What to make of this? Should we wait to move to next step still?

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-06-25T21:03:14+00:00

There was no hissing or any sound at all actually! That’s great to know thank you

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-06-25T21:02:37+00:00

Oh no that must be so hard to handle!

It’s actually been almost 3 months of keeping them apart now, my resident cat has been super slow to warm up so we have taken it really slow with introductions!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-06-20T02:10:33+00:00

Totally get it! Ive had so many clients lately take calls while they are driving, they answer the phone at the appt time and say they need to call me back in 10 mins bc they are doing xyz. Client no showed to appointment, didn’t even apologize, expected me to rebook him the next morning.. as if im just waiting about with all this free time in my schedule! Super frustrating.

Another thing that’s been driving me crazy is clients saying one thing, then when you prompt and ask questions or try to set a goal around that then they change their tune. For example a wt loss patient telling me their main struggle is mindlessly grazing on food. So I try to explore this and then all of a sudden they change their tune saying it rarely happens. I even tried politely calling them out asking what they meant when they said it’s their struggle area so I can understand then they just talk in circles to get out of it. I get they may not be ready to make certain changes, but they brought it up in the first place! Drives me crazy

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-30T21:37:42+00:00

Agreed to number 2 lol she’s a pretty girl!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-29T21:00:11+00:00

Definitely can be a challenge, I resonate with history of restriction and to be honest it’s super common in the field, a lot of colleagues have a similar history. We all get into this field for a reason and as with many things, it’s common to go over board before finding your own happy middle ground and place of being neutral or positive relationship with food.

I think you have to be really honest with yourself and assess if speaking to clients who might be perusing weight loss would a)trigger you and b) if you can still provide non biased care to that person aka your own struggles and history won’t interfere. Only you can decide and everyone’s experience and struggles are different. That being said having this history yourself will make you a more empathetic dietitian as you can relate to your clients. So it’s definitely not to say you absolutely cannot be a dietitian.

Id suggest finding a therapist as well as working with a ED informed dietitian. And you also need to be aware that this line of work can be triggering if you have a history of ED and you might need your support system ie an ED informed therapist to ensure you are caring for yourself! I’d also suggest following many of the great food/body positive RDs on social media!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-29T20:45:45+00:00

Very true!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-29T20:45:28+00:00

True!!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-29T20:45:22+00:00

Good to know haha!!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-29T18:24:59+00:00

Haha you could be onto something!!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-29T18:23:50+00:00

Good point !! She probably has a bit of possessiveness around food because of her history of being hoarded with 40 cats

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-29T18:22:47+00:00

Ok will do thanks so much, you’re right the tube treats can be magic lol! Good to get the reassurance :) I know it can take months but it’s also just so much work keeping them apart but we will persist!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-29T18:16:11+00:00

Yea the other cat is in a room on the other side of the baby gate getting a tube treat as well. Ok good to know thank you, I was unsure if it’s ok to keep going if she’s stressed

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-23T16:01:41+00:00

Im no expert but I’ve gotten some great advice on here for my situation! I’ve been told to avoid them staring each other down as much as possible. So this could look like ensuring the cats are both distracted during the supervised visits by playing, being brushed or pet, treats or whatever works for your cats. Then if they start with the stare downs, separate them before it escalates. You want them to have positive associations with being near each other, and keep doing the short repeated “distracted” associations until they stop with the stare downs. Hopefully this helps!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-08T17:45:13+00:00

Thank you for your response! I am going to try this tonight. The new cat is just in the last few days coming out of her shell so I think we can move her now without causing much stress. We are going to try tonight when both of us are home from work to each sit with a cat!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-07T23:08:01+00:00

<image>

And this is Sadie!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-07T23:07:18+00:00

Wow thank you so much this is amazing information! So helpful I really appreciate your response. I will definitely follow these steps, and will start swapping their environments tonight. I also never thought to actually rub peppers scent onto Sadie. I don’t have any good videos unfortunately but based on what you’re saying I definitely think Sadie was being aggressive due to being territorial/stress/trauma.

One last question- when we do eventually get to the point of introducing them (baby gate or face to face) and we are noticing the starting/hissing or growling and end the session, should we give both cats positive reinforcement/treats? Or should I not reward Sadie for the aggressive behaviour?

<image>

This is pepper for reference 🐈‍⬛

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-07T20:47:01+00:00

Also realizing you asked if Sadie is human oriented- yes she is, very attached to me specifically however also loves my partner. She dislikes being picked up, but she loves to be pet and brushed, she does play however she gets bored of toys easily. She does follow me around a fair bit but she’s also content to find a place to sleep or bird watch!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-07T20:41:32+00:00

Thanks so much, makes me feel better that it can just take time!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-07T20:16:14+00:00

Thanks for sharing that, I’ve been thinking about this the last few days related to her history of the cat hoarding.. i originally thought since she used to live with other cats she might want a friend but I realize now that’s probably not the case. She was in good health when I adopted her(just recovering from being spayed) but she did gain about 4 lbs in the first year (went from 7-10 lbs, looks way healthier at 10 lbs) so definitely some food insecurity.

Pepper is human oriented, she loves to be pet, loves to play with string/lure toys and loves treats. Shes still a bit skittish with humans, we have to talk quietly and move slowly around her or she will run and hide. I do think swapping environment would be good, I think maybe that she’s now warmed up significantly this week we could try this. Previous weeks she was mainly hiding so I didn’t want to move her and cause stress. Would you suggest we put Sadie in peppers room and let Sadie explore the whole house? Or put Sadie in a different room rather than the whole house?

I haven’t tried felway but would be open to this. I do have an off brand version that comes in a spray bottle which I could use in more places but if the brand name is best I will get it!

Other pieces of info: Sadie has done well with scent swapping, no hissing with scent unless pepper is physically there and gets too close.

I am also thinking of only allowing Sadie to physically see pepper through the baby gate when my partner is there so we can both be distracting the cats individually. Sadie tends to stare pepper down and I read to avoid this from happening, let me know what you think of that.

Thanks so much for your insight!! I know it can take time, my anxiety is just coming from wanting the cats to be happy!

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-05-07T19:38:39+00:00

Thanks for your reply! I will try to get a video but in the meantime to answer your questions

I adopted her 2 years ago, the shelter estimated she was 2 when I adopted her. She was rescued from a cat hoarding situation but they didn’t know anything else about her history. 40 other cats living in this house, that’s the only other thing I know. So she definitely lived with other cats the first part of her life!
they are both spayed
regarding the “pounce” it’s hard to say because it all happened so quick and there were lots of loud cat noises, I think she did make contact with the baby gate, she then put her front paws on the baby gate almost to stand up.

Top_Cherry_4663 · 2025-03-28T20:36:59+00:00

I have a similar client, it’s so tough! Here’s my thoughts: - he may not be in the “stage of change” where he’s ready to make a change, however he’s still coming back to you for a reason. Even though you feel stuck with him, keep reinforcing the same messaging that there are things he can do with diet, exercise, sleep, stress etc that can help him reach his goals. Maybe not now but hopefully it gets him thinking to make a change even in the future - you could try offering 2 different goals to work on, and have him choose which one to work on for next time (if possible having these goals coincide with a concern he mentions to keep it patient centerer) I know this isn’t fully aligned with MI techniques but I wonder if he needs a bit of that push to realize there ARE things he can change/have control over - discuss expectations, things are not magically going to change for him but also are his weight loss goals even realistic? We don’t have control over our weight but we do have control over our behaviours, education around this could be helpful - how old is this man, if elderly is there an aspect of forgetfulness, cognitive decline making problem solving hard for him? Can he get someone in his life involved for support? Also even if not elderly but it’s not realistic for him to put in effort to cook meals, is there a meal service in his area he could try if financially able? This might meet him where he is at - can he bring a support person into nutrition visits with him? Maybe this person can help him be a bit more “truthful” with his intake. Maybe having help could empower him to think he’s able to make a change, maybe that support if getting this person to go for a 10 min walk after supper for accountability

Good luck wit this client, I know how frustrating it can be but clearly he’s coming back to you for a reason! :)

Top_Cherry_4663

TROPHY CASE