Natalie Cascario
Consulting
Harmonious Household
Ingrid was referred to us when we asked our vet if they knew a cat behaviorist. Our three cats were foster failures and we’d never had cats for pets. Ingrid made our cats’ lives so much better. She explained how important resources were and so we got the cats three 4 feet tall scratching posts and four huge plastic containers with the side cut out for litter boxes. She also let us know that it wasn’t a good idea to leave a bowl of dry food out all day. She taught us that cats have a natural instinct to forage for their food. So, we bought some containers and created some food puzzles for them. They’ve been thriving ever since! We’re so thankful for Ingrid’s advice and passion for making cats’ lives better! Just recently she began offering a balancing beam that is a horizontal scratching post. One of our three cats loves to claw the bottom of our bed, and thanks to Ingrid, we realized that means she would enjoy a horizontal scratching post. We ordered one and she loves it!
Jennie Davis
Kennesaw, Ga
Jennie Davis
Boo and Sparrow
Boo and Sparrow peacefully co-existing.
My wife and I adopted two rescue cats about 5 months ago; Boo and Sparrow. Our primary issue was that Boo was being overly aggressive with Sparrow. He is twice her weight and we were worried he might inadvertently hurt her. But we also found we were a bit overwhelmed in caring for these two.
We spoke with Ingrid and she not only helped us with issues we had with Boo's aggression, she gave us a wealth of general information on how to feed, medicate, catify our home and otherwise care for them. We learned so much in our first call with her, that we booked two additional calls to learn more. If you speak with her, be prepared to be on the receiving end of a fire hose of amazing information! She is so knowledgeable and has real-world and current experience having worked as a veterinary technician for well over 20 years. She is very creative and comes up with great solutions to a wide variety of problems. It was a real pleasure to work with her!
~Boo and Sparrow’s parents
Paul
Spicy lady-tamed!
Maybe she's born with it? Miss Maybelline, so pretty!
About 6-7 years ago, I consulted with Ingrid about my then 2.5-year-old aggressive, anxious, hot mess calico, Maybelline. I was in grad school; staying with my parents and space was a big issue. I was at my whit’s end with what to do to help my kitty who, while not very social, had never been aggressive until this time. She would go through aggressive episodes in which she didn’t want anyone around her, including me. Her eyes would dilate, and you could tell in the moment she had no idea who I was. I never knew what might set her off, a loud noise, my phone, these episodes just seemed to come out of nowhere and could last for days or weeks at a time. I had already taken her to the vet and determined that aside from going through expensive CT scans, that might not tell us anything, there wasn’t much else to be done. She was perfectly healthy, and her issues were most likely something neurological and that trying meds and possibly seeing a vet that specialized in behavior issues was my next steps. The problem was that the closest vet that specialized in behavior was in Alabama, which was an option I just couldn’t afford. Thankfully, an internet search brought me to Ingrid’s website, and I set up a consultation. She quickly gave me lots of ideas about how to change Maybelline’s environment to best suit her needs and help reduce her anxiety. She also assured me that her aggressive behavior was not due to Maybelline’s lack of affection for me or caused by my own actions, it was simply something she could not control and agreed that medication would be a good idea for her. It wasn’t a quick fix, but after a year of adjusting medications and making changes at home, I got her episodes under control and learned to read her body language to better prevent situations that would tip her over the edge.
Maybelline is almost 9 now, she's still a hot mess and she will always be "special", but she and I have come a long way. Any time we go through a major transition (moving, adding a new pet to the family), I look to the Fundamentally Feline website for advice on how to make things easier for her and it works. She has taught me more about cats than any cat I've ever had.
Maybelline now has a whole house to roam, and our move here went smoother than I could have hoped. She is still the cat that needs to go to her safe space when someone comes over, it's momma or bust for her as I’m the only one she’s affectionate towards, but now she has the safe space to do that. Just me learning her triggers and her body language has gone a long way in minimizing any aggressive episodes. In fact, I can't remember the last time she had one because I can prevent it before it gets that far, and I know to give her grace if it does and how to help her calm down from it.
Things have gone so well that I even adopted a 2-year-old male about 3 years ago, Remi. She doesn't love him, no major cuddling is going to happen, but she tolerates him. I took a solid 5 months slowly introducing them, using Ingrid’s suggested steps from her website, until I felt they were comfortable. She does play and chase him some, which I think is the most I could hope for with her. Thank you for helping me learn how to adapt to her. She is a very special kitty that most people would have given up on at the first sign of trouble. However, 9 years later, she's still my sassy side kick, enjoying the good life she deserves. After all, she is not a “bad cat”, just misunderstood.
Kara DePriest
Georgia, USA
Buds!
Kara DePriest
Smokey is safe, warm and rescued!
A truly rags to riches story!
Yet again, Ingrid has helped us immensely with cat integration! We have added a kitty named Smokey to our family who was feral and we fed for 2 years and was already at our home in our yard when we moved in. We had him TNR’d and never dreamed we could actually domesticate him! That’s where Ingrid comes in…
I casually mentioned to Ingrid that it would be amazing if we could ever get Smokey into our house. She suggested using a wand outside to play with him and as I did that he let me interact more and more with him. I was able to put out some flea/tick/worm meds disguised in treat form and some time after starting that he let me touch him! I was able to do this more and more and decided to really pursue getting him into our home and Ingrid and I set up a formal consultation and within days I was able to get him! She helped me know how to do this and set up his room and with every step of domesticating him AND integrating him with our other two female cats (who she helped us with integration previously) and now all kitties are living with each other and doing great! She has helped with medications to ease the transition as well as very specific methods of cat integration. She also helped with litter box issues and all medical questions and what to know/do for his first vet visit since he was neutered through the TNR process 2 years ago! She has come to the rescue, yet again, for our family and we could not have done it without her!! I could not recommend Ingrid high enough and she has created a happy family for us TWICE!!! You are truly the BEST Ingrid!
Helen Hyslop
Atlanta, Ga.
Helen Hyslop
Adventures in Elimination!
My Floor Doesn’t Get Cleaned as Often
I found Ingrid through a talk she did with the Kitty Cat GO adventure challenge group. I knew my Rosie was trying to tell me something by peeing by her food bowl every day. I’d pretty much made my peace with mopping up the floor every day, my floors were always clean in between events! It stopped every so often but this time it was back with a vengeance and I was cleaning up many times a day, even poop. I even got a silicone mat with raised edges so it was easier to clean. My most embarrassing moment was when my kind neighbors and friends who fed while I was off traveling reported back that she had done it on their watch.
Enjoying the chance to make a CHOICE!
Rosie and Kittleson on an adventure together!
Foraging with her Fundamentally Feline foraging toys!
My Rosie, who was awesome before, is even more lovey these days. She used to do bedtime snuggles 2-3 times a week but now I get them 2-3 times a night! Also part of the plan, they get twice a day wet food and then forage for dry whenever they want. My cats aren’t overfed and they’re not climbing the walls when it’s meal time. We’re even back to training!
For two cats and one human in a tiny apartment in DC, it feels like we’re living a much bigger life now. Thanks Ingrid!!!
Katie Werback
Washington D.C.
These toys are like the "Ingrid was here" stamp.
It took Ingrid’s holistic approach to put together an actionable plan. When I filled out Ingrid’s questionnaire, I actually felt relieved that someone would want to know so many different things about my cats. It was a breath of fresh air to have a new set of eyes because I was in tunnel vision mode
We ensured medical wasn’t the issue and then moved onto making the litter box a friendly place again. After offering seven litters(!) both of my cats informed me that they did not like wood litter, they never even touched it. Crystal stuff, they played a little but they love the clay. We have had zero incidents since providing clay litter in a monster clear box.
Katie Werback
