Speaker Sarah Ellis

Sarah Ellis
Feline Behaviour Specialist at International Cat Care. BSc (Hons), Pg Dip, PhD., Visiting Fellow, University of Lincoln

Sarah has a keen interest in the behaviour and welfare of the domestic cat. After completing a degree in Zoology and Psychology (University of Bristol, 2001) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling (University of Southampton, 2006), Sarah specialised in cats and was awarded a PhD for investigating ways to improve the welfare of cats housed in rehoming centres.

Sarah spent several years at the University of Lincoln as a Research Scientist working on numerous projects including investigating novel ways to improve feline welfare, and furthering our understanding of feline behaviour and the cat-human relationship. In 2015, Sarah decided to concentrate on the application of research and joined International Cat Care as their Feline Behaviour Specialist to help develop their work in the areas of feline behaviour and welfare.

She also is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Lincoln where she remains involved in several feline related projects. Sarah has had numerous radio and TV appearances, covering many aspects of feline behaviour and welfare. She has published a book with John Bradshaw entitled The Trainable Cat which details how training can be used to improve cats’ well-being.
- Lørdag 29 september 2018
  09:00 - 09:45 How do I feel - Feline emotions (Part 1)
  This talk will provide an overview of the emotions we know, from scientific research, that cats do experience and the common contexts such emotions occur in.
  
  10:15 - 11:00 How do I feel – Identifying feline emotions (Part 2)
  This talk will follow on from Part 1 of How do I feel and will focus on how to identify emotional motivations from body language and behaviour.
  
  11:10 - 11:55 I understand you but do you understand me - Feline communication.
  This talk will cover domestic cat body language, communication, and human-cat interactions, in a manner that provides practical advice on the optimal ways to interact with pet cats to promote the human-feline bond.
  
  13:10 - 13:55 Environmental enrichment in the clinic.
  This talk will identify the main stressors during a visit to the clinic and introduce the concept of environmental change (both physical and social) to help to reduce such stressors.
  
  14:05 - 14:50 Training cats for better welfare.
  This talk will discuss the principles of positive reinforcement training and how they can be utilised to help cats cope with some of the lesser enjoyed tasks that are common elements of life as a pet cat, for example, physical examinations.
  
  15:20 - 16:05 Carriers and crates- minimising stress during confinement.
  This talk will highlight the various stressors that come with two different types of confinement – the carrier and the recovery crate – and how best to set-up these environments and manage cats within them to minimise distress.