Photo Credits
Header Photo: Photo of Kristyn Vitale in 2016, Credit to University Marketing, Oregon State University.
All Other Photos: Cat Photography Belongs to Kristyn Vitale, 2004-2024.
Screenshots: Credited below image.
Dr. Kristyn Vitale is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and internationally recognized expert in cat behavior. In 2014, she founded Maueyes Cat Science & Education to enhance cat welfare and strengthen the cat-human relationship through education, behavior consulting, and science outreach.
Cats readily learn new behaviors. Cats can be taught tricks, to walk on harness and leash, and to participate in their own care, also known as cooperative care. Cats learn from their environment, whether their caregiver actively trains them or not. Learning principles can be applied to promote the welfare of cats.
Cats and humans have a long history of co-existence that spans back nearly 10,000 years. Cats can form strong relationships with humans and research indicates that domestic cats display socio-cognitive abilities, such a responsiveness to human behavior and gestures, that help them engage in social relationships.
Free-roaming cats (FRC) display flexible social behavior. FRCs can develop friendly relationships with other cats and they can live in highly gregarious social groups.
Shelter cats have unique welfare needs. Shelter professionals can provide enrichment opportunities to cats as well as recruit volunteers to foster cats in their homes.
Applying science to promote the welfare of cats and their caregivers. Early education in animal behavior is also key to promoting the welfare of cats.
Media Quotes
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Cats rival dogs on many tests of social smarts. But is anyone brave enough to study them? Social cognition researchers are finally probing the secrets of the feline mind…”
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The field [of cat behavior & cognition] is definitely expanding,” Vitale says. “Cats are finally getting their due.”
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….a fairly simple study that attempts to peer into the feline mind can break new ground.”
CatSci Blog
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Kitten Training Classes? New Research Suggests Cat Stereotypes Are Just That
New Media Mention: Kyle Bunnell, The Corvallis Advocate June 22, 2016 Link to full story Kristyn Shreve, a graduate research fellow in OSU’s Human-Animal Interaction Lab, or HAI Lab, loves cats. She plays with them, talks to them, and, most importantly, studies them. It turns out we know rather little about cat cognition. Science has… Read more
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What We Understand about Cats and What They Understand about Us
New Media Mention: Felicity Muth, Scientific American March 30, 2016 Link to full story A big part of cats’ lives are spent around their human owners, yet scientists are just starting to understand what they think of us In my last post I introduced the topic of cat cognition and what we broadly know about… Read more
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What’s Going On in Your Cat’s Head?
New Media Mention: Felicity Muth, Scientific American March 29, 2016 Link to full story Cats are often depicted as being less friendly, cooperative and caring than dogs, but what’s really going on in your cat’s head? Unsurprisingly, scientists use dogs in behavioural experiments a lot more often than cats. There are whole ‘canine cognition’ lab groups… Read more
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Socializing cats to aid adoptability
New Media Mention: Susan C. Kahler, JAVMA news April 15, 2016 Link to full news bulletin Kristyn Vitale Shreve, a doctoral student and National Science Foundation graduate fellow in the Human-Animal Interaction Laboratory at Oregon State University, said that behavioral issues or cat-owner incompatibility account for at least 27 percent of the cats surrendered to… Read more
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Training Videos
Cat Training Demo Kristyn shows you how to start training your cat! Basic Behaviors Showing off- Sit, Give Paw, Stand Up, Come, Go to Mat, & a trick! Beginning Clicker Training How to “load the clicker” to associate the click sound with a reward. You can then use the click to mark a behavior you… Read more
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