Cat behaviourist/therapist education

Hi everyone!

I've been pondering on this for a while now and I might do this in the future.
There is an acknowledged education to become a feline expert a.k.a. feline therapist here in the Netherlands. It takes 1,5 years in the shortest route and you may take up to 5 years to complete it if necessarily if you have a hard time combining it with work, etc. The education looks wonderful but it takes place during working days which makes it that much harder for me to attend it plus it's very expensive (full education is over 5000 euro's, including materials but still...). You can get a chunck of that money back through taxes but still you have to cough it up first
Any other cat nuts that ever considered this? I wouldn't want to make my full job out of it but it would be wonderful to know more about cat behavior and help people with cats that show problematic behavior.

 

That sounds like a great program, albeit an expensive one. I know that there are a lot of animal behavior specialists out here in the United States. A lot have moved in Los Angeles to help train cats for the film industry. One of my favorite theme parks, Universal Studios Hollywood, even has an animal show that shows how pets are trained for film and tv. There is a need for it out here, just not sure if it is a booming industry in the Netherlands. Check into it!

 

It sounds like a good idea to me, and I bet you'd be very good at it. Is it a correspondence course or do you have to attend lectures?

 

The thing with this course is that it's indeed a course where you have to attend lectures and classes on a regular basis, and on different work days during the week. Also, a friend of mine who studies animal management told me that the education in Holland is behind on the studies in Belgium and England. The best place to study would be England, but since migrating isn't an option for me Belgium would be the only other option. Belgium is next to the Netherlands and the classes there are only 3 days a month and planned on for example friday, saturday and sunday so you'd only need one day off every month to take the course and off course you'd need a place to stay when attending there. Still, it's a nice option and the education gets better reviews that the Dutch one. The also get lecturers over from England, which is great. Me and my friend who studied animal management have some wild dreams about taking the course together someday in Belgium

 

I think if it is something you are intrested in then go for it!