What is a cat whisperer?
Are you a cat lover? Are you familiar with most feline behaviors? Well, you can have a side job with the information you have. You may not be able to take on a cat that pees on your couch, but if you have some information about most cat behaviors, then you can have a side job as a cat whisperer or as a cat behaviorist.
This article talks about how you can earn money as a cat behaviorist and explain how you can do it.
How to get started
There is no formal training on becoming a cat behaviorist, but your love for cats can be a good starting point. Your love for cats will allow you to enjoy the journey of learning new things about cats. However, if you are every cat’s favorite human, you still need to know certain emotional and behavioral cat problems.
How to become a cat whisperer? @Pinterest
As mentioned earlier, there are few to no training courses about cats, so you will have to do a lot of self-study. Luckily there are numerous articles, videos, tutorials, and other cat-related information on the internet. One can rely on the internet to learn about cats and make it one of their side hustles and earn an extra coin. So how do you gain the knowledge? You can read along with the many tutorials and articles available on the internet about cat behaviors. Apart from reading, you can do the following;
- Watch numerous videos on cat behaviors on YouTube. Here you will find many videos on how you can deal with different cat behaviors from cat behaviorists and cat lovers as well.
- You can watch the episodes on cats from hell on Hulu and see how a cat expert resolves different cat behaviors.
- Also, you can opt to read the cat whisperer, a book sold on Amazon and written by Mieshelle Nagelschneider. From the book, you can learn more about why cats do what they do and how you can handle different cat behaviors.
You can also get a professional to help with the knowledge of cats. Some professionals will help you with what you need to know about cats. The tip here is to ask many questions about cats and write everything down the cat professional tells you. Paying a cat behaviorist can be a little expensive for some people. For example, Pam Johnson-Bennet will charge you $350 for 90 minutes. Pam is the star of the program known as “Physcho kitty.” These prices will prove to you that fame can also higher amounts of money.
Are cat behaviorists certified?
If you search for terms such as “cat behaviorist licence,” you might not find much information. However, you can be certified as an animal behaviorist by the IAABC (International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. To be certified by this institution, you need to meet certain requirements such as experience, a score of over 80% on the application test. You will also be required to pay an application fee of $125, which is non-refundable and annual dues of up to $110.
If you lack the experience to be certified, you can join an institution for credibility reasons. IAABC will charge you $50 to join them and annual fees of $65. You can then use the IAABC logo for marketing your services. However, when marketing your services, you need to introduce yourself as a member and not as a certified consultant.
From here, you can continue studying on your own and invest a little for your credibility, make business cards, and you are ready to go. Getting certified or introducing yourself to a well-known institution will help you gain credibility. As time goes and if you deliver good services, your side hustle will greatly grow. It may seem like a lot for people who are only starting, but once you are established, you will enjoy the efforts that you put into the hustle.
How much can a cat whisperer earn?
As you are starting, the prices can be flexible depending on how well you are marketing yourself. Currently, there are fewer cat behaviorists, so that you might be the only one in your town. You, however, do not need to worry about competition as long as you can prove that you are worth what you are pricing yourself at.
At first, and depending on your marketing strategies, you will not earn much, but you will see that your earnings will keep rising with time. Some people may need you to travel to their homes, so you may need to charge the consultation plus the travel. Some will prefer an online consultation which will be a little cheaper than when you need to travel.
How much you earn can also depend on where you are. Some people may need your services a lot, while some don’t care about cat behaviors, so you should also consider your location. Below are some cat behaviorists who are already established; you can see how much they earn, and you can get an idea of how much you can expect.
1. Marilyn Krieger, the cat coach – Marylin, offers her services in San Fransisco, where he gives 90-minute sessions. She charges $280 plus travel, and she also offers online consultations via Skype or phone for $190 per 90 minutes.
2. The cat therapist – Carole Wilbourne, travels around the U.S and charges $195 for calls that last up to an hour.
3. Mieshelle Nagelschneider – she is a cat therapist and a cat behaviorist who charges $225 for a 90 minute Skype or phone call.
Those are just a few of the good renowned cat behaviorists who have worked with other cat owners, and as you can see, with good marketing, you can earn good money with this side hustle.
Conclusion
As you have seen, becoming a cat whisperer is not rocket science, but you have to put in the effort, and you also have to invest in starting earning. Gaining knowledge about cats is also relatively easy as long as you get the right information.
After you are sure that you are getting the right information, you can invest in getting credibility. To get credibility, you need to join an animal behavior institution or get certified. The next step is to market yourself aggressively for you to start earning money.
