Chirrups and Chatter

10/22/2026

Friends, I have a small favor to ask!

If I’ve helped you and your pets, consulted with your organization, or you’ve found one of my lectures or workshops helpful, would you consider writing a short testimonial for my websites?

I haven’t been great about asking for testimonials, and I’d really appreciate your help. You can message me or share through my website.

The reason for the ask: my website⁠ got a much-needed refresh!

You’ll find free resources on the site now, and I’m working on resource bundles with videos, handouts, and practical tools covering kitten socialization, recognizing pain in cats and dogs, housesoiling, and cat and dog handling. These are for caregivers helping their pets and professionals who want to keep learning, build their skills, and support clients.

I’ll be giving the blog more attention, too! So many questions come up in my work that I know others have, and I want those answers to be easier to find and share.

I’ll be working on tabithakucera .com next, focusing on my organizational consulting, speaking, and education. You can already find these services and peer-to-peer consulting on my current site, but many people search for me by name, so having both makes sense!

Thanks for being in my corner and helping this business grow. I appreciate you! ❤️

10/22/2026

I attended my first Program Advisory Committee meeting for Metropolitan Veterinary Academy’s veterinary technician and veterinary assistant programs tonight.

Advancing veterinary medicine takes many forms: strengthening education, supporting the next generation of veterinary professionals, fostering collaboration across the veterinary team, and helping shape the future of patient care.

It includes preparing veterinary technicians and assistants with strong clinical skills, encouraging them to advocate for eachother and their patients, and empowering them to recognize the essential role they play in delivering high-quality care.

I’m excited to share my perspective alongside an amazing group of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and other animal care professionals. I look forward to learning from one another and helping shape what comes next!

10/20/2026

Veterinary technicians deserve more than appreciation for one week in October. We deserve resources, representation, and protection that support the work we do every day. 💙

This Vet Tech Week, I’m excited to share the American Association of Credentialed Veterinary Technicians (AACVT) with you!

As President-Elect of the American Association of Credentialed Veterinary Technicians (AACVT), I’m proud to be part of a board creating practical resources for credentialed veterinary technicians, by credentialed veterinary technicians.

Our website is live, and I’m excited to share what you’ll find! 💙

🛠️ Tools built for your career
• CE Tracker: log your hours and stay ahead of renewal deadlines
• Salary & Rate Guide: know your worth and price your services with confidence
• Scope of Practice Resource: find credentialing and practice rules by state
• Career Pathways Hub: explore relief work, specialty paths, education, industry, and more
🛡️ Liability insurance for credentialed veterinary technicians working independently

This matters to me personally. My career has grown to include behavior and organizational consulting, education, writing, speaking, and running my own business. I know how valuable it is to have support that recognizes the many ways we use our skills.

I’m proud to help build that support for fellow technicians as they explore new opportunities and create careers that fit their strengths and interests.

This Vet Tech Week, let’s celebrate our expertise and keep building the resources, recognition, and protection our profession deserves.

👉 Explore link in the comments and share this with a credentialed veterinary technician who could use these resources.

Happy Vet Tech Week! 💙

10/18/2026

“Keep petting them. They’ll get used to it.” But now the cat is hissing more and hiding from you.

“Keep holding them, even if they struggle. They’ll calm down.” But becoming still doesn’t always mean they feel safe, usually they are frozen in fear.

Maybe you’re offering Churu and giving them space, but your foster cat still hides. Or you’re building trust, but medication time leaves you both stressed.

It’s hard to know what to do when you’re getting conflicting advice and just trying to help.

If this sounds familiar, this workshop is for you

Livin’ For The Meows reached out about bringing this workshop to our community at Valley College Cleveland, and I’m excited to have local rescues and foster caregivers joining us! We wanted to open it up to others who would benefit, too.

Through lecture, videos, real-world case studies, hands-on practice, and live demonstrations of me working with cats, you’ll learn:

🐾 How to recognize comfort, fear, stress, and when a cat needs a break
🐾 Training and socialization techniques that build trust and comfort with people, touch, and everyday routines
🐾 How to recognize when pain may be making handling harder
🐾 Fear Free techniques for handling, moving cats, and giving medication

Whether you’re caring for cats in a shelter, fostering kittens, or supporting a fearful cat at home, you’ll leave with practical tools and a clearer idea of what to try next.

Only a few spots are available! Link to register in comments 😻😻😻

10/18/2026

Happy Veterinary Technician Week! 💜

To every veterinary technician , thank you, not just this week, but every day. Your skill, compassion, and dedication are the backbone of veterinary medicine. From preserving animal health to supporting clients, you make an incredible difference every single day.

Want to recognize and thank a vet tech? Say thank you, ask how they’re doing, bring a favorite snack or coffee, leave a kind note or review, and advocate for the vital role they play in clinics. Learn about what they do, how they maintain CE, and communicate openly, your awareness and respect mean more than you know.

I’m proud to be a Registered Veterinary Technician Specialist and endlessly grateful to work alongside so many incredible vet techs. 💜

10/15/2026

Pain, stress, and handling shapes every part of an animal's veterinary experience. Let’s talk about what we can do to help!

I’ll be speaking at NAVC veterinary HiVE West October 24–25, sharing practical ways to recognize pain, reduce stress, and help cats feel safer during veterinary care.

Join me for:

🐾 It Doesn’t Have to Hurt: Recognizing Chronic Pain in Cats
Learn to notice subtle changes in behavior that may signal pain and turn those observations into action.

🐾 Stress Free Starts Here: Practical Steps to Create a Calm Clinic
Explore everyday changes that support a more comfortable experience for patients and the people caring for them.

🐾 No More Cat Wrangling: Feline-Friendly Handling Workshop
Build practical handling skills through video cases, collaborative problem-solving, and hands-on practice with feline models. Learn to recognize signs of fear, stress, and pain, adapt your approach, and create individualized handling plans that support safer, more comfortable care for cats and veterinary teams

I’m excited to connect with veterinary teams and share skills you can bring back to your clinic!

Learn more and register: link in comments

10/14/2026

Anyone else find it easier to advocate for others than for yourself?

A reminder to everyone working in behavior, animal welfare, and veterinary medicine: We deserve the same care we work so hard to give others

We talked about this during our Better Together mentorship session. Asking for help, sticking with a boundary, or saying “I need a little flexibility” isn’t always easy. I’m thankful for friends who encourage me to speak up and support me when I do. It takes practice, but it can get easier, and our needs are too important to keep putting last.

What’s one thing you need today, and who could you share that with? ❤️

My next Better Together mentorship cohort starts April 22, 2027. We’ll practice communication, work through real cases, and support each other in advocating for animals, caregivers, and ourselves.

10/12/2026

We created this course to help veterinary professionals handle cats with skill, care, and confidence. You’ll explore feline communication and body language, touch gradients, considerate approach, positive distractions, and handling strategies that reduce fear, stress, and injury, supporting both the cat and the team.

As I always say, there are always ways to prevent, reduce, or manage stress for the animals we work with whether we’re professionals or caregivers. Handling is a skill, and even small, thoughtful changes can make a meaningful difference.

If you work with cats, this course is a great place to start. And for shelters and hospitals looking for deeper support, I continue to speak, share content, offer consulting and hands-on guidance and education to help teach and put handling skills into practice for both dogs and cats.

This October, we’re putting the focus on feline care. Cats have unique needs when it comes to veterinary visits, and understanding how they communicate and respond to handling can make all the difference.

Our member exclusive course, Fear Free for Felines: An Introduction, explores considerate handling, touch gradients, rewards, gentle control, and practical strategies to help reduce Fear, Anxiety, and Stress (FAS) in feline patients.

Check out the course in Fear Free Academy and continue building your confidence in feline care. https://www.fearfree.com/course/fear-free-for-felines-an-introduction/

10/01/2026

A little honesty about what’s been happening behind the scenes. 🖤

Between losing Malt and Chocolate Chip, grieving the loss of people from bands whose music has been such a huge part of my life, and now navigating a medical emergency with Ness, life has been really heavy.

I’m okay, and I have support. I’m also grieving, worried, and finding some days harder than others. All of those things can be true.

Mental health matters, and I think it’s important to be transparent about the hard parts, too. You might see me teaching, working, or laughing without knowing what the rest of that day looks like.

I love what I do. I’m doing my best, and I’m grateful for your patience when I’ve needed to reschedule something or take a little longer.

If you’re carrying a lot, too, you don’t have to pretend it’s easy. You deserve support and room to be a person.

09/28/2026

It’s spooky season, so here are my top 5 horror movies, cat edition. 👻🐈

The real horror? Missing what cats are trying to tell us and a one size fits all approach to handling cats which increase fear and stress. Which one would you add? 🎬