Barbara George cat behaviourist

28/04/2026

Have you ever noticed that tiny, extra toe pad on the back of your cat's front wrist? It's their emergency brake! 😹🐾🛑

Welcome to Feline Anatomy! If you gently look at the back of your cat's front legs, just above the main paw, you will see a solitary, leathery little bean. This is called the "Carpal Pad."

Because it sits so high up on the wrist, it never actually touches the ground when your cat is casually walking around the house. So, what is it for? It is a biological handbrake!

Cats are ambush predators capable of incredible bursts of speed and massive jumps. When they are sprinting at full speed across your slippery floor and need to make a sudden, sharp turn, or when they jump down from a high shelf, their wrist dips low. That extra carpal pad acts as a highly effective anti-slip brake, creating instant traction and absorbing the heavy shock of the landing so they don't break their delicate bones!

Go check your cat's front legs right now to see their built-in brakes! 👇

27/03/2026

t's always best to end on a positive note, even if you end a session sooner than you think you need to. The two big mistakes I see is when cat parents rush the intro and when they keep the cats together for too long. A slow, positive introduction allows each cat to feel more secure and not view the other cat as an immediate threat. It's worth investing the time now to do the right kind of introduction because it will greatly improve the chances that the cats will develop a friendly relationship (and hopefully a close one).

For step-by-step help in doing a new cat introduction, check out my book, Cat vs. Cat. It was written specifically for multicat households, as well as for people about to adopt a second cat.

https://catbehaviorassociates.com/buy-pams-books/

17/03/2026

March 17 isn’t only about shamrocks and green. It’s also a day to honor Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of cats and those who love them. A little history, a lot of heart, and plenty of whiskers. 🐾✨

10/03/2026

Cat’s have amazing eyesight, tailored to their needs as both predator and prey.
Their vision is best between 20-30cm away from their eyes and up to around 50m in a straight line.
Anything closer than 20cm is seen as a blur and could seem threatening. Keep toys further away from their faces for them to register and play.

Look at the position of their eyes on their face. They look outwards and cannot see their mouths. They use their paws for feeling, orientating and controlling prey.

This graphic is from another site, End FIP

22/02/2026

Cats have an acute awareness of their surroundings and other beings in their range

🔥🐾 What Your Cat SEES That You Don’t ⭐ 🌟 💫

Cats do not simply see a smaller version of our world - they experience reality through an entirely different sensory system shaped by evolution as stealth predators.

Understanding this hidden sensory world helps explain many behaviors that owners often misinterpret.

👁️ Vision - Built for motion, not detail
Cats have superior night vision thanks to a higher concentration of rod cells and a reflective structure called the tapetum lucidum. While humans see more fine detail and color, cats are experts at detecting movement, especially in low light. Even tiny motions that we ignore can instantly capture a cat’s attention.

👂 Hearing - Detecting the invisible
Cats can hear higher frequencies than humans and even dogs, allowing them to detect the ultrasonic sounds made by rodents and insects. Their rotating ears help locate sound sources precisely, which is why your cat may suddenly stare at “nothing” - they are often tracking sounds you cannot hear.

👃 Smell - Reading emotional and environmental information
A cat’s sense of smell is many times stronger than ours. They use scent to interpret safety, territory, familiar individuals, and emotional states. Pheromones play a huge role in how cats perceive comfort and security in their environment.

✨ Light and sensory perception
Cats perceive different light wavelengths and contrasts, helping them detect subtle patterns and movements. What looks like an empty space to us may contain visual cues meaningful to them.

🐾 Movement and spatial awareness
Depth perception and rapid visual processing allow cats to judge distances and track fast-moving objects with impressive accuracy, supporting their natural hunting instincts.

🧠 Reading emotional cues
Cats observe body language, routines, and environmental changes closely. They often detect subtle emotional shifts in their humans before we realize them ourselves.

🌎 A world we cannot fully perceive
When cats react to something we cannot see or hear, they are rarely “imagining things.” Instead, they are responding to sensory information outside human perception.

Understanding this helps us become calmer, more empathetic caregivers and improves communication between species.

© Cat Experts 2025- 2026 All Rights Reserved

20/02/2026

Punishment does not work for cats.

Using a sq**rt bottle to train a cat is not recommended because it relies on fear and discomfort rather than positive learning. While the method may temporarily interrupt unwanted behavior, it doesn't teach the cat what to do instead, and it can create confusion or anxiety, especially if the cat associates the negative experience with you rather than the behavior itself. Over time, this approach may erode trust.

11/02/2026

Really good information, although each cat is different. Some cats settle in hours while others take many months or years to feel at home

It doesn’t happen overnight. 🐾

A new home is a big change for a cat, and trust grows step by step.
The 3–3–3 rule helps us understand their journey:
• The first days are for decompressing
• The first weeks are for learning routines
• The first months are when a cat truly feels at home

Every hide, every pause, every quiet moment is part of becoming safe.
Patience and consistency turn uncertainty into comfort and a house into home. 💙🐱

10/02/2026

08/02/2026

Cats are better at training us than we are at training them - until we behave like a cat.

Surprisingly, you may be sending a mixed message to your cat when attempting to train or correct behavior issues. We’ve all done it at some point – we’ve unintentionally rewarded the cat for the very behavior we didn’t want displayed. How does this happen? It’s an easy and common mistake. Link to article in comment section.

29/01/2026

Good mental stimulation for your cat or kitten.