Thinking of booking a session with me and live outside my service area? Unfortunately, I am unable to do in home sessions if you’re more than a 25 minute drive from Bde Maka Ska Playground located at 2707 West Lake Street in Minneapolis. I have some great news, however: In the extreme majority of cases, virtual sessions are just as effective as an in home session and in many cases they’re the better choice!
I want to acknowledge that I totally understand that some people may be hesitant to do a virtual cat behavior consultation. After all, how will I be able to evaluate the situation without directly interacting with your cat or seeing your environment in person? Let me explain a bit more about how I work and why virtual consultations are just as good as (if not better than) an in home session.
How Do Virtual Behavior Consultations Work?
A virtual behavior consultation session actually begins before we even meet. I have you fill out an intake form to go over the basics of what’s going on and get information about you, your cat(s), and your goals. I get a lot of information from this so when we meet, I use the information I already have to target my questions to your individual situation.
During our actual session, we meet either via Zoom or Google Meet to discuss what’s happening. I ask you a bunch of questions about your cat and the behavior you’re consulting me fore help with, have you show me your living space, and (most importantly) tell you how cute your cat is. We then discuss what interventions I suggest you do and I come up with a behavior modification plan. I have two very cute cats that I may demonstrate an intervention on and I might have you test something out for me with your own cat.
How Is This Different Than An In Home Session?
For both in home and virtual sessions, I am mostly going to help you figure out how to address your cat’s behavior rather than directly doing much with your cat. I don’t have a magic wand I can waive and you will ultimately be responsible for implementing the plan. In other words, me not being there in person isn’t actually a disadvantage as you’re the one doing the real work to modify their behavior!
The biggest disadvantage of a virtual session? I don’t get to pet your cats. Honestly, that’s a pretty big bummer.
If you’re not considering doing a virtual session because you want me to come in and fix your cat(s) that day, I strongly encourage you to reconsider booking a session. That may seem strange, but I don’t want you to be disappointed when your behavior concern isn’t fixed immediately as behavior modification is a process. The reason I include a follow up period by e-mail afterward is so we can make alterations to the plan if needed. This is especially true if you have a case of fighting cats which often takes time and effort to resolve and may require tweaks over time.
What Do I Need For A Virtual Session?
One concern many people have is that they might need some sort of fancy equipment to do a virtual behavior consultation. I suppose it depends on what you consider fancy to be, but you really don’t need anything special. In fact, you probably already have most of the things you need on hand!
The biggest thing you need is a high speed internet connection so that we can connect via video. If needed, I could do a phone call for the actual session and have you send me videos, but you’d still need internet access to upload the video. I can do my best without video, but it’s best if you have a way of visually getting me something.
The other big thing you need is a portable device with a camera and microphone on it. This may sound like you need to go out and purchase something new, but if you have a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, chances are you already meet this requirement. Past that, you just need an e-mail address so you can receive e-mails with links to the video call and so we can communicate.
Those are the only things you absolutely need. There may be some situations where I need something specific from you (such as a very basic drawing of your home) that would require you to have some way of creating it and sending it to me, but even then I can usually find a work around.
How Do I Assess Your Cats Virtually?
One of the biggest hesitations people have with virtual consultations is that they feel that I am missing something by not seeing or interacting with their cats in person. I totally understand that sentiment and concern. I’m also here to reassure you that I still can do my full assessment virtually. In fact, I use a lot of the same methods I use for in home sessions to evaluate your cat including:
- An intake form that captures basic information about your home, situation, and the behavior
- Video of the behavior or of your cat’s baseline behavior
- Directly observing your living space and assessing the cat’s environment
- Discussion of your observations and your cat’s history
For many of these, no direct interaction with your cat is required or you may have to wait to observe your cat’s behavior regardless of whether I’m there in home or virtually. If there is something I need to test, I can come up with a way to have you get me the information I need. Often times, your cats don’t actually do the behavior we’re discussing while I’m there so I rely on you getting video anyway.
Advantages To Virtual Consultations
Virtual consultations have some big advantages over in home consultations that are often forgotten. They’re not a cheap, inferior alternative. In many cases, they are the better option. Let’s look at the up sides to virtual sessions.
I See Your Cat Act Naturally
In many cases, your cats’ behavior may be different if I show up and am there in person. Fearful cats may hide or your cat may act more cautiously than usual. In cases of mild fighting cats, I’ve even had cats get along slightly better while I’m there. As much as I’d like to take credit for doing something wonderful and having the cats’ behavior improve, it’s often a result of the cats being unsure how to respond to a stranger in their space and goes back to the usual level of conflict.
In other words, I get to see a more accurate representation of your cats’ behavior if I’m not physically there. Any change in their behavior due to you acting slightly differently with a camera is going to be less than an unknown human showing up. You end up getting a more realistic and accurate assessment from me by not having me there!
Reduced Cost
Traveling all over takes time and gas so I have to add a small up charge to my in home consultations. If finances are a concern, I recommend doing a virtual session and putting the extra fee toward another session. You’ll get continued time with me and you won’t really be missing out on that much.
You Get To Meet My Cats! (And See Them In Action)
I have two very cute cats and they like to pop in from time to time. They’re also great helpers when it comes to demonstrating cat training techniques as I know how they will respond typically. Sure, I can show you how to train on your cats if I’m there in person, but they may not feel like participating if a stranger shows up. You will ultimately be doing most training yourself, anyway, as me showing up for one single session isn’t going to do much.
Additionally, I talk a LOT about cat products. I can’t possibly bring all my cat stuff with me as it would require a U Haul so with virtual sessions, I can demonstrate all the cool cat toys your cats will actually want to play with, show you my litter box or scratching post set up, and demonstrate how to properly play with one of my dudes. That’s something you don’t get with an in home session.
Greater Availability
As I have to factor in travel time for in home sessions, I limit the days and times I offer them as the driving takes time. I can’t start a session when I’d need to drive to your home during rush hour and I am definitely not a morning person so there’s no way I’ll get to your home early in the morning. You have more choices as far as when you can schedule with a virtual session as I can schedule people in the early evening and slightly earlier in the morning. Plus, if you live outside my service area I don’t have the flexibility to do in home sessions so this still allows you get expert advice on your cat’s behavior.
Another added bonus: for those familiar with Minnesota winters, you know how unpredictable the weather can be. I won’t have to reschedule your session last minute due to a blizzard!
Should I Do A Virtual Or In Home Session?
Hopefully by now you see that virtual sessions are just as good (if not better) than an in home session. For those outside my service area, you’re still getting the same quality, expert cat behavior help you would be if you were had me come out so I hope you’ll understand that I am unable to make exceptions to see folks who live further than a 25 minute drive from Bde Maka Ska Playground. You can head to my behavior consultations page to set up a virtual session and we’ll get your cat behaving their best!
For those in my service area, you get your choice of in home or virtual sessions. So which should you go with? For the extreme majority of people, either works. There genuinely isn’t much difference between the two and the advantages and disadvantages of each are cancel each other out. If you aren’t sure, start with virtual and I can always suggest an in home session for later if it seems like it would help me help you.
Regardless of what you choose, you’re making a great choice by working with me. I hope those of you with hesitations about virtual sessions feel better about going with one and if not, I’m happy to further assuage your concerns. You’re not getting anything less than those who have me come out in person. Actually, you may end up with better results and a happier, more harmonious life with your cats.
