About me

My name is Karen Juffermans. I am originally from The Netherlands, but have been living in London for over 10 years now.

I’ve always had a passion for cats and growing up we always had cats of our own. I never thought about turning my passion for cats into a career until I moved to London and started working as a cat sitter. That’s when I realised I wanted to develop as a professional and become a qualified cat behaviourist.

I now work with (or for…) cats every day and truly enjoy getting to know the cats’ different personalities. Working as a cat sitter taught me a lot more about caring for ill and elderly cats. I also learned more about how to reduce stress for cats and how to help them deal with stressful situations – after all: I’m not their owner and they miss their owners when they are away. It’s up to me to make them feel as happy as possible.

It is not unusual for clients to contact me and ask me questions about their cat’s behaviour. Their cats have soiling issues, for example or stress-related overgrooming. Sometimes clients move or something else in their circumstances changes and they ask my advice to help their cat deal with it.

This has encouraged me to start learning even more about cats.
I have a Level 6 Advanced Diploma in Applied Animal Behaviour (merit) and a Level 5 Advanced Diploma in Applied Animal Behaviour – Feline (distinction) after having previously completed the Level 4 Diploma in Advanced Feline Behaviour (also with distinction). I am an Associate Clinical Animal Behaviourist with the APBC (The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors).

Besides working with cats I also live with one (of course!)

I used to share my home with the most loving and lovable cat I’ve ever known: Dirk. I now share my home with a super playful and chatty ginger cat named Rune. He is an indoor only cat and as we all know it takes more effort to keep indoor cats happy. They don’t have a chance to roam around outdoors and hunt so we need to give them opportunities to play and explore. Mimicking hunting behaviour with toys and activity feeders can really help them feel much happier.

In the blog section of this website I share stories about my own cat, my previous cat, family cats, my work and other topics.

For those of you who would like to know a little more about my background, please see my LinkedIn profile.