Learn to Care for Cats
Course Code: BAG107 | Course Duration: 100 hours
"What greater gift than the love of a cat" - Charles Dickens, 1862.
Course Aim: Investigate aspects of domestic cat care and the basic duties of owners and professional carers.
Cats make fabulous pets for those living busy lives or for those who live in smaller spaces. Cats are mostly capable of tending to their own needs and independent.
Keeping cats as pets has led to the emergence of many cat care industries.
There are opportunities for:
- feline specialists across veterinary health
- rehoming and adoption facilities
- cat specialist pet boarding properties
- cat grooming
- breeding and reproductive health
- pet cremation and memorial services
- behaviour and training in rehabilitation (example)
- and more..!
What's Covered in this Course?
There are nine lessons in this course.
The course covers:
Lesson 1. Introduction
- Basic Feline Needs - Basic Duties of the Cat Owner
- Food and water
- Shelter and Containment
- Health care for sick cat
- Grooming
- Claw trimming
- Bathing
- Travel
- Housebreaking
- Introducing a new cat at home
- Cats with babies and children
- Cats and dogs
- Cat breeds – pedigrees and non-pedigrees
Lesson 2. Feline Biology
- Skin
- Eyes
- Ears
- Nose
- Mouth
- Digestive system
- Reproductive system
Lesson 3. Breeds
- Domestic cat breeds
- International and national associations
- Long haired breeds – characteristics, common health problems, temperaments, care, history
- Semi-long haired breeds - characteristics, common health problems, temperaments, care, history
- Short haired breeds - characteristics, common health problems, temperaments, care, history
Lesson 4. Feline Health Care
- Preventative care
- Vaccinations
- Recognising ill-health
- Dealing with emergencies
- Artificial breathing and heart massage
- How to induce vomiting
- Specific situations to deal with e.g. burns, wounds, dehydration, hypothermia (and many more)
- Poisoning
- Wounds
- Bandaging
- Restraining for treatment
- Transportation of the injured cat
- Desexing
Lesson 5. Feline Illnesses
-
Internal parasites
- Roundworms
- Hookworms
- Tapeworms
- Whipworms
- Lungworms
- Stomach worms
- Bladder worms
- Flukes
- Worm control
- External parasite
- Ticks
- Fleas
- Mites
- Common ailments and diseases (numerous)
- Skin disorders
Lesson 6. Feline Diet
- Introduction to foods and feedings
- Dietary options
- Free feeding
- Scheduled, portion controlled feeding
- Understanding dietary requirements
- Kittens (0-12 months)
- Pregnant and lactating cats
- Fussy cats
- Obesity and overweight cats
- Underweight cats
- Geriatric cats
- Raw diets
- Toxic foods
Lesson 7. Feline Behaviour
- Understanding the cats mind
- Personality and temperament differences
- How cats communicate
- Body language
- Sleeping routines and circadian rhythms
- Play
- Behavioural problems
- Recognise and understand aggression
- Dealing with aggression
- Inappropriate elimination
- Excessive vocalisation
- Geriatric dysfunction
- Controlling killing wildlife
- Eating disorder
- Abnormal suckling
- Separation anxiety
Lesson 8. Breeding and Raising Kittens (includes PBL Project)
- Cat breeding industry
- Ethics in animal breeding
- A brief look at genes
- Sexual behaviour
- Socialisation of kittens
- Problem based learning project – Improving Standards for Ethical Breeding
Lesson 9. Feline Services (includes PBL Project)
- Grooming services
- Professional training and handling
- Day care or boarding facilities
- Rehoming and fostering
- Using cats as therapy pets
- Health care industry
- Feline therapy services – hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, massage
- Retail and manufacturing industry
- Pet funerals and memorials
- Business basics for self-employment in the feline industry
- Laws and small business
- The importance of keeping records
- Buying an established business
- Buying a franchise
- Approaches to business planning
- Problem based learning project – Starting a Small Business in the Cat Industry
What you will learn!
-
Essential duties of owners and professional carers.
- Basic biology – anatomy and physiology – and associated processes.
- Variations between breed temperaments and characteristics.
- Breed specific health issues.
- Preventative healthcare approaches, including schedules for deworming etc.
- How to confidently recognise and treat ill health, ailments and disease.
- Know home treatment options and the significance of veterinary assistance.
- Learn feline nutrition and appropriate diets for specific needs.
- Recognise normal and abnormal behaviour.
- Confidence to respond effectively to problem or undesirable behaviours.
- Knowledge of the current breeding industry.
- Acceptable and ethical standards in breeding and kitten rearing.
- Business services in the cat industry.
- How to work over cat related business concept of personal interest.
The ability to provide for the needs of cats requires knowledge. Your capacity to apply that knowledge to different situations will be fulfilled by doing this course.
Gain Industry Experience and Connections
Cat care students complete activities which are designed to add breadth to learning. Learners apply lesson concepts to the real world.
For this, we encourage connection with industry. Talk with others and enjoy observations and interactions with cats and their owners!
Peek at some tasks within the course here…
Find information on products and services available in your locality which could be supplied to cat owners.
Choose one part of the body to research, e.g. skin, digestive system. Obtain information leaflets or flyers which relate to the health of that area of the body.
Talk with people, research attitudes into neutering in your locality.
Look at foods available in the supermarket and take notes of the nutritional components of the foods.
Research specialist diets for specific health concerns e.g. urinary stress or hairball control and make contrasts between the products.
Research the differences in the diets of indoor and outdoor living cats. Make comparisons of nutritional deficiencies or excesses.
Observe a cat in six states of hunting, take notes of the different physical positions and levels of exertion in each stage.
What Next?
To be successful in this industry, you need more than passion. You need persistence and a willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed. You also need skills.
If this describes you, we can help you to get a start in this industry.
This course could lead to:
- Work in a pet retail environment - many people in this industry lack deep knowledge of animals and their true needs.
- Work self-employed as an cat care specialist!
- Work in pet rescue.
- Health and or rehabilitation.
- Become a blogger or writer for pet related business or services.
- Manage pet cremation or memorial services
- Take a step to further education.
Is it worth it? We know that any course pays off - even in a competitive job market. Talk to us to find out how to progress your career plans. We are expecting a 16% jobs growth in this industry now! Have you got what it takes?
Pounce on opportunities which exist now. Make a difference.
Important note on keeping cats: If you are going to keep a pet cat, you need to be prepared to provide for its basic needs as an absolute minimum: food, water, shelter, stimulation (mental and physical) and appropriate health care. Additionally, it is responsible to control cats within reason, reducing any impact upon neighbouring property or wildlife. This is called containment.