As a professional cat sitter and behaviourist, it is so important to make sure to stay up-to-date with the latest cat science.

Last month, I went to the International Cat Care Conference (aka Cat Weekend) in Birmingham. I do this every year so to make sure to keep up my cat knowledge by learning from experts of the cat world.

I arrived a little bit early as I liked to do just so that I am not stressed. (I don’t like stress. I can handle stress, but I don’t like it if I can avoid it. I am like a cat!)

Since I had a little time, so I browsed around some shops that we don’t have in Ireland…

And found these…

These were so cute and very good price as well!

As time was running out, I headed over to the Conference Centre. This is a new venue so the entrance wasn’t very clear. As I was wondering if I was in the right place, I spotted this guy!

So yes, I guess I was in the right place! Well done, International Cat Care! Such a nice touch!

Signing in at the event, there are so many lovely cat theme souvenirs to purchase. All proceeds will go to the great cause of International Cat Care in promoting the welfare of cats around the world.

Then got myself some breakfast…

And I settled down for a day of learning ahead of me…

Some of the lectures of the day includes my favourite cat behaviourist Vicky Halls talking about negative consequences of keeping cat indoors and how to deal with that.

The day was packed full of incredible talks. Check out the full programme here:

Day 1 – Saturday 16^th September

iCatCare Feline Day 

09.00	– Registration opens
10.00	– From hospital to home – managing and supporting a cat with arthritis Linda Ryan, Inspiring Pet Teaching
10.45	– ‘Desperate housecats’ – the less obvious consequences of keeping cats indoors Vicky Halls, VN, author and cat behaviour counsellor
11.30	– Coffee break
12.00	– The ultimate challenge – a stress-free vet visit Sarah Endersby, iCatCare Veterinary Development Manager
12.30-	Cats, wildlife and conservationists Celia Haddon, author and cat behaviour counsellor
13.00	– Lunch break
14.00	– Ethical dilemmas – ‘natural mutation’ or a breed too far? Sarah Endersby, iCatCare Veterinary Development Manager
14.45-	– From hospital to home – care for the cat with kidney disease Linda Ryan, Inspiring Pet Teaching
15.15	– Tea break
15.30	– Raffle draw
15.45	– Ethical dilemmas – what is right, what is wrong and how do you know? Karen Hiestand, Teaching Fellow, University of Surrey
16.30	– The super fosterer – how fostering cats can benefit their wellbeing Vicky Halls, VN, author and cat behaviour counsellor
17.00	– End

There was a raffle. I, unfortunately, didn’t win anything this year…

I had an amazing if a bit tiring first day of conference. There were so much information and new knowledge that I felt my brain was exploding.

Another interesting trivia, the conference centre was very close to the China Town, here I spotted the iconic pagoda…

As I was walking towards my AirBnb, I came across this little guy to round up my Cat Weekend nicely…haha

And the AirBnb also has a cat! Here he is coming to say hi to me…

Day 2 of the conference was quite unusual. It was a cooperation between International Cat Care and the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors, it wasn’t the traditional sit-down-and-listen kind of day. Instead, all of us worked on a behavioural case together. The case was very interesting in a sense that it was so realistic! I bet most of us at the audience have dealt with similar case like this!

Here is the trailer of the case we worked on…be careful, grab your tissue.

The case: An owner has two cats, a Korat, aged 13 years, obtained many years ago from a breeder, and a six month old domestic shorthair kitten acquired from a friend of a friend  whose moggy was not neutered in time and was mated by a local stray tom. The owner contacts the vet because the young cat appears to be urinating and defecating outside the litter tray. The vet suggests the in-house nurse takes the case as she has an interest in behaviour and has been to some weekend seminars on the subject. And so the case unfolds to also include a homing centre.

It was such a pleasure to work with the amazing Vicky Halls on a case together…

Again, my head was exploding. The story was so sad that lots of us were tearing up. The good news – we all know it was fictional. The bad news is – stories like this happen all the time at our work.

On Day 2, we have another raffle! YEAH!

I had an amazing weekend and was quite pleased with myself. As I was heading to the airport, that’s why things started to go wrong…My return flight was delayed for 2 hour and 50 minutes! (They didn’t want it to delay for 3 hours or they needed to compensate us according to EU regulations…)

I camped out in the business lounge for 3 hours. I tried to make myself comfortable, got food and drinks, charge my phone and read a book…

I eventually made it home after midnight. And later on, I learnt that I was lucky because the next day, the infamous Ryanair mess started…

All in all, it was an incredible weekend as every other year. If you are interested to join us next year, make sure to sign up the iCatCare Newsletter and get notification for future events.

In the meantime, you might want to read the amazing Vicky Halls’ collection of cat books…

If you are at the International Cat Care Conference next year, please come and say hi! I would love to meet you!