The AHC Team

Allison: I am a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant and Trainer. I am also the wife of a supportive husband who designs my social media, mom to four fur kids and revolving fosters, a Christ follower, the cat enrichment and post-adoption coordinator for our local humane society, published author, book and game lover, and a fan of quiet nights and helping cats and people feel understood.

Andy: My husband edits my articles, designs and manages my social media. He is a former dad to a toy poodle agility champ and, despite his allergies, he welcomes and cares for cats. His interests include reviewing products for Amazon Vine, watching movies and listening to comedians, collecting Burma-Shave, and caring for indoor plants. He also provides me a shoulder to lean on, and helps in whatever other ways he can.

Cats

Lucy loved to look out our window in our back porch. Every time I see this photo I think of the song “What A Wonderful World.”
My cat Cinder hanging out with a dragon and a penguin.
This is the only time our cat Bootsie has used the self-grooming arch, and of course she didn’t use it as intended.
Allison isn’t fooling Rainy with her cat mask.
Hallow is a long-term foster. After she was returned a second time to a local shelter for being too timid, I offered to foster her with the hope of socialize her. She now loves chin strokes, belly rubs, and snuggling with me.
  • Lucy: Prior to Lucy (2008-2014), I was a dog lover. Lucy broke all my preconceptions about cats and is the reason my world now revolves around them. 
  • Cinder: Adopted from Hearts United for Animals and its program for pets of domestic violence victims, Cinder teaches me about reserved and insecure cats.
  • Bootsie: Adopted from Husker Cats, Bootsie teaches me about adult feral cats. I consider it a victory when she willingly accepts a carrier, medication, and other kinds of health care.
  • Rainy: One of our foster successes, Rainy came to us as a kitten. She is a certified therapy cat who has taught me about non-recognition aggression.
  • Hallow: A long-term foster from The Cat House, Hallow teaches me about unsocialized cats that are more play than food motivated.

Others

I also want to extend thanks to others whose support has been invaluable.

Jayne & the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Law School
Jayne and the UNL Law School helped me set up my business at an affordable price.

Lincoln Animal Ambassadors
This non-profit provides a pet food bank and spay/neuter services. They allowed me to create a pet education blog for them. As a result of writing articles for their blog, I learned that behavior is one of the leading causes of cats being surrendered to shelters.

The Cat House
This is Lincoln’s no-kill cat shelter. The Cat House sends foster kittens to my husband and me, refers behavior calls to me, and allowed me to work with their challenging behavior cats. My information is included in their adoption packets.

Cotner Pet Care
Former head veterinarian Jody Jones-Skibinski served as guest speaker for my local classes and allowed me to work with their three vet clinic cats, even during the pandemic. We’ve had many cat behavior chats.

The Capital Humane Society
This is Lincoln’s animal shelter. I completed an internship with them as part of completing my certification in cat behavior. The friendliness of the staff and the needs of the cats inspired me to stay on as a volunteer. To date, I have developed a Cat Enrichment Volunteer Program and a Post-Adoption Support Program for them.

Valerie Ingram and Alistair Schroff of Lakes Animal Friendship Society
Valerie and Alistair, a generous pet-loving couple in British Columbia, introduced me to the world of humane education. They regularly send me samples of their products, and hired me to design checklists for their publications. We often provide feedback on each other’s projects.

International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and Pet Professional Guild
Both the IAABC and the PPG are professional organizations for animal behavior and training professionals consultants and trainers working with many species of animals. Being able to consult with other experts in my field has been invaluable to me. I won the Rebecca Park Scholarship from IAABC and sit on the board of the feline committee for the PPG.

Feline Resources for Shelters and Rescues
The ASPCA offers this group on Facebook for discussion related to cat welfare and has experts from the ASPCA on hand to help. I’m part of several cat-related groups on Facebook, but I’ve chosen to include the ASPCA’s group here because advice from their experts was instrumental in my development of programs for our local humane society.