Cat Behavior Consultant

Karen Plescia has had feline companions most of her life. However, it wasn’t until she rescued a neonatal feral kitten in 2005 that she became fascinated with feline development and behavior. Hand-raising and observing that days-old kitten ignited a passion in Karen that she didn’t know existed. She began to learn everything she could about feline behavior and eventually formalized her education and credentials.

Over the past fifteen years, Karen has been involved in animal care and welfare in a wide variety of roles. She is a former shelter volunteer, was the assistant manager of a cat shelter, and worked at a veterinary clinic.

Currently, she is on the Board of Directors for Charles River Alleycats, is a foster caregiver for several Boston-area shelters and rescues and deploys as a professional behavior responder for the ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Behavior Team. She is on the faculty of the Animal Behavior Institute where she teaches remote learning courses on feline and canine behavior and training topics.

Kim Katz is a lifelong lover of cats. Her path into the world of cat behavior consulting, however, was a winding one.

While working towards her Ph.D. in economics, Kim took in Earl, a four-month-old terrified, feral kitten who was found wandering the city streets alone. She credits the relationship she and Earl developed over their 18.5 years together as her inspiration for going into cat behavior work. After her time as a college economics professor, Kim stayed home with her children for many years. But once they headed off to college, she decided to follow her heart and become a cat behavior consultant.

Kim has long had good intuition about cats, their language, and their needs. She has years of experience introducing cats to cats, cats to dogs, cats to rabbits, and cats to new humans. She’s worked with countless shy and nervous cats and tackled a wide variety of feline behavioral challenges. Kim loves sharing what she has learned with others.

She now also has formal training in cat behavior. She is a Humane Society trained Cat Behavior and Retention Counselor and a Fear Free Shelter graduate. She is certified in low stress handling of cats and dogs. She has completed an IAABC cat behavior consulting mentorship and at least a dozen courses on a range of specific feline behavior topics.

For her cat behavior consulting business, Katz on Cats Feline Behavior Solutions, Kim chose the tagline “So That You Can Love Living with Your Cat,” as she feels it best captures her goal in helping people with their cats.

She is also a regular shelter volunteer, primarily working to socialize fearful cats. And she is currently mom to four cats (Vinny, Vienna, Pearl, and Calvin), two dogs (Lola and Pedro), and two humans (Josh and Allie).