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Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

  • 1.  Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-14-2026 10:45 AM
      |   view attached
    Hello! We are very excited to introduce The National Cat Behavior Helpline providing no-cost, phone-based cat behavior assistance to help keep cats in homes & out of shelters. We urge shelters & rescues to refer potential cat surrenderers to us as well as cat adopters & fosters who need assistance! Attached is our flier to provide to your staff.  If you have questions, please contact the Helpline founder, Matt Wildman, at felinehelpline@gmail.com or (347) 938-7692.  (More info on Matt is below.) Additonal informaton:
    • We ask shelter/rescue staff to provide us with the contact information of the client as we've found that it is easier to connect with clients if we reach out to them.
    • We will contact the client within 24-48 hours. 
    • We can provide assistance for any type of behavior issue, including aggression. 
    • We will provide ongoing support until the behavior issue is resolved. 
    • When requested, we will follow up with the shelter/rescue about any case. 
    • If you would like to also volunteer on the Helpline,  you can take Humane World for Animals' free, self-paced online Cat Behavior Counselor Course. Graduates of the course will receive addtional training and can then begin volunteering on the Helpline. 
    Matt Wildman is a cat behaviorist who served for four years as the resident cat behaviorist at Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States). During that time he created a variety of educational resources for the animal sheltering world, including The Guide to Cat Behavior Counseling and the Cat Behavior Counseling Course, along with a series of webinars and articles. He has done dozens of presentations to shelters as well as at Animal Care Expo and at the annual conference of New England Federation of Humane Societies. Matt was originally a public high school history teacher for eight years in Brooklyn, NY and he entered the animal sheltering field in 2006 when he became Animal Care Center of NYC's Humane Education and Volunteer Manager. Subsequently, he was an Adoption and Admissions Manager at the ASPCA in New York City and also served as Vice President of Community Engagement at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in NJ. He currently resides outside of Albany, NY. 

    #AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
    #AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms
    #Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
    #FosterPrograms
    #PetSupportServices*

    ------------------------------
    Matthew Wildman

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    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    National Cat Behavior Helpline flier.pdf   603 KB 1 version


  • 2.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-14-2026 10:08 PM

    this is gonna be a really great service. I'm glad you let us know about it. Well, especially with helpful on our pet helpdesk in case anybody calls and has questions about cat behavior or if they're having problems we try to get them at the very beginning if we can

    behavior or if they're having problems we try to get them at the very beginning if we can thank you for putting this together and sharing it with us



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    BJ Adkins
    Founder/Director
    Animal-Angels Foundation
    Pinson, AL
    bjadkins@animal-angels.org
    animal-angelsfoundation.org
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  • 3.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-15-2026 09:18 AM

    Thank you for putting this together. I've signed up. It'll be really helpful for our sanctuary as we only accept elderly and behavior/medical cats. Curious as to whether there's something saying we took the course when we finish it? 



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    Bre Hoffman
    Administrative Director
    Special Little Whiskers Kitten Rescue
    IL
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  • 4.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-16-2026 05:58 AM

    Hi! Participant who complete the Cat Behavior Counseling Course do receive a certificate acknowledging completion. 



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    Matthew Wildman
    Employer 1
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-15-2026 08:45 PM

    Woah! This is such a cool intake diversion resource. We get so many calls from people needing to surrender their cat due to behavior even though they do not want to. It is these conversations that break our hearts as you can tell they love their pets but just do not know what to do. I have downloaded the flyer and will share it with the shelter staff ASAP!



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    Katheryn White
    Adoption Counselor/Grant Writer
    PAWS Shelter of Central Texas
    TX
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  • 6.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-15-2026 09:03 PM

    hello Matthew Again, great resource I was wondering if maybe you could contact me about possibly working together to implement this as part of the software that we are creating called the animal welfare resource network or AWRN We're setting out so that there's a helpdesk which is the front door and I think this would be a great resource to make sure that our pet helpdesk was set up to utilize 

    Bj 



    ------------------------------
    BJ Adkins
    Founder/Director
    Animal-Angels Foundation
    Pinson, AL
    bjadkins@animal-angels.org
    animal-angelsfoundation.org
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-15-2026 10:33 PM

    This is amazing and is going to help so many rescues and people! Thank you for sharing!



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    Stefanie Schmidt
    Animal Welfare Specialist
    Hearts Alive Village
    NV
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  • 8.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-16-2026 05:27 AM

    This is amazing! Thank you so much for posting this information m, it is going to save so many cats! 



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    Maria Plattner
    Director
    Forest Felines
    MN
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  • 9.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-16-2026 10:49 PM

    This is fantastic! I can't wait to learn all about this!

    Audrey



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    Audrey Summers
    Volunteer
    Homeward Bound
    OR
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  • 10.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-18-2026 10:40 AM

    I  love this resource!  I don't know what to tell people that have cat issues that I have never experienced, so this is wonderful!



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    Bonnie Clark
    President
    TNR Mecosta
    MI
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Did you know about the National Cat Behavior Helpline?

    Posted 04-19-2026 09:02 AM

    So glad you started this, Matt! Your Cat Behavior Counselor Course was so informative! I'm glad cats have more resources.



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    Katie Dixon
    Shelter Director
    Baltimore Humane Society
    MD
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