Articles Published in Spring 2021 PetConnections Magazine

One of the most interesting cat behavior webinars I’ve attended in the past few months outlined “Cooperative Care for Cats” by Tabitha Kucera, Owner, RVT, CCBC, KPA-CTP at Chirrups and Chatter. In cat behavior we’ve been learning about finding ways to ease cats into activities they find uncomfortable or frightening, like claw trims and vet visits. Cooperative Care goes a step farther by actually engaging a cat in its own handling and inviting it to be a participant in making decisions. I was excited to be able to share this topic in this magazine focused on the human-animal bond.
Cooperative Care for Cats
“Cooperative Care ‘involves training an animal to not only tolerate handling and husbandry procedures, but to be an active, willing participant in these experiences.’ “
While giving cats choice may sound far-fetched, break down an activity and you can see there are many points where a cat can indicate preference and comfort that you can respond to.
Read the article in the Spring 2021 issue of Pittsburgh PetConnections Magazine, “Cooperative Care for Cats”, featuring Hamlet’s sister Ophelia, who responded well to my socialization techniques that later fit well into “fear free” training.
You can find it on page 24:
- on the PetConnections website home page (look for the icon for the Spring 2020 issue)
- in the online issue of the magazine on ISSUU (it’s easy to set up an account to view magazines on this site)
You can also find my updated Cat Resource Guide on page 25 listing low-cost spay/neuter, vaccine and care options in the Pittsburgh area and links to search other areas, and read other articles about pets and other topics focused on the human-animal bond.
You can also find the latest cat resources on the resources page on this site.
Read other published articles.
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Great Rescues Day Book:
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Each month features one of my commissioned portraits of a feline or felines and their rescue story along with a kitty quote on the left page, and on the right page the month name with enough lines for all possible dates, with standard holidays and animal-themed observances and events. Great Rescues also includes a mini cat-care book illustrated with my drawings including information on finding strays or orphaned kittens, adopting for the first time or caring for a geriatric cat, a list of household toxins and toxic plants, or helping stray and feral cats and beginning with TNR.
Each book includes also 10 sheets of my “22 Cats” decorative notepaper with a collage of all the portraits in black and white so you can make your own notes or write special notes to friends.
The portraits in this book, collected as a series, won both a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest, as well as the 22 Cats Notepaper mentioned below.

Copyright
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.
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Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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hi Bernadette, I would love access the article. However, I am not seeing a Spr 2021 issue of the magazine…I see a Spr 2020 issue and searched there but not seeing it.
There may have been a problem on the site. Use the ISSU link just below that one. That is what’s linked to the page anyway, and this link will open it directly. Thanks for your interest!