Testimonial 44 - Lucy and Oliver

In September 2016, after getting along without any problems for 8 years, my cats, Lucy and Oliver (ages 15 and 8) started fighting to the point where they had to be separated 24/7. Needless to say, this created a lot of stress in the household for both the cats and myself! The likely trigger was that both cats had been diagnosed with illnesses (lymphoma and IBD) within the past four months and had been on medication and most likely had not been feeling well.  

After trying to solve the problem on my own for several months (consulting vets, books and online sources), without having any success, I reached out to Mary in February, 2017. Mary came to my house, met the cats and we discussed the situation in detail, the specific behaviors they’d been exhibiting, possible triggers, and any other info that would help Mary assess the problem. Mary shortly followed up with a detailed written action plan, including a timeline and a recommended step-by-step plan for me to begin integrating the cats.  She stressed that it would take time and to be patient, offering encouragement and advice to me along the way by way of emails and phone calls as needed.  

Within a few months when the cats were ready for their first face-to-face meeting without the protection of a gate (a very scary scenario for me to even think about!), I asked Mary to come back over to the house to help me with this big step. It was very reassuring to have Mary there at this point, since I wasn’t sure how the cats would react – luckily all went well and I started gradually increasing the time the cats were together. 

Fast forward to mid-June, 2017 and the cats are now 100% integrated and life at home is back to normal (as seen in the photo of them both on the bed)!! I feel very fortunate to have found Mary and highly recommend her to anyone having behavior issues with their cats. She was professional, highly knowledgeable about cat behavior and extremely supportive during the months-long process it took to reunite Lucy and Oliver. Thank you Mary!

Karen D. from Silver Spring, MD