Phew!

I started teaching a course in cat behavior yesterday! I was so anxious but everything went just great. It was the first of 14 6-hours-long meetings we're going to have every Friday. I was on my feet for 6 hours talking about cats :tounge2: By the end of the day, I was too hoarse to speak and my feet are just killing me! How do teachers do this everyday for years and years?

Anyway, it was a lot of fun too! The course is taking place the the center of the Cat Welfare Society of Israel. That means resident cats are constantly popping into the classroom. We only had to get one of them out because she kepy sitting right on top on the slides projector Closing the door didn't stop her for long as one of the other cats is an expert at jumping on door handles and he opened it for her and let her back in It was great teaching a group of cat lovers about cats and having several cats around to pet throughout the day...

Just wanted to share this nice experience and let you all know why I've been away for the past few days.

What a joyful subject to teach, and sounds like the teacher had little helpers! So tell me Anne, were they "teacher's pets?"

I'm so glad you had such a good time with this! And I just KNEW everything would go okay for you!!!!!

And you even had a little slide show helper!

Keep us posted on how it goes!!!! And rest that voice and those feet!!!

Glad to hear it went well!!!!!!!!!

The kitty just figured that the real thing was better than slides!

As someone, who's spent most of my life, working on my feet: the more cushioning, the better. I used to put insoles, in my nurse's shoes AND wear tube socks. It makes a heck of a difference.

Sounds like your class went great - that would have been a sight, all those cats coming in to check in on your work! I love your comment Hissy about the 'teachers pet'
I would be very interested in a cat behaviour class - it would be quite interesting to study and it would also help me to learn about the mysteries of my cats' minds!

I'm glad it went well! I wish I could have been there, I'd love to attend that class!

(and to meet Anne of course!)

Oh how fun. I want to go too! How did you learn so much about cats? That is so great.

How did I learn? Well, just a lot of research really. Which got me to writing articles about cat care and cat behavior. I wrote over 150 articles so far (in Hebrew and English). After a couple of years of giving behavior advice to people (as there was no one else to do that here in Israel), I started doing this as a small business. I don't have a lot of time on my hands now - so the aim of the course is to teach others to do cat behavior counselling. I am not the only teacher - with me there is a vet who is a cat expert and also the director of the Cat Welfare Society of Israel (who's an expert on cats, esp. rescue and ferals). We're going to do some counselling sessions within the course, so that each student gets to do one session herself (yep - all women). We're also going to do some hands on training - how to give medications, clip claws and we're going to have everyone watch a spay/neuter operation...

I wish you could all attend Who knows - I may be doing an online course some day :tounge2:

Hi, Anne! I'm glad it went well. I think that must be a really interesting course. I love reading books and articles on animal behavior. As a teacher, I'm used to being on my feet and talking 6 - 8 hours a day. Comfortable shoes are a must (I usually wear sneakers), and it's best to have some mineral water or tea to sip on. Cats can be a big help. Up until a few months ago, there was a brothel located right next to our school (no joke; it was only open in the evening and at night, so nobody felt disturbed by it), and the ladies had several cats that would wander in and out of the classrooms, sit on people's laps, beg for a tidbit, etc.. I really miss having them around. Apparently somebody in the city government caught wind of the brothel's existence and used zoning laws to force its closure. So no more "cathouse", and no more furry auditors.