Clients Say . . .

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FOOD AGGRESSION CONSULTATION: I cannot recommend Jennifer highly enough. We reached out to her with concerns about our 6 month old kitten Fig who had developed food aggression/obsession. We felt completely overwhelmed with the behavior as we were unable to leave anything out in the kitchen without him getting into it, and were unable to eat around him. We had a video call with Jennifer where we showed her our apartment, introduced her to our cats and explained the issues. It was a very comprehensive call, and we felt like she really listened to all of our concerns and took them seriously. Jennifer quickly created a behavior modification plan to address Fig's food issues, while also offering us some suggestions on how to improve the relationship between him and our older cat. This was an added bonus as it's not the original reason we contacted Jennifer, but she heard we were also worried about that and wanted to make sure we had the tools to address that as well. Two months later and things are completely different! We've implemented many of the strategies Jennifer suggested to us, and both Fig and our older cat Dickens are much happier for it. Everyone in the house is significantly less stressed when food is involved, and we are excited to move onto the next phase of our behavior plan - clicker training! Jennifer has been incredibly responsive throughout the two month period after our initial call and has continued to answer any behavior questions we have, even if they aren't related to the original food issues. We feel incredibly lucky to have worked with someone as knowledgeable as her. - Kaylen

I've used Jennifer for my own cat's behavioral issues, and found her professional, kind and well informed. I have no hesitation in referring my clients to her for their cats' behavioral needs too! - Leanna Shuttleworth, Veterinarian

Jennifer was amazing. She was thoughtful and patient. She provided a comprehensive plan with endless information and suggestions. We were dealing with a cat who sprays everywhere and it is beyond frustrating. She gave us the tools and support to correct the behavior. While it has not been an easy journey, we never would have made it without her guidance. Thank you Jennifer! - Eden

KITTEN CARE CONSULTATION: Jennifer’s process is careful and thorough, taking into account the individual cat’s history and owners’ experience. The tailored report and suggestions on appropriate toys and environmental changes will especially help first-time owners seeking to make their kitten welcome, safe and healthy. She remains committed to the pet and offers feedback and follow ups diligently. - Surya

Jennifer is amazing and really helped us new cat owners solve our cat issues as-well-as give us ideas for creating a happier cat. She came to our house and played with Fireball and even gave her a great new toy! Incredibly knowledgeable, very responsive and very kind is what you will get when you hire Jennifer. - Shane & Ana

Jennifer was amazing at helping our cat through his behavioral issues! We got Milo as a young kitten, and he was demonstrating several behavioral issues - inappropriate biting, yowling often, and strong human food interest. Our vet highly recommended Jennifer. She did an in-depth consultation with us, and followed it up with a detailed behavioral modification plan on each issue. We saw our first improvements within the first month on the plan, and committed to continuing on the path. Now a year later, there is no inappropriate biting, almost no interest in human food, and the yowling is reduced to chatty little meows when he wants to tell us about his day. We are enjoying ourselves so much more without having to worry about Milo's behavior. He is now such a chill, affectionate kitty and we credit Jennifer for a lot of the change in his behavior. Absolutely recommend working with her! - Nika

BONDED CATS REINTRODUCTION: When our previously bonded cats started having violent fights seemingly out of nowhere, we were forced to sequester them into isolated areas of the house. When our reconciliation efforts were unsuccessful, we became despondent over the prospect of permanently separating them — the cats are mother and son and had never been apart, and the thought that it might be necessary was breaking our hearts. Cue Jennifer Van de Kieft to the rescue! Her insights, advice and calm guidance made all the difference. We were as impressed with Jennifer’s perceptive and reassuring initial assessment as we were with her invaluable follow-up emails. It’s taken work and patience on our behalf but everything she recommended paid off, and mother and son are now cohabitating again in peaceful harmony. Thank you Jennifer for teaching new tricks to both a cat parent newbie and a lifelong cat lover. All respect and gratitude! - Alanna & Jeff

KITTEN - PUPPY INTRODUCTION: We had a great experience working with Jennifer as we prepared to introduce a new puppy to our 8-month-old kitten. While we came with a specific area of concern, Jennifer was able to help us with several related issues. We found her step-by-step advice practical and easy to follow. We continue to reference it and we attribute our puppy and kitten's great relationship to her training guidance. Thank you! - Nicole

Jennifer was thorough, patient and professional. I brought in a 3rd cat to our home which caused much stress to my older cat (peeing on furniture, severe aggression) and her strategies were very helpful. She was very communicative and kept up on how everything was going after our initial visit. Thanks you so much! - Leah

Jennifer is caring, present, a pleasure to work with, but most importantly, she really knows her stuff! Our cat was having issues around not using the litter box, and Jennifer made several suggestions that were non-intuitive, and not something we could have gotten from an internet search. To our delight, the suggestions worked and harmony was restored to our household. Plus, she had some other helpful tips for our 2 cats beyond the original issue that we hired her to examine. I highly recommend Jennifer. - Paula

BEHAVIOR CONSULTATION RATING: EXCELLENT

LIKED BEST: Jennifer's attention to detail suggesting different toys, shelving configurations, and strategies.

DETAILS: - My husband and I adopted two kittens (brother and sister) from a litter of 6 by their mother, a stray. We got them as companions for Kiki, our 5-year-old cat. Kiki did not accept Olaf and Hilda at first, despite our careful introduction, and there was hostility especially between Kiki and Hilda (both females). Jennifer told us the missing key, which was TIME. Cats have their own timeline, and after 7 months (which seemed like a long time for us), things finally turned a corner. We extended the duration of the "visits" with the cats all in the same room together, and slowly they started to relax around each other. Each one now has his/her own chosen "spot" in the apartment where they go when they want to be apart, and there is finally harmony in our household! Thanks Jennifer! - Carol

Jennifer took so much time and care treating my 3 fur babies. She helped me see how they were interacting, what behaviors were stress related and helped improved the dynamics in our house 100%. All of our cats came from very different and very terrible situations before we rescued them. Two who were fearful but expressed their fear very differently and one (the little lady who is only 5.5lbs) who can be a bully! . . . I am so thankful that we found her! - Alyssa

Being a cat rescuer for over 10 years I have experience dealing with all kinds of cats from very docile and friendly to feral, who have no interest in interaction with humans. Well, last August , I rescued Spot – an extremely handsome and at the same time super aggressive cat. He used to be a house cat, but was apparently terribly mishandled and finally dumped on the street. I did not know where to start. Luckily one of my colleagues from Brooklyn Animal Action put me in touch with Jennifer. It was a turning point in Spot’s rescue. Jennifer provided invaluable input and guided us during weeks of our work with the cat. At the end Spot’s true nature finally came to light and he got adopted to a nice loving forever home, thanks to our efforts and Jennifer’s recommendations and guidance. - Gregory

Jennifer was patient and professional in her assessment of our cat's issues (peeing outside the box) and her strategies were very helpful. She was very communicative and showed a genuine love of animals. - Divya

Jennifer was recommended to us by our vet, and we are so grateful that she was! Our older female cat was not getting along with our younger male. As long-time cat owners, we knew it was an issue of confidence and knew some techniques to help, but we were not making any headway. During the home visit, Jennifer was professional, kind, and listened really well to all our needs. We felt very confident in both her ability to help and her care for our cats' well-being. Jennifer distilled all the information out there and gave us invaluable, tailored advice for both our cats in a comprehensive behavior modification plan. Since we’ve implemented her recommendations, we have seen incredible improvement. Our female has completely stopped hiding under the bed, doesn’t mind sleeping near our male, and will now even instigate friendly, calm play with him. We would highly recommend her, even for experienced cat owners. - Erin & Phillip

We found Jennifer on the internet and are so grateful that we did. Both my partner and I grew up with cats but, as first-time solo cat owners, we were struggling with the behavior of our new cat, Lenny. Lenny was rescued from an animal hoarding situation and, likely due to this, was very anxious and food-obsessed no matter what we did. Jennifer came to our apartment and was patient as we went through Lenny’s behavior timeline and our (failed) attempts at modifying her behavior. Jennifer was extremely knowledgeable and thorough both in person and through subsequent emails, where she reiterated the behavioral plan and offered product suggestions. Within a few weeks of implementing her suggestions, Lenny’s behavior completely improved and we're so happy that she’s finally at ease in our home. We would highly recommend Jennifer’s services!. - Paige & Blake

We reached out to Jennifer for help with our two eight-month-old kittens who had become overzealous at feeding time and were waking us throughout the night. We wanted to see if we might find ways to make the kittens feel less anxious at meals and encourage them to sleep or play with each other at night so we could get a few more hours of uninterrupted sleep.

We scheduled a virtual consultation with Jennifer via Zoom, during which Jennifer met the kittens, asked us questions about their habits as well as our own, and toured our apartment to understand where and how the kittens spent most of their time. Jennifer offered us an actionable plan, a detailed report, and a wealth of product recommendations and links to resources, in addition to following up with us to see how we all were doing weeks after the consultation.

Based on Jennifer’s suggestions, meal times are calm, and adjustments to our feeding schedule have allowed the kittens to be content with themselves and less focused on us while we’re sleeping.

Jennifer is an expert professional who makes the consultation and follow-up feel as if you are conferring with a friend. We’ve already recommended her to several family members and friends who are cat owners as well. - Michael & Andy

Our initial session with Jennifer was extremely beneficial to us and our boy, Jackson. Jennifer allowed us the opportunity to better understand Jackson’s needs and preferences. Her insight and experience are immeasurable. We, very much, look forward to continued conversations with Jennifer and would easily recommend her services! - Cristina

CAT-CAT INTRODUCTION:

I contacted Jennifer because we had adopted a new rescue cat, Moishe, and our tux Bruno was NOT happy about it! He was used to being the "only child" and became very territorial - hissing and growling and snarling, and on several occasions, he even attacked poor Moishe and scratched him. We had done the slow introduction with separate room and baby gate and all that, but we weren't making progress, so we called Jennifer. She's amazing! First she had me fill out a detailed email questionnaire so she had all the information about both cats and our home setup (how many rooms, how many litterboxes, cat food and sleeping arrangements, etc.) Then we had a Zoom meeting and she observed the cats and we talked in depth about the situation and she gave me TONS of suggestions and insight into what Bruno was feeling and how to reassure him while keeping Moishe safe. She followed up with an email summarizing everything we discussed and giving me a step-by-step plan and lots of resources. It's only been two weeks, so they're not buddies yet, but there is a HUGE improvement! They can be in the same room now and even on the same bed, and while Bruno still occasionally hisses at Moishe, and doesn't want to be too close to him, there is NO more fighting or scratching! Bruno is now just slightly grumpy about it, rather than violent and territorial, and he's slowly but surely accepting Moishe. I expect the situation to continue improving week by week. I'm so happy and relieved! Thanks, Jennifer!!! - Trudi

Working with Jennifer has hugely improved our cat's quality of life, the quality of our lives, and our relationship with our cat. Cocchi's anxiety was so bad that it was affecting her physical health. Jennifer gave us strategies to increase Cocchi's confidence and combat stressors in her environment, as well as great ideas for enrichment and entertainment. Cocchi is a different cat! She has gone from quiet and lethargic to playful, vocal, and strongly opinionated. We're amazed at how the changes Jennifer suggested have really let Cocchi's personality shine through. - Lara & Eliot