Hello

My name is Jennifer Van de Kieft

Growing up in South Brooklyn, my family always had cats. I've been admiring their mysterious ways for many years. My Dad fed strays and took cat food cans to work with him in case he saw a cat outside - he traveled around NYC as part of his social work field job. Cats were an important part of our family.

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After working for decades in the addiction field, I left to pursue my passion, cat behavior. Cat Advocate opened in 2018 after I achieved feline training and behavior certification. Since that time, I've helped hundreds of cat guardians with their cat's behavior issues. I particularly enjoy working on feeding issues and have taken several nutrition courses. House soiling is another speciality, though I'm trained in all kinds of behavior issues and have obtained multiple certifications and certificates over the years (see below).

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I also have an undergraduate degree in Psychology and am a NY licensed attorney (working with cats guardians is so much better than practicing law!). ​I live with my wonderful husband, son and five enlightening cats in Brooklyn, New York: Luke, Lily, Josh, Maya & Oscar.

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All of my cats were adopted from Brooklyn Animal Action animal rescue. I volunteer for them, providing feline behavior advice to rescuers, fosters and recent adopters.