she can't keep it in her mouth. She was thin and dirty and screaming to please be given some food.

This time I couldn't look away. I asked my friend's girlfriend if I could borrow a cat carrier. She loaned me one and a tin of wet food that the grey cat willingly followed into the carrier. She didn't care at all about being put into the carrier - all she wanted was a hand on her. She'd arch up against the top just so my hand would rest on her back for a moment.

We drove through rush hour traffic to the only shelter still open. We knew we couldn't keep her and I couldn't stand the thought of putting her back out on the streets to die slowly.

The shelter couldn't take her. Her ear was clipped so she was a "community cat" and outside their ability to help. They tried desperately to offer alternatives to me as I cried over her carrier, knowing I couldn't take her home but also that if I didn't I couldn't live with the thought of her back on the streets.

I made a Hail Mary call to a local friend who is very connected in our city. They didn't have my number saved but answered all the same to hear me sobbing about a cat I'd found and to please help me find a place for her. Please. If I don't find something then she'll be alone on the streets again to die.

My friend came through. I could keep the cat in their garage overnight and in the morning my friend would be back in the city and could find someone to help the cat.

The shelter folk gave me a crate and some food - their hands were tied but they didn't want to leave me with nothing. They were good people doing the best they could in their own system. Community cats were ones they weren't allowed to "waste" resources on. Ostensibly they'd been dealt with and their fate decided. There was nothing the shelter folks were allowed to do for them.

I took the cat to my friend's garage. She was settled into a crate on towels, happy as a clam to be warm and safe. This was a cat made to be loved and to love, as she immediately began trying to groom one of my friend's roommates. He stayed in the garage with her, giving her food and water and in exchange having no say on whether she was in his lap or not. She was always in his lap.

Nobby Nobbs (so named for the only other character known to man that is as scrungly as she is) was then formally adopted by my friend. Her tongue has healed, her fur remains scrungly, and she's every bit the rabid love bug I suspected her to be when she came to me yelling to be pet.

She's a TNR cat. Someone thought they were doing her a kindness in that and if nothing else she didn't add kittens to the world but that doesn't negate the pain she suffered before I found her - the broken teeth, the lacerated tongue, the ulcerated cheeks, the flea-bald patchiness of her coat.

I say this as someone who adores this cat and has the privilege to see her loved and cherished: I wish she'd never had to suffer what she did. I wish people were alright making the harder call that leads to less misery on the side of the cats.

TNR is a polite fiction, nothing more. Just so the humans can pretend they've done right by the same cats they're letting loose to die miserably somewhere else. As long as the humans don't see it it's fine.

The shelter folks told me she's a community cat and that I could take her home and release her by my house. Then I could feed her myself and keep up with her and know where she was! I could still keep her, after a fashion.

I am not proud of how I snarled back that I would never exchange a quick death for a slow one. I would be giving her a different funeral plot, not giving her a life. Even near me she'd be just as vulnerable to the innumerable predators that find cats quite delicious, let alone cars and poisons and the other cruelties humans practice on stray cats.

She's the second stray cat I've met that when I held them the cat melted in my arms, purring and so desperately wanting to be loved. The first cat I was able to trap and take to a local shelter only to find when I called to check on him a day later that his health had been so terrible, so beyond help, that he'd been put down. All the love in that tiny body lost because the people I lived beside didn't care enough to trap the cats they had.

My partner was asleep. I woke her up to crawl into her arms and sob, my heart breaking for the stupidity of the humans who hadn't cared enough to grant this poor little cat the chance to be either an indoor cat, loved and cared for, or to grant him a quick death long before I met him. I've other stories of the cats they kept around, essentially feeding the poor souls to the predatory birds and wandering dogs that frequented our area.

TNR doesn't work. It is a lie humans tell ourselves so we can pretend we haven't failed these animals on a massive scale. Cats are invasive and cause massive harm in their turn. It is humanity who needs to deal with this crisis, this horror we've made, and I pray one day we look it square in the face and vow to make it right.

[thegenderal]

sorry

[dykeofalltrades]

for the record, this includes barn and farm cats. ive grown up in a place where theyre common. theyre not better off

[localcatbehaviourguy]

I didn't remember recording it, but I just found a video of Talia (my first cat that was actually mine, passed away in December) purring and I am in tears. I thought I would never be able to hear her sweet purr again. You don't realize how much those little things matter to you until you no longer have them

Cat owners, record a video of your kitty purring. That way you'll always be able to hear them again.

Miss you, baby girl

[this-is-deformimisia]

is this deformisia?

[ID: A text post on a grey background that states "I hate when people show a pic of a severely mutilated animal (eg, a cat lost half its face) and say "omg if you don't find this cat cute you're heartless!" You know what? No. I don't find this cat cute. I don't find the sight of a cat missing its face cute. And before you throw rotten tomatoes at me, I would just like to say that no one's worth, not even an animal's, is determined by how aesthetically pleasing they are. I'm not going to lie to you or this poor animal whose worth goes beyond "cuteness" after a traumatic event." /End ID]

This is disfiguremisia.

This boils down to "I think that cat is ugly now because of its horrible mutilated disgusting face, but that doesn't make it worthless!"

Okay, so tell me how you (general you, not you submitter) feel about disfigured people. You think they are ugly and worth pity too? That they're no longer capable of being cute, pretty, handsome, attractive? Fuck off. (Again, not you submitter.)

[zoguy1]

Reminds me of the time my cat made a cute face and I got a picture of it, and he was still recovering from getting his eye removed, so the stitching and shaven fur were still present in the picture. I show a lot of people his cute face, but in order for people to not react poorly to the picture, I have to zoom in on half his face, and pretty much hide his other eye. It especially sucks, as getting his eye removed was the best thing that could have happened to him. He had cancer in his eye, and we were all worried that it had spread to his bloodstream. We waited for what felt like forever waiting to hear back from the doctors, and my family and I were talking about how we were going to move forward if it did get into his bloodstream. Thankfully, it didn't, and all it took to get him cancer-free was the removal of that eye. Seeing him recover from his surgery on top of an already cute face just brings me so much joy. But nobody will ever see it the way I do.

And because, of course, I can't talk about a cute cat picture and NOT show the picture. On the right, I think it was the night after his surgery. On the left is several years post-surgery and a stuffed black cat missing the same eye as my baby! I was told the stuffed cat was from the Emily Strange series.

[localcatbehaviourguy]

One prominent example of this issue is Chase No Face. She was a kitty involved in an auto accident at four weeks old, and it left her face pretty majorly scarred, and also left her blind. But she had a great quality of life (as determined by her vet) until she passed at the ripe old age of sixteen, her humans loved her and she was a happy, healthy kitty. Chase might be the kitty OOP is referring to. Because this was always a massive controversy with her existing on the internet, and she was often used in "If you don't think she's cute, you're evil" posts

And if I'm right, then OOP missed the entire point of Chase's social media.

Her Instagram is still up, if anyone wants to see her. And personally, I absolutely adore her. She got a lot of people to understand that special kitties are still just kitties, and she had a long, wonderful, happy life

[ambermaitrejean]

Black-capped chickadee. Jefferson County, Colorado. Photos by Amber Maitrejean

[localcatbehaviourguy]

I've recently taken interest in birdwatching- decided the black-capped chickadee is the one I'm most fascinated with- and literally not one day later, and American robin builds her nest on our porch. No pictures yet, we're trying to let her settle in, but I appreciate the coincidence of discovering an interest in the native birds and a native bird making her nest on the porch immediately the next day.

I've decided to name her Stephanie. Like Stephanie Brown, one of Batman's Robins

[localcatbehaviourguy]

I present to you, Stephanie! She's got four eggs! We taped the wreath she built her nest on down so that it's less likely to get blown around by the wind, to make her nest safer. We're also using the front door (where her nest is) as little as possible and going through the garage or back door instead. It's essentially her front porch now.

[kittybroker]

I present to you el gato presidente, Lincoln. He's got only five teeth but could win gold in the Olympics long jump

Look out! The real el gato presidente Lincoln now leaping onto store shelves for only $55.55!

[localcatbehaviourguy]

I feel like a parent whose child just won a prestigious award. My cat is worth over fifty dollars

[a-silly-poll-side-blog-yay]

was your pet expensive?

yes

no

found that goober on the street

got that goober as a gift

i don't have any pets

results

Voting ended onMay 9

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Took pictures of these fantastic birds while visiting my grandparents

[localcatbehaviourguy]

I've recently taken interest in birdwatching- decided the black-capped chickadee is the one I'm most fascinated with- and literally not one day later, and American robin builds her nest on our porch. No pictures yet, we're trying to let her settle in, but I appreciate the coincidence of discovering an interest in the native birds and a native bird making her nest on the porch immediately the next day.

I've decided to name her Stephanie. Like Stephanie Brown, one of Batman's Robins

[localcatbehaviourguy]

I was pulling into the driveway at work when someone's cat (had a collar) walked in front of me. I stopped. It stopped. For two minutes I wait for it to move. It doesn't. I honk at it. It moves a little, then stops, still in my way. I had to put the car in park halfway in the road to text my coworker and she had to come out and shoo it off with a broom. Worth noting that this is 9:30 pm, on an unlit road, it's pitch black outside, so the fact I managed to see that tiny cat was a godsdamn miracle. And we're right next to a major state route. Who lets their cat out at night in such a dangerous area?

So anyway, keep your cats indoors.

[dailycatsblog]

[localcatbehaviourguy]

You can jumpstart the cat distribution system by going to a local pound or shelter and asking to see their cats! If you want an authentic feel to the experience, try the dog warden or a pound that's mostly strays

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

When autumn comes to North America, leaves aren't the only things to change color. The green lynx spider also fades from green to pale yellow, often with red streaks. This helps it to continue camouflaging itself against the foliage, which is crucial for stalking prey.

(Image: A green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) by Cricket Raspet)

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Oh hey, that's Charlotte! We had one of these in our flowerbed when we lived in California, and we named her Charlotte since my class was reading Charlotte's Web when she moved in. I remember Dad showing us how fast she could move, and I swear, that spider moved at the speed of light when he tapped the flower she was sitting on.

Apparently these are venomous, but not lethally so. It just hurts, so we left her alone. But this spider is a celebrity to me

[localcatbehaviourguy]

The first time I held a rabbit, it decided it wanted to eat a hole in my Green Day shirt (which I'm sure is not an appropriate rabbit diet) and I didn't notice until I accidentally shifted and it missed and bit me on the stomach, and this surprised me so much that I apparently screamed, and the neighbors called the cops. Scared the hell out of the rabbit, too. Five cars showed up because cops where I live don't have jack shit to do, and I had to tell them I was attacked by a rabbit.

So that's why I decided never to work with rabbits professionally. Rabbits and Aaron clearly don't mix well

[stoportotouch]

the fact that a cat considers “sit in the same room ignoring each other” to be an acceptable social activity and not an insult is great for me because that’s how i like to socialise

[preserving-tiktok]